Second time's the charm

I've seen both of my new students for a second time. This feels big because I got a chance to use the information I'd gathered during our first session. I gave my new male client, let's call him Steve, several stretches for his tight back. With each stretch he commented that he felt looser. I was lucky, in a way, because Steve had taken a monster bike ride the day before and was really achy and sore. I probably could have given him just about any stretch and he would have felt better. But I was trying out my theory that his back pain has more to do with tightness in his back than with weak abs. Since the stretches worked I'm now planning to see if I can get him to use a more neutral spine position (maintained by his abs) when he sits at work It felt really good to finally see him smile!

I also got to try out my Pilates in the Park program on my daughter. She was patient with me as I taught her the various exercises and noticed different problems presented by the muddy ground, the varying heights of the picnic tables, the hard benches that are less than conducive to rolling back for ab work, etc. Then we spread out our towels on the little lakeside beach and pretended to be in Hawaii. That was fun.

On the food front, I saw the new film, Ratatouille over the weekend. As a result, I was inspired to try making ratatouille for the first time. Based on the version shown in the film, I sliced the eggplant, zucchini and golden zucchini very thin and layered it in baking dish over and under a sauce made of onions, red pepper, and tomatoes that I'd sautéed in olive oil and pureed in the food processor. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. Next time I plan to roast and peel the pepper first to improve the flavor and texture of the sauce. Yum!