This year’s Mother’s Day was epic. Somewhat terrifyingly so. I thought it was going to be a regular Mother's Day hike. A few miles. A few lizards. Lunch by the Rio Grande. But on the way back, quite a ways in the lead of the rest of the family, I walked right up to a rattlesnake, head raised, rattles a'rattling, ready to strike. I was just several feet away. With a baby on my back

In my last therapy appointment, my somatic therapist asked if we could play around with reaching. She would reach toward me. I would reach toward her. As my arms started to extend, I felt panicky. Anxious. I didn’t want to be seen reaching.

When you can begin to see how your psycho-emotional environment intersects with what's available to you in your body, you can start having some compassion for some of the obstacles you face in your movement. You can also start to change your environment. 

If you are like one of the many people who work with me, connect online or email me expressing your curiosity and confusion and delight at the interplay of your heart/emotions/psyche/narrative/life and the way you use your body, this post is for you. 

I realized this week that there are some things that I take for granted, that I tend to assume every other movement teacher already has or does or is. It turns out a few things combine into a unique alchemy in me.

Sometimes it's not just about moving more. Actually, most of the time it's not. If you are moving for health (which enables you to move for pleasure), it's also gotta be about moving better.

Even in the midst of all these difficulties, I can feel myself walking out of a dark time and into a lighter time. I've undergone immense internal change.

I will never be or do or say things that are pleasing to everyone. Or if I am, it's probably because I'm not being or doing or saying much at all, an experience that is its own kind of death.

When I started a more aggressive treatment for my digestive issues, my doctor handed me a document that outlined the two month approach she was recommending. The first order of treatment was this: Stress Reduction.

A tale of miscarriage and personal transformation.

We live in a culture that pushes toxic body messages. But this idea of not stopping to listen? Not heeding what you hear? Never resting? This is perhaps the most toxic.

Your whole body-mind health and resilience is wildly intertwined with healthy psoas muscles. This simple practice is revolutionary and can be life-changing.

After a few minutes of hip opening stretches, what had previously felt like rage now seemed practically innocuous. I was seeing red, flooded with bitterness and self-righteousness. I hated the world.