"We are more like gardens than machines.

 

Gardens require the right conditions to grow and remain healthy.

 

There are usually no screws to tighten or other "quick fixes". Maintaining a garden requires knowledge, hard work, patience and persistence."

 

~ Pain and Perception, A Closer Look At Why We Hurt

by Daniel S Harvie and G. Lorimer Moseley

Pain subsides a little, and you are ready to try moving again.

Where do you even start? 

Which movements are safe? 

More importantly - which ones are not?

Stretching or strengthening, or both?

How do you get from pain to moving on?

The answer to this question is as unique as you are...

Yet, whether you are a professional athlete recovering from an injury, a weekend warrior with hip pain, or a teacher with bummed knee, the fear we all experience in this process is collective and universal:

What if I re-injure myself?

What if I make it worse?

Injured athletes have a team of extremely knowledgeable professionals - sports psychologists, physiotherapists, exercise specialists, doctors and coaches -  to help them overcome common fears and find courage to move again. The rest of us... are usually poking in the dark on our own, often relying on friends and Dr. Google to get us through.

I've done my fair share of poking in the dark, and it was brutal - to say the least.

Over the years of living with pain, studying pain, and teaching movement to people with pain, I've compiled  "Julia's Safe Movements" list. I've taught moves from this list thousands of times to hundreds of people - all with solid results and glowing reviews.  

Here is one of the very first movements I teach, and it is truly a superstar. 

It is safe, simple, accessible to almost anyone, and super versatile - dress it up, dress it down, add props or variations, or use it plain - it's good for so many things!

Try it to unwind tension in your back or improve the range of motion in the hip joints. Use it to explore the relationship between upper and lower body, or to build better movement skills - say, for example, figure out how to sit up without tensing the neck.

Today we will practice it with two goals in mind:

Goal #1: get comfortable with moving on the yoga mat. 

I know it sounds simple. Simple doesn't mean easy.

Goal#2: fine-tune body awareness with a clever count-down drill. 

Let's check some body feels, shall we?

A usual reminder: use your bed if you prefer to. Nothing the matter with that!

Just make sure the pillow under your head is more flat than fluffy.