The most common reasons for which I see patients in the clinical setting are injury, pain, structural imbalance, and decline in functional activity. My very first question is: what is your fitness regime? Seems like an easy question, right? But I often get a return look of confusion, shame, or an avoidance response. It’s not a trick question and I am never in judgement of what fitness looks like for anyone. I think that the response comes from a “baked-in” belief that our approach to fitness is never going to be adequate in comparison to our societal expectations. It isn’t surprising considering a constant barrage of images in the media that come to mind when we think of fitness: yogis, extreme athletes, and exercise gurus. I mean, who can live up to that?!
“So, I proceed with compassion and sensitivity to offer my unconditional support; wherever we are at is simply the current ‘state of the state’. It is the starting point to acknowledge and accept our baseline level of health, movement capacity, mindset, and ability to recognize sensation in our body. ”
We can build a fitness program from that point. Let’s be honest, in the past year and half, we have become really good at flexing our Netflix-binge-watching muscles and exercising our ZOOM-watching capacity while in bed wearing sweatpants and sipping coffee (to stay engaged). You aren’t alone! Some of us found more time to exercise while working from home, but outside of the gym setting, fitness took on less variety. We got a little stuck within our limited space and with limited equipment which we had come to rely on.
But for all of us, the very nature of the pandemic brought uncertainty, which created fear, which was amplified by contradictory and polarized messages about how to proceed in a world of unknowns. So, whether you were exercising or not, we started to live our lives with hypervigilance and anxiety. Fitness programs helped to take the edge off, however many active folks were coming into the clinic to see me with chronic tension, pain, and resistance to healing or recovery. The sympathetic nervous system was stuck in the “on” position, creating a whole host of issues related to chronic inflammation and dysregulation of the vagus nerve. Many of my patients needed help leaving survival mode behind, to return to thriving in their physical body. With breathwork, embodiment training, and manual therapy, they were able to begin or return to exercises. It became clear to me that Covid might be offering a physical re-set. It has created a perfect opportunity to initiate a new fitness regime for everyone. I am offering a whole new approach within a new paradigm for fitness, in favor of regenerative health.
The Earth-Body approach does just that! No matter where you are coming from, professional chair sitters, occasional yogis, or daily joggers, you need a fitness program that is tailored for you with a balanced, sustainable, diverse, integrative, and holistic approach. With 25 years of experience in the fitness and healthcare industry, knowledge of natural philosophy and energy medicine, and practice as a dancer, fitness competitor, physical therapist, fitness trainer, Pilates instructor, and strength and conditioning specialist, we will work together as a team to build a fitness regime that is just right for you. Discover your very own Earth-Body; the body that you were born to live in!
