I woke up this morning and realised November is over half way through.  How did that happen?  Where did it go?  Christmas is almost upon us (yesterday I made curried parsnip soup to begin the festivities) and in just four short weeks I’ll be closing the clinic for the holidays.

Wow!

(source)

This year has been incredible on so many levels; but it’s also been hard. Really, really hard.

Ten and a half months ago I wrote a post choosing my word of the year and what I hoped to do to get there.  I chose Joy.  I chose that word rather naively hoping that, after a couple of years of trials and tribulations I could just be allowed to be happy and joyous.

Life doesn’t work like that though does it?  To be happy, to live the life you dream of, to make the waves you want to make you have to work your butt off.

With the benefit of hindsight’s 20/20 vision it would be more pertinent to have chosen Healing as my word of the year.  Because there has been a lot of that readers.  But out of that healing has come joy abundant and I find myself, at the end of this year with a little business that’s almost sustaining itself, the ability to pick and choose my own clients and my own hours, sitting down to breakfast every morning with Himself safe in the knowledge that these days neither of us have to commute anywhere very often.  There’s food in the fridge, a roof over our heads (although I predict a move in our future – more on that next year), money in the bank (mostly).

There are memories, like our amazing month in Australia to look back on, and the beginnings of a future plan to look forward to.  There has been the arrival of Dave the Stray Cat (much to the consternation of the spoiled house-cats).  There’s been Pilates Teacher Training (done and done – thanks crooked body for being so unimaginably strong!) and that phenomenal weekend in Durham when I got the green light to start to teach BWY Foundation Course Tutor Training (whatever I say, yoga will always be my first and foremost love).

But then there’s been the chronic anxiety and the terrible health, the low iron levels, the damn trapped nerve in my neck - I’ve written a lot of Small Stones this year to try to keep me present and a lot of gratitude lists to help me remember how much worse it could be.  There’s been counselling and coaching and a lot of lightbulb moments about where I’m going wrong, where the anxiety is coming from and where I’m self-sabotaging.   There’s been a lot of blood tests and a lot of trips to the doctor and that horrible moment when I realised that why yes osteoporosis is hereditary and I await an appointment for my bone scan.

I made the decision to stop eating wheat and start eating meat (there’s a poem in that), which was a hard decision but the right one for me for many, many reasons.  I have written a lot, but none of it what I thought it was going to be (maybe that will become clearer next year, maybe it won’t) and I think I may have a better handle on my finances (with thanks to the amazing Nona Jordan and this course – which I cannot recommend highly enough. There’s another one starting in January)

There are big things coming I know, not least that move I was talking about and the whole writing and presenting my first Foundation Course.  But that’s OK.  I am a different person now to who I was 12 months ago, as though I have been broken apart and rebuilt, and I will be different again in 12 months’ time.

2011 – you’ve taught me an important lesson in balance.

2012 – I’m ready for you, bring it!

(source)

I spent most of June this year coming up with a name for my business; one that wasn’t already taken, one that was future-proof (ie not CambridgeMovement or similar – I made that mistake in London!) and one that really emphasised the focus of my work.  When I came up with Fusion Massage + Movement (with the help of Himself of course!) I knew it was the right name because it resonated with me in all the right ways.

Both words “Yoga” and “Pilates” come with their own baggage.  This is mostly to do with who we think we need to be and what we think our bodies need to be able to do before we can join a class.

That’s all rubbish of course.  With the exception of getting the all clear from our doctors for pre-existing medical conditions before starting a new practice, we don’t need to be anything other than our beautiful selves to start a movement routine.

But those words “Yoga” and “Pilates”, they instill fear in so many people who have begun to lose touch with their bodies or who haven’t moved for years.

Which is why I chose the word movement for my business, because to move is just to stretch an arm up high, to wriggle your toes, to feel the expansion of your ribcage on a deep breath in.  Start to bring that movement together with the breath, with awareness, conscious movement, beautiful, spontaneous, efficient movement and you’re there!  And then you can start to bring that movement off your mat, out of your class and into the world, helping to create less pain, fuller breathing, increased energy and joy.

And none of the baggage of labels.

Who wouldn’t want that?!

We don’t have to push and strive and grunt and groan and take on too much and give up.  There is enough of that in life as it is.  All we need is an open mind,  a willingness to arrive on the mat and a desire to reconnect with breath, body and big smiles!

