Summer News: Dynamic Balance

Happy Late Summer!

We are busy here at Turning Light with Therapeutic Yoga, Bowenwork, Scar Tissue Release work (MSTR), and even breathing and laughing – all good for health and well-being. So far most of the work is still in person, though a few are choosing remote class log-in (we offer hybrid classes to suit everyone’s comfort level) and even remote Bowenwork.

Also, this spring I completed my next level of Bowenwork certification (ABA’s highest except for full instructor) of 500+ hour “Professional” in Bowenwork! I LOVE to learn so I just completed a course on the Lymphatic System. Currently I am taking “Therapeutic Yoga for the Older Adult”. As we age, most of our processes slow down including sensory awareness and our ability to both assimilate and react to changing stimuli, to name a few. We want to be able to respond to changes in our bodies as well as in our environments, and also in our relation to our environment (proprioception), more quickly, improving stability and dynamic balance. We also want to improve dual tasking: ie engaging both brain and body simultaneously. Experiment below.

September 11 will be another 4- hour Intro Bowenwork class: Introduction to Wellness in Your Hands. There are some great tools here for Balance, First Aid, mitigating injury (especially done in the moment, such as on a hiking trail!), stress reduction and more. Here is a link to more information. 2 spaces left.

Experiment: try this!

Stand in “Mountain Pose” (ie “normal standing”). Sense your feet on earth. Are you more on balls/heels? Inside/outside of feet? Right/Left leg more weighted? Knees locked? … Where are your body parts in space? … Stacked over your feet? Or are some ahead of your feet, and others more behind? … Look in a mirror for another perspective to what you feel. Is there a match? … How is your breathing?

Now, shift your weight to one leg – perhaps even enough to release the other foot from the floor. Are you still tall – or are you leaning to one side? Steady or wobbly? … Breathing or holding? Back to two feet. Then try the other side. What do you notice?

In “Mountain Pose”, look out in front of you at a point with laser focus. What do you notice? … And how is your breathing? How is it to shift your weight to one leg?

Next soften your gaze so you still see the point, but you also have awareness of what is around it, around you, the bottoms of your feet … What do you notice? And how is your breathing? How is it now to shift your weight to one leg?

Play with these awareness cues the next time you go for a walk – or heck – the next time you walk up or down a set of steps!

Have fun! Let me know what you discover!

If I can help support your well-being – let me know!

(Opening photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash)