Embodying Inspiration

You ask, "What does that mean AJ?" Well in my opinion it requires people to move freely into what feels good/helpful which may be in ways that others aren’t moving. This kind of freedom requires each of us to lean into and trust our literal tissues to try something new and see what it feels like which in my opinion is called bravery! When we see people use their bodies in unique ways that then becomes options for others. And it’s the options represented that become the catalyst for indvidualized movement and then boom - there you have it folks -  energetically charged and individually inspired movement! We simply don’t have to move in the same ways that’s the beauty of movement and why dance and ballet and contorsionists and are so much fun to watch maybe we’ll never be able to perform what they do but it provides at least a suggested menu of options to try right? When I first started yoga and movement my ego was all up in those movements. I was cranking my tissues into the shapes, holding my breath, and furiously punishing and shaming my body for struggling to create the shapes that were never meant for me to achieve early in my practice. It wasn’t until I started working with all of you and showing up with compassion for your intense experiences that I was able to have compassion for my own.  It’s through feeling the sensations along that movement pattern that we can start to learn about our strengths and limitations and it’s in moving with each of you in ways that your bodies needed that has helped heal me. So thank you to each and every one of you! This came in the form of radical honestly that we were able to increase or decrease in pain and decide that maybe that isn’t a way you should move YET and if that’s the case lets try moving in the opposite direction and seeing if that works for you. We simply all need our own ways of moving - if we're all doing the same “exercise prescription” or are repeating the same movements offered we might be missing an oppertunitty to connect with ourselves and make intentional counter movements based on what our sensation is telling us. What if all movment was required to be almost prechecked or screened before we choose to reinforced it? If we move slowly and with intention we can feel our yes's and no's. And when we don't honor the no's we're actually not helping ourselves when we continue to pinch sensative areas without adding in another joint. We’re moving for the sake of movement because we’ve heard we have to move to keep moving and choose movements that serve the ego not the physical body. But it’s through a deeply diverse, expansive, intentional and curious movement and breath practice that we can collect the data about ourselves both physically, emotionally and spiritually to guide us forward and holistically inform us on which way to go. Lets use the proposal stretch that I give a lot of you (the stretch that is in my logo) as an example of a movement that needs a deeply repetitive and consistent relationship to work through due to the inherent nature of its opposition to our modern lives. At first this movement feels like your running into a wall. And you are! A literal wall of extremely tight tissue and stretching and breathing through it takes time and diligence and patience and consistency. This movement is one I’ve determined needed simply because we sit/squat and/or spend so much time with our thigh bones out in front of us and our low backs unsupported by our low back bones while in the seated position. The proposal stretch quite literally counters daily living so the intensity of this stretch is not only VERY real but requires incredible breath work and an honest observation of the narrative happening while in this position as well as awareness about our capacity. We’ve often hear “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and it’s true! Through awareness of our bodies can all these parts of ourselves deem the external environment safe enough to stay in the position while breathing and maybe even venture into a deep sink of the tissues. Without a big breath in these positions no matter how much you stretch through the tissue the brain is still determining an unsafe environment because there is no breath happening! It’s through a breath filled present experience that the body will give permission to sink deeper or add another joint to the movement. If we take movement and change the way we practice it- less as something we have to do - and more about spending time with ourselves - we shift the attention from a shame driven experience(I hate the way I look) coated with judgmental narratives about ourselves(I am weak or lazy) and into curious quality time soaked in pleasure self love and compassion and in turn inspire someone else to move in this same way. This way of moving is contagious. It fuels others. This intention is an energetic expression and WILLLLLL change the way people move around you! This is what inspiration is. This is how we reconnect with ourselves and plug into the collective consciousness. This is how we on an individual level empower and create change in our present environments. Idk about you - but the suffering of the world has me wanting to show up in whatever ways I can to help reduce suffering and the only impact I have is right here in each and every present moment and if my curious intention encourages someone else to move their bodies in a new and unique ways then that is the impact I have to contribute. One breath at a time. Exploring these tissues and dedciating my experience to the expansion of myself and others. As I write this I sink deeper into my hips as I’ve been criss cross applesauce this whole time opening and wiggling, noticing all of the tightness. I hope this lands for you in a way that inspires and encourages you to be the most you version of you.

Wamly, AJ!