Movement Changes Lives. After Injury, It Can Also Be Scary.
Hi everyone! Carla here.
I've been thinking so much about movement lately – how movement changes lives, how it heals. We've had a lot happen in our lives and the moments we take to move allow us to get away without “getting away”. Those moments offer time to clear our minds and our bodies.
With the studio, being a mom to children in virtual school, and having so much happen at home recently, I haven't been able to do a thing for myself. I finally had a moment the other day (even if I didn't have time to change out of my red corduroys!). I cherished the time to practice and go into my zone where everything can fall away and I can process all the “things”.
While practicing, I started exploring this extension move to teach to a virtual client, and remembered how, for years, extension was my arch nemesis. In my pre-Pilates days, I extended far too much without core control during an exercise class. In an instant, a good day became a bad month of back pain and extension was out of the question for years.
I’ll never forget that day—I was in a deep backbend and my instructor put a belt around my back to bring me out of the bend and up to standing. I wasn’t ready... and while I was “bendy” enough to easily extend my core, I wasn’t strong enough to come out of it without putting myself in danger.
Being super mobile sounds wonderful, but for me, it caused a lot of pain. I needed my muscles to catch up with my flexibility. Traditional strength training was great for me but it didn’t help strengthen me for things like extending with core control. It didn't teach me how to utilize my strength and mobility together.
Pilates is so wonderful because it strengthens AND lengthens at the same time. When I say that it changed my life, I mean it. It changed how I move, how I think about movement, allowed me to regain my confidence in my body's strength and resilience, and gave me tools to rehab when needed.
Doing a move that once caused an injury can be scary. I’ve worked to strengthen, yes, but I’ve also worked to understand core strength and how to use it to assist me. Now I can relish in these moves, fear-free and injury-free, but more importantly, I have the tools to help others strengthen safely and effectively, and that's the foundation of the teaching philosophy at Posture Studio.
Do you have a similar story or a move that you'd like to work towards achieving again? I know I’m not alone. I love to hear your stories. You can hit reply to this email or leave us a comment with your thoughts on instagram.
If you're coming into the studio, we can teach you this move or something similar that's just right for you. If you have a reformer at home, hit us up for 30 min or hour long virtual sessions. We'd love to work with you.