After years of studying movement, dissecting a cadaver felt like shining a flashlight around a familiar cave. A week in an anatomy lab sounded disgusting and morbid to a lot of folks in my life. Yet I knew there was a lot to learn if I got over being spooked or grossed out. Somewhere we are taught that our bodies are gross and should be shrouded so we make various attempts to conceal and contain ourselves. Yet when we die … Continue reading
A week away from a thrilling travel experience and I’m getting nervous. I’m not packing a suitcase or checking my passport to prepare. Instead I’m watching videos about cutting up dead bodies. Let me explain: In April I’m attending Gil Hedley’s Hands-On Human Dissection Workshop. The travel will only require a commute into San Francisco but demand an expedition deep into the human body. Gil refers to the participants as “somanuats:” explorers of our inner space. We will unveil each … Continue reading
When talking fitness with my dad he asks, “What about physical labor for exercise?” He relishes the demands of construction, farming, and operating a plant nursery. In the information age a job that supports physical vitality is a rare “privilege.” Although the human body is designed for rigorous work, we have engineered our way out of it. As a fitness trainer I’m paid to devise artificial labor for the desk-bound. One colleague joked that his clients should carry him around … Continue reading
Last week the women’s clothing company, Athleta chose me as a 2013 Sponsored Athlete! For reals? Do they realize that I quit soccer in middle school? And during my 8th grade dance recital I leapt into the air and landed with an humiliating thump? In my Athleta application I outlined my thwarted athletic career: As a chubby girl on my rural, co-ed soccer team, puberty hit hard. Playing alongside the boys felt increasingly intimidating as my lady parts emerged. After … Continue reading
Ah, the holidaze. Torqued schedules, buffets of indulgence, and hunting for the ideal sparkly accessories. As a Leo lady, I relish the full social calendar but need my reset workout more than ever. Beyond the din of festivities, the superego insists on punishing cardiovascular atonement. Yet as I settle into practice, a calm emerges. I submerge into down dog and crawl through standing poses. Squat. Vinyasa. Lunge. Handstand for an upside down. Backbend for an inside out. Lay down. Breathe. … Continue reading
Soap operas invoke “amnesia” as a clichĂ©d plot twist that leaves the character vulnerable to old adversaries. Hours of sitting in front of screens generates a less dramatic but possibly more insidious forgetting: sensory motor amnesia. Thomas Hanna coined this term for the neuromuscular atrophy that results from a lack of movement. Increasing stiffness limits our ability to consciously contract and relax our muscles. Hanna questioned the inevitably of aging and suggested that SMA causes our decline. When teaching, I … Continue reading
The last few weeks I sculpted the shoulders of potters, carved back mobility in boatbuilders, and loosened weavers’ knotted necks. As a resident instructor at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina I taught yoga, did bodywork, and delivered doses of movement medicine to the various studios. I lived among sweaty, grimy, & sleep-deprived folks gleefully exposed to torrents of creativity. They endure elaborate pieces crumbling after hours of work. Or worse yet, someone calling their work “cute.”  Yeah,the brooding, … Continue reading
As we begin personal training sessions many clients request, “I want to tone my arms, abs, or lower body.” Female clients often refer to their “muffin top,” “flabby belly,” or “thunder thighs.” Where did we learn to fragment and insult ourselves like this? Fitness magazines characterize the body with “trouble zones” and sell workouts to “sculpt” your booty or belly. Spot reduction, or fat loss to individual areas of the body, has been repeatedly debunked. Yet ThighMaster and Ab-lounger infomercials constantly … Continue reading
This week I happened across a blog post entitled “Conscious Movement vs. Mindless Exercise” It reminded me of the seismic shift occurring in the fitness community. The elite Equinox gym launched entire program entitled “Conscious Movement” as contrasting modalities like barefoot running, Pilates, Zumba, and Crossfit flourish. My colleagues in movement medicine are shifting what, why, where, and how we exercise. Although I usually eschew dualistic thinking, it’s fascinating to contrast the old and emerging paradigms of fitness: What other qualities could … Continue reading
As I walking into my neighborhood coffee shop on Sunday morning I summon writing stamina. The vegan barista massages her repetitive strain injury while describing the gluten-free options. A heavy-set, disheveled woman limps in with a cane, interrupts, and rants about the injustice of $3.00 coffee. The commotion distracts everyone from the sleep-deprived mom attempting to maneuver a stroller through the door. The croissants sing their buttery siren song as I read the elaborate coffee menu. I opt for the … Continue reading