And that’s movement.  And I don’t care what you call it: Pilates, Yoga, Thai Chi, Roller Derby….. it’s all movement!

Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness
–Joseph Pilates

Yoga is to attain what was previously unattainable
–TKV Desikachar

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Originally written for my other blog

Note/Disclaimer: I’ve been debating writing this for a while.  I’ve been thinking that these are just opinions and that I’m not really qualified to give advice.  But then I realised that I am and it’s time I started to give myself credit for the years I’ve spent studying anatomy and movement and holistic body awareness.  I’m not a dr though, or a PT, so this is just advice.  If you have an ongoing or acute problem, please go and see a medical professional

Albert Park, St Kilda, Melbourne – home of the Melbourne Grand Prix
and where runners run

I watch people – I watch how they sit, how they stand, how they walk.  It’s an occupational hazard.  I’m obsessed with posture, anatomy, the way bones fit together.  Sometimes I see people’s posture and it makes me want to weep.  I want to stand up and slap people between the shoulderblades and tell them to stand up straight.  They’d thank me for it when they were 70 (after they’d slapped a restraining order on me)!

I watch runners too. I watch how they move, how they hold themselves and sometimes it’s a beautiful thing.  More often, sadly, I weep again (although, y’know every time someone starts up running a massage therapist/PT rubs their hands in glee! ).  Sydney was a city with more runners than I’ve ever seen in my life and some of them were doing such terrible things to their bodies.

I don’t run.  I have a weird knee, a dodgy pelvis, scoliosis and a relatively mild dose of ME.  It would be foolish to run.  I did a 5k once just to prove I could but honestly, I fast-walked most of it because that way my hip hurt less.  However, I see a lot of runners at the clinic and in yoga classes.  It’s a shame that most of them come to me once they’ve injured themselves. “How long til I can run again?” they cry.  They never like my answer.

The trick is, as with so many things, to put preventative measures into action before there’s an injury.  I get that not being able to run is, to a runner, like me not being able to get on my mat for whatever reason.  So let’s make sure you can run, right?

1.  Get a professionally fitted pair of running shoes, change them often and have your gait tested.  All of these things can be done at most good sports shops.

2.  Work on your posture and your core strength.  So many running injuries could be avoided with proper posture and cores of steel.  Get thee to a Pilates class, or work with a Balance Board.  Sit ups and crunches don’t really work on core strength.  You might want to see a Pilates teacher on a 1-2-1 basis, especially if they work with a Reformer Machine – nothing works the core and lengthens the limbs quite like the Reformer! (Londoners might like to try Moss Pilates for this – they are truly awesome.  Tell Carl I sent you!)

3.  Get a good sports or deep tissue massage regularly – fortnightly at least.  I’m not just saying this to bring trade to me and my fellow massage therapists, it really is important.  Muscles and bones need exercise and running is great.  But they also get very tight and lactic acid builds up inside them.  Massage helps muscles recover by releasing this and released muscle is far less likely to tear or pull than overly tight muscle.  As a side note, even if it’s just your legs giving you trouble, go for a full body massage.  Everything is connected and tightness in the legs can play havoc in the back!

3b. Learn how to ball massage and do this as often as you can between massage appointments. Most massage therapists and Pilates teachers will show you how.

4. Learn a bit about anatomy – especially your anatomy – how you work, why, what muscles are making you run, which ones need to be stronger?  You get the idea.  There are some great and easy to understand books and DVDs out there.  The thing is that if you understand exactly what bit of you does what, your brain will send the signals to exactly the right place and both your body and your central nervous system will work more efficiently.  Working with systems such as yoga, Pilates and the truly wonderful Franklin Method will give you a deeper understanding.

5. Stretch.  Then stretch again.  You may think you stretch but I can guarantee that you probably don’t do enough.  Once you’ve done your stretches, do them all over again.  Please never say you don’t have time to stretch.  Make stretching as much a part of your routine as the actual running bit.  Stretch when you get out of bed.  Stretch before you get into bed.  Stretch in your lunchbreak.  Stretch every time you go to the loo.  No, I am not kidding!!

Here, have a free yoga for runners routine to start you off!

OK I’m done.  Exercise is gooooood.  Running is good exercise.  Sadly running can have a detrimental effect on the body if we are not careful, so be careful and be willing to spend time and money on yourself.  You’re worth it.  You get one body.  Use it well.

Love + oms