This is the first summer since the pandemic where it feels like NYC is back to normal (if that’s even a thing). It seems like people are really taking a much needed break to find their balance. I’ve found myself procrastinating on adulting things because I know my life is gonna to shift big time with the start of September and grad school. 

I was home in July visiting my family and my mom was recovering from an injury in her ankles. I watched her walk to the car with me on the way to my nephew’s taekwondo class. 

I noticed that her legs were rotated from her hips which looked like toes to the side instead of facing forward. I asked her to try and push off with her big toe to see how that felt. It didn’t give her pain, so it was ok to explore. This also had her move her legs into a more parallel position instead of the rotated one she was in before. 

I love getting pings of helpful things I can share with you in everyday life. The other week I caught up with a friend I haven’t seen since before the pandemic. Meeting up with people where you can pick up where you left off reminds me that time is irrelevant. As I was sharing about something new I’m learning, they were reminded to do their nerve stretches for their shoulder rehab. 

The more bodies I’ve touched, the more I understand the feeling of anxiety in someone’s tissues. The body is braced in certain areas, specific to the person and their holding patterns, which can make it challenging to take deeper breaths. My focus in these situations is to relax the person’s nervous system, so deeper breathing comes naturally. 

Fascia is one of the coolest parts of the body. It’s like a supportive sleeve for the muscles and bones to rest in. If you’ve ever worn a wetsuit, that’s way thicker, but a similar feel. If you pull down around one thigh, you can see the effect in the opposite hips, belly and chest along with the same side lower leg and foot. If one part of us is affected, other parts will show up to support the balance of strength so that the injured tissues can rest and heal. It’s nice to know that there’s community in our body like we have community in our life.

Our body is designed to take care of itself. Our brain takes the work out of the positions we put our body in regularly, so we don’t have to think about where our fingers go to hold a pen or what happens in our hips to sit in a chair. 

Chinese Medicine looks at migraines as energy rising up that's not getting dispersed. Most of its insight comes from patterns in nature, which is why Chinese Medicine works with a 5 element theory. 

The other week when I met with my pilates instructor, she asked if there was anything I was feeling in my body that day, like she usually does. I mentioned that I’d like to open up my side ribs to have more access to my breath. While we were releasing the side of my right ribs, I noticed my R hip drop down so it was more relaxed.