Welcome to Movement May

When I think of movement, there are two concepts that represent my mission for this month:

  • Encourage you to move everyday - whether that is a walk around the block, some mobilization movements, or a full practice.

  • To diversify your movements. More on this below.

I’ve been practicing yoga for 25 years - it is a life-changing practice that I intend to carry me through each upcoming decade. And many of us can relate to the mental benefits that we receive from energetically connecting to our body and mind. BUT Yoga is not the only way we should move our body. It is a great way to get back into fitness after a while or a great way to break free from too much high-intensity movement that can be destructive.

This month, I hope you enjoy both yoga and fitness movements and see how you can work both into your lifestyle.

Recipe for Healthy Movement:

  • Move Every Day for 10+ minutes.

  • Move 4x a week for 30+ minutes.

  • Diversify types of movement.

  • Connect to the season.

  • Balance the work you do with movement.

  • Use your movement time as a time to also disconnect from work and mental stress.

Bonus Videos

 
 

Mobilize

This is a full-body joint mobilization practice intended to warm-up and lubricate all joints in the body. It is like magic! Use this as a daily movement practice or to warm-up before something higher intensity.

Warm-Up

This short warm-up is great before Yoga, Fitness, a long walk, bike ride or on its own as a daily mobility practice. Enjoy!

Cool-Down / Heart Opening

This is intended to do after a yoga, fitness or other warming movement. Not only is this a great way to cool down, but this sequence will help you open your front body to balance all the computer time in our lives.

 Week 1: The Work You Do, Arms + Shoulders

It is important to remember that these days we do so much of our communication through our hands through texting and typing. This is a direct conduit to our shoulders and our heart. The arms hold tension from the tasks of our work and the energy of our work. It is important to release the tension and to strengthen them to prevent injury, it is also important to simply acknowledge the work they do for us.

This week we are focusing on the arms and shoulders, but we will move the whole body. In both the yoga and fitness we will incorporate strengthening with mobility. Both are important. Shoulders often need more strengthening than we give, and wrists and elbows often need more mobility.

This week I especially encourage you to give the Cool-Down / Heart Opening practice a go, please note it is intended to be practiced after warming your body up with movement.

 

This full-body movement class focuses on shoulders and arms but will get the whole body moving. Limited impact.

 

Soundcloud Playlist for 30 Minute Fitness Class:

Week 2: Personal Strength, Back + Core

You are so strong. The best measure of our strength has nothing to do with our physicality, rather our ability to adapt, to grow and to move forward even when things are tough. While this internal, personal strength is with us whether we move the body daily or not, it is helpful to remember that when you tend to your physical body with healthy movement and self-care, you can be more agile and at ease internally when difficult times arise.

This week’s movement is about the trunk of our body: the core and back. The basis for how we stand, move, and live. The movements we will do are intended to strengthen, and I invite you to think of your relationship to strength (both physical and internal) as “push-pull.” To push past your discomfort just a bit, this is when we get stronger. And to know that you can pull back at any moment - as rest and recovery are essential components of gaining and maintaining strength. Focusing only on the ‘push’ can lead to stress and dissatisfaction. Giving yourself care, rest and space to evolve is a beautiful expression of strength.

 

This quick-moving fitness sequence will help you build strength in your core and back - your personal pillar of strength.

 

 Week 3: Axis of Movement, Hips + Glutes

My goal for you is to feel better. That means body and mind. This week is all about the body - MOVING BETTER. So let’s get to it.

Often people talk about their “tight hips” which is common for people who either sit throughout the day, those who do repetitive exercise like running - or both! This week we will focus on both the mobility of the hips, specifically deeper stretching in the yoga class - but I want to highlight the importance of strengthening the hips, to help reduce tightness and increase mobility.
Here’s why: your body is smart and efficient, so it will often use the muscles it is most in tune with to help it get around. When the glutes weaken due to underuse, your body will often default to use your legs, core and back to create the movement instead - which will result in tightness. The moral of this story is to not forget about your glutes! Strong, activated glutes will help you walk better, move from seated to standing with ease and it will often ease back and hamstring pain (as long as you also stretch!).

 
 

 Week 4: Stability and Foundation, Legs

This week is about your stability and foundation, your strong legs. For most, this won’t take too much imagination to connect to, our legs are how we get around, and how we stand in our body.
What is important and possibly new, is the idea of grounding through your legs and feet when life gets busy, messy, or scattered. It is easy for us to live in our heads and our hearts, which at times that can take us off the ground. So bringing attention back to your feet and legs will help you stay connected to what is real, what now, and what is secure. You can do this by feeling the ground underneath your feet, connecting to the place you are in, and by breathing with a downward direction on your exhale.