FIND A NEW ROUTE TO THE COFFEE SHOP
What happens if you only have one route to the coffee shop and that route is blocked off?
But you need to get to the coffee shop.
Of course, I am not really talking about getting to a coffee shop, but I am talking about what happens when you encounter road blocks in your day to day movement patterns, perhaps through injury or pain.
What do you do then?
Do you get stuck?
Do you get overwhelmed?
Or can you find a way through?
I am not going to begin to pretend that I understand all there is to know about biomechanics and anatomy, that is not the lane that I sit in, nor am I an expert on pain. I am also not a mental health professional, nor a medical doctor.
But what I do understand is that in order to feel safe in your body, your system needs to feel it is able to respond to threat and danger. A body that is reflexive, responsive and reactive to your needs is a body that is response-able and resilient. It is a body that has access to different movement solutions to find another route when needed.
You may not know this but more parts of your brain are devoted to movement than language, which is why you can’t just think your way out of a dead end, you have to feel it, you have to get curious about it and find a way to move through it.
As Christine Caldwell writes in her book, Bodyfulness,
“While thinking evokes the mind, moving evokes the body. Movement and action form the the system through which the body knows, identifies, remembers and contemplates itself”.
As a yoga and somatic movement therapist, my role is to offer a space within which you may explore the new and novel; to build new pathways, map out new movements, explore up-regulation, down-regulation, to play, to feel, to create. My role is to help you turn on the lights and awaken the body to its inherent aliveness.
My role is to help you regain a sense of belonging, dignity and agency in the world.
Very simply I work with individuals to help them find new and different routes to the coffee shop.
It’s an embodied approach that teaches you to listen to your body, to ask questions & get curious, to map out new movements, build body awareness and self awareness. That strengthens the brain-body connection, builds new neural pathways and future proofs your body to the effects of ageing through diversity of movement patterns.
It is my fundamental belief that recovery and healing is within everyone’s grasp, that change is possible for everyone, but what I also believe is that for real and lasting liberation to be yours, you need to be an active participant in the process.
Whatever is accessible to you right now, that is where you start.
Don’t wait for the road block to appear, do what you can now to future proof yourself so that next time, you have the solutions within you.
Incorporate into your life practices that invite you to be an active participant in them.
Take time each day
To notice your environment, to touch it, smell it, feel it, hear it - walk on this planet with wander and awe
To pay attention to your breath, to notice how it moves your body. Marvel at how miraculous it is, rather than try to fix and manipulate it.
To move your body, teach it to function in different ways. The more access you have to different ranges of movement, the more responsive and flex-able you are.
To engage and connect with the world around you. Find opportunities for play, for pleasure. Connect to yourself and others in ways that feel good.
To reflect on your needs. Learn to listen to your body, to know what it needs
