In the last little while we focused primarily on the mindset: our pain care conversation zeroed on recognizing “thought viruses” – thought patterns that perpetuate and intensify pain.

Today I want to take a different approach, and start with a …

Splash!

Splash! That’s how my interest in stability, balance and symmetry started…

I knew perfectly well I was going to fall off that log bridge the moment I stepped on my left foot…

SPLASH!

Even now, two years later, I remember the sharpness of that SPLASH, and the suspended silence that followed…

My bulging backpack, ax and crampons still lashed to the outside of it, hit the ice-cold water first, absorbing the impact.

In an instant I was completely submerged – head, backpack and all – my head narrowly escaping the giant boulders littering the creek bed, mad mountain current already tugging at my body.

Another moment, and strong arms pulled me to safety.

“I’ve got you.”

“I’ve got you.”

“You are OK.”

I didn’t even have time to get scared. Until afterwards…

Once the teeth chattering subsided (thank mercy for a hot summer day!), I got scared enough to decide to never EVER repeat this mad rush experience EVER, EVER again.

Giving up hiking was out of the question, so I did the next best thing – focused my attention on coordinated strength, mobility and balance.

Over the next two years of concentrated effort to develop symmetrical stability, areas of weakness became slowly exposed – similar to an old time Polaroid picture piece by piece appearing on a blank negative.

Gluts that never ever fired.

Only one working quad.

Asymmetrical abs.

I won’t even mention the pelvic floor situation…

The more I dug, the more I found…

Once the pain care yoga training kicked in with all the body mapping and scanning, I discovered that I had no - as in zero, nada, zilch - awareness of my left hip or leg.  Early attempts at body mapping yielded bizarre, distorted images of my left leg – they looked more like a Picasso painting, then a human leg.

How in the world my brain could command movement in this part of my body when brain-muscle communication was fuzzy at best?

I knew that my alignment was less than awesome…

But this – THIS - was when I began to really fully recognize how dysfunctional, asymmetrical patterns of movement and loading have been forever contributing to pain, mishaps, and yes – dangerous splashes.

Gluts that never fired didn’t know how to stabilize my pelvis - neither on a log crossing, nor in every step of my walk. They didn’t know how to stabilize my SI joint either, so I’d get low back pain after a long walk (or a long day).

My right quad took over the world – basically: this muscle was my go-to item for anything I need to power through. No muscle is designed for this kind of load – so it developed a random variety of trigger points that I am still rubbing out with yoga therapy balls on a daily basis.

Learning to load (and trust!) my left leg is a work in progress – over the years of asymmetrical loading I’ve developed quite a bit of right – sided tightness throughout the entire body. Lengthening that is a necessity that often feels like a chore.

As per usual, the soon-starting CORE RESTORE class comes from this depth of personal learning and experience. 

I have no intention of teaching a class full of crunches and sit –ups.

From the feet to the base of the skull, the muscles that make up your core nestle in to support your spine, your pelvic girdle, and your shoulder girdle. These muscles provide resilience, strength and enable freedom. Would you like to access that?

My goal for this class is to help you develop awareness of your body, and a functional, symmetrical stability that can sustain you on log bridges and ski slopes.

This is the very same stability that supports SI and spinal joints, prevents premature wear and tear in knee and hip joint, and helps you avoid falls due to loss of balance.

CORE RESTORE is based on the natural concepts of anatomy, physiology and kinesiology to help you deepen your awareness, and leverage your body toward greater strength and ease.

Here are the details: