Burpies and jumping jacks, wall washing, running, and hiking: this time of year most of us are itching to shed winter weight and get on moving.

Which could only mean one thing - time to talk soft tissue RECOVERY!

Case study: Last summer – despite all the smoke – turned out to be great for hiking. We backpacked lots, long, and hard, and with heavy loads {creature comforts, you know}. So I finished the summer in style – with a thoroughly screwed up left shoulder.

There were early tweaks and twinges that I ignored.

“Our backpacking summers are so preciously short,” I reasoned with myself,“I'll have enough time to recover during the off-season.”

My thinking was oh-so painfully close to the truth!

Things have gotten from bad to worse when, by the middle of September – right when the fall yoga session had started – I could barely lift my left arm, and the whole entire left rib cage throbbed with pain right into the wee hours of each night.

What followed – , you probably already guessed it – were the 3 painfully long + pricey months of weekly massage + physio treatments.

Add to that the utter frustration of not being able to move… much…

Imagine the mental mess this can create – for anybody - but especially for someone who relies on movement for mental well-being, and even more so if you happen to teach movement for a living….

This exact type of mental mess can be a critical factor that turns an acute injury into a chronic pain situation. And it almost did - I thank my lucky stars for all of the pain care training I've got ...

Recovery was maddeningly slow…

It took waaaay longer than I thought, hacking a great big bite out of my sanity, sleep, and this winter’s ski season.

So today – naturally - I want to talk to you about soft tissue RECOVERY.

Professional athletes know that their ability to recover efficiently is the driving force behind training and winning, both.

It only makes sense: the faster one’s body can recover, the sooner he or she can go back to training. And the more often one can train, the stronger that person gets.

That’s why smart athletes not only prioritize (one of Canadian Olympists was quoted saying “my job is to sleep 10 hours a day!”  - I'm putting THAT into my job description), but also take an active + proactive approach to their recovery.

Here are the 3 most common recovery mistakes

{oh the lessons one learns..}:

Mistake #1: ignoring the early signs of trouble brewing.

Hoping + praying the nagging twinge is gonna go away rarely works, especially if you continue to load your tissues in the same type of repetitive pattern.

Guilty as charged!

A better way: address developing tension, then address injurious + inefficient movement patterns.

Mistake #2: failing to down-regulate {calm the nervous system}.

In order for the body to recover, it needs to shift {to a degree, at least} out of its fight / flight / freeze mode. Teaching the body to shift efficiently between activation and down-regulation goes beyond soft tissue recovery – it also builds resiliency and improves cardiovascular health, digestion and sleep.

Using your workouts for stress relief?

Please don't!

If you start your workout / hike / run from a place of stress and tension (guilty, have done that too!), your breathing and your form will be sub-optimal -  so you are just setting yourself up for injury.

A better way: find tools that can help you down-regulate {calm} your nervous system BEFORE you go at it - you will feel better during and recover faster after your movement session.

This is of a particular importance for all folk living with persistent pain. More on that in the future!

Mistake #3: being too aggressive.

Body work and self – massage does not get more effective if you grind away at tension. In fact, aggressive approach works against your recovery system: the nervous system responds to aggressive body work by ordering more of your muscles to go on guard and protect you from harm.

In other words, aggressive approach creates more tension {guilty, yet again}!

A better way: gradually, yet consistently teach your tissues + nervous system to become more tolerant to physical stimulants so you can work deeper without the nervous system jumping on guard.

I guess what I am saying is this:

You work hard.

Shouldn’t your recovery work hard for you?

Join me on the mat on the mat this Saturday, April 28, for BALL + YIN classes.

Let's double - down on smart recovery techniques so we can keep on moving this summer, all summer long!

What makes BALL + YIN so effective?

The answer is in the combination - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts: the rolling and kneading action of the balls unglues stubborn myofascial restrictions, while yin stretches help to lengthen and hydrate congested connective tissue, and to feed the nerve endings.

You see, Yin yoga recognizes that different body tissues have different exercise requirements: while muscles benefit from repetitions of extension and contraction (as in active asana practice), deeper lying (yin) tissues respond best to a continuous stress (this could be compression or stretching.)

And because yin postures work along TCM meridian lines, you get the added benefit of an acupressure massage.