Imagine you are feeling unwell, and your doctor (or a naturopath, if you wish) tells you “Go take some medicine.”

You’d be like “Whaaaaat?!”

“Mmmm, OK, sure… but can you please give me some more details?

What exactly do I need to take, how much and how often, please?!”

Of course, when it comes to pharmaceuticals your doctor is very, very specific about every little detail. You’d probably Google the side effects, too, right?

Sadly, we are so much sloppier when it comes down to movement prescriptions…

So,

Maybe your family doctor have suggested starting an exercise program and you are unsure where to begin, OR whether exercising would make your chronic pain even worse.

Maybe you’ve tried a yoga class, and walked out both sore and confused: “ Did I do this right? Is this the right class for me?”

Maybe, as a weekend warrior, you can’t seem to shake this nagging old injury, and now it is getting progressively worse no matter what you do.

Or, maybe, you’ve taken a go or two at a self-directed yoga practice – nowadays one can "yoga" without ever stepping into a yoga class {which is a little weird for a movement tradition that emphasized the transfer of knowledge from teacher to a student in a one on one setting} – got frustrated by getting nowhere fast, and now are wondering whether yoga is even worth your time or effort.

Is yoga right for you? Or, maybe, you are not right for yoga?

Let’s start with the fact that most yoga injuries are repetitive: repeating a poor movement pattern over and over and over again will eventually lead to break down somewhere in the system.  Been there, done that – no fun, I promise.

Second, and much more important, is that compensations and poor movement patterns aren’t limited to a yoga mat. Any movement you perform daily – sitting, standing, walking, bending, reaching, grabbing, holding, carrying - and yes, even pooping  - are all heavily dependent on a healthy range of motion in the hips and shoulders.

If your muscles don’t know how to articulate movement through your hip joints when are walking, you will shuffle, swivel your pelvis around the spine, and do all sorts of unhealthy, injurious movements to propel yourself forward, all the while hurting your knees and back.

If you aren’t moving well through the shoulder girdle {are you actually moving in the shoulder or shifting your rib cage to and fro?} your upper body strength, ability to breathe well, and immunity are all compromised.

Yes, I said immunity!  Lymph can’t circulate if your neck and shoulders are as solid as a rock.

Now January arrives, and you decide it is time to get more active.

Maybe you go for those 10,000 steps a day, or Zumba yourself into shape.

Right?

Nope, not at all. You are now a walking / dancing injury waiting to happen.

No, I am not being overly dramatic.

I have worked with enough “active” folk to know what does a combination of sucky movement patterns and repetitive movement do to a human body. One of the physio guys here in town says “Crossfit Box is what keeps my practice busy.”

I totally get why….

I might sound like I am against Zumba or Crossfit.

Totally not!

What I am against is moving without body awareness, and cranking and compensating our way through inappropriate ranges of motion.

Movement is a powerful medicine.

CORRECTIVE MOVEMENT practice is built on that understanding.

Ever fell asleep during Savasana?

In our culture, we engage the stress response on an ongoing basis.  In this state our muscles and connective tissues are primed, ready to handle whenever the stressful situation might arrive. The longer we remain in this low-level but long – term stressful state, the further out of touch with our bodies we become, to the point that our bodies begin to “freeze” into tightness and tautness.

We practice being relaxed yet alert so that we can cultivate this feeling through our movement practice (Yes, eventually you will be able to be relaxed yet stay awake during Savasana!)

We use different tools – bigger and smaller balls, straps, bricks, bolsters and chairs – to help us recognize where tension lingers, where we feel stuck. We learn to let go, to trust the props and their support, to soften, to relax, to breathe into tension. This is how we begin to develop the felt sense of our bodies.

This really is the very heart of CORRECTIVE MOVEMENT practice.

Can you move your toes without moving your ankle? How about the other way around: is it possible to rotate (circle) the ankle without tensing the toes?

Do you move predominantly in the hip or shoulder joint, or do you change the position of the pelvis or rib cage to compensate for poor hip or shoulder mobility instead? Can you even feel the difference?

This is why CORRECTIVE MOVEMENT practice is so beautifully suited for beginner yoga students and also more advance folk interested in furthering their practice injury free – it builds a functional+intelligent foundation for ANY movement.

CORRECTIVE MOVEMENT practice will help to improve your performance in your beloved sport / recreational activity: this realization came as a surprise during one of my ski lessons, when all of a sudden I clued in how all of the body pieces work together to deliver more precision in how I initiate my turns.

So. Very. Cool.

Resiliency takes the calm and relaxed feeling that we create through relaxation practices and through modified poses and pose elements, and carries it toward full and more complex poses, bridging our way into the full postural asana practice (or into walking, sitting, typing and relating to others.)

Most people are shocked when they realize just how easy it is to move more and better, and how radically different they feel by making tiny skeletal adjustments throughout the day. 

Winter 2018 Yoga Session registrations are now open, and CORRECTIVE MOVEMENT class is already half full. Grab your spot here + now.