Quick vid of me

[torae]

I don't claim to be an expert at this, in fact i'm far from it comparing to many on this forum, but I did pay a lot of attention to my body while trying to selfsuck. What I found is that you need to stretch everything from your neck, to your upper back, to lower back, to legs. (Stretching your legs give you more leeway with your hip bending which help with lower back bending) I know the video we are discussing is the Plow but for a moment think of the 'C' position and how ideally in this position your back make a nice curve. If your back doesn't bend enough in the 'C' you won't be able to reach. But if you flip this upside down and is in the plow AND your back doesn't bend enough you can still reach if you bend your neck more. This is not necessary a good thing though since you will put a lot of strain in your neck.

So what does all this have to do with some of the question ask? Well, pretty much if your chin is hitting your chest you are putting a lot of bending in your neck.

[dreamer8888]

I have found that thinking of plow as an upside down C helped me a lot. I try to visualize how I would stretch if sitting upright on floor with legs in front of me while in plow and try to stretch same way. It seems to help me stretch further. That belt analogy from Al was helpful too. And that plow is an awesome stretch for the neck and upper back. This ss endeavor has introduced me to serious stretching and yoga - I am amazed at the difference in my flexibility. Just wish I had more success so far on this effort.

[rubbed]

Thanks for the video dreamer888; and yes that is how I do it, with one to three pillows stacked on top of one another on a bed. That's how I originally started doing SS. so I just stuck with it. I suppose I do have a longer neck than most people do, that could be why I am able to do it this way. I will admit though I would rather have shoulders on the pillow, rather than just the neck. It's just that I can go deeper just using the neck. I would not recommend doing it, this way to anyone; as a matter of fact I'm going to be exploring using neck and shoulders on pillow(s).

Last Saturday I tried shoulders and neck on pillow(s), and I could not go as far. I think its a matter of slowing down and visualizing the angle of my Back during plow. One thing I did learn that holding arms around thighs rather than butt, during plow helped stretch the lower sides of my back more.
Next SS session I'm going to use a décor pillow 18"x18" in the middle of bed pillow, with bed pillow being layed out length wise. This should allow neck to be slightly bent while still giving a back supported angle to bend as well.