Glow o Pregnancy

Just how much has your womanly body had to endure so far in your lifetime? How many babies have you carried, delivered and continue to carry, (despite the fact that they have been walking on there own for years now?). How much time do you actually dedicate to YOU AND YOUR TEMPLE? That's what I thought. I am sure you can relate to the aches and pains of the everyday mother... the sore knees as you squat down to tie a shoe or pick up a wayward toy for the humpteenth time... the way your back screams as you haul your toddler up in your arms, already full with grocery bags, so you can cross the street before the light turns red... the pops and cracks your hips make because your bones and ligaments have been pushed to the extreme and still haven't seemed to return to their pre-pregnancy positions. I am here to (uncomfortably) stand up and say loudly to the world, "I PROMISE TO MAKE TIME FOR MY BODY!"  Because truly, it is all that I have that will, quite literally, carry me through the rest of this life! I want to be able to bike around town as long as I can. I want to be able to get down on the floor with grandbabies. I want to be able to dance at my 80th birthday. I need to start now to ensure that I have a fighting chance at these things and more.

We are all trying so desperately to juggle motherhood, domestic duties, careers and loving relationships that it seems like our basic well being always gets shuffled to the bottom of the 'To Do' pile. Maybe you are like me and you go through waves of good-for-your-body activity and feel great, only to get inundated with tasks, and laundry and life in general! Then comes the guilt which we all know is eased by chocolate, right? I will not give up my chocolate but, with the my aging bones as witness, I am going to pay closer attention to my body's signs. 

In my former life, about two or so dozen years ago, I was a dance major at Concordia University. It was certainly a passion and I was thrilled to be dancing every.single.day. I even took an additional year of modern technique classes, without credit, so I wouldn't have to stop what my body and soul craved. I LOVED every movement class and the way my body ate up the space around me. So, I know I have it in me to get moving again. But after kids and time and years of just moving to get from one place to the next, it is a challenge. In a desperate internet search to help heal my creaking, aching hip sockets I stumbled across a vaguely familiar term... Feldenkrais. My memory went straight to the span of days that we spent in anatomy class with a Feldenkrais instructor who taught us how to stand and sit. Being in my early 20's I obviously felt I had mastered these physical feats and with eyes rolling, I barely endured the painfully slow repetitive descent up and down, from standing, to sitting and back again, and over again and over and over. 

Fast forward 20 years and 2 babies later and I am getting reacquainted with the Feldenkrais method. Attention to how your body feels is at the core of this movement pedagogy. With slow, deliberate and oh-so gentle movement patterns targeting specific areas of your body, you can reset your body's alignment allowing for greater mobility, flexibility and ease of motion. Many of these exercises begin with you lying on the floor and that is definitely my kind of exercise! But seriously, I committed to these movement patterns at the height of my hip and lower back pain last year and was shocked at how quickly and thoroughly my body responded. Of course, when things are going well, there is no problem until there is a problem. So it is back to the Attention To Movement regime. Below is a sweet introduction to how we all can get back to the basics of our body mechanics. 

Credit for Video:    

Produced by Irene Gutteridge (Lyon)
Directed by Irene Gutteridge (Lyon) and Jenn Strom
Camera, Writing and Editing by Jenn Strom
Original Music by David Picking

Enjoy the view!

Tanis

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