As I mentioned in last week’s post, I spent 5 days in Sequim, Washington at the Nutritious Movement Center with my tribe of awesome body nerds. We geeked out on anatomy, movement, exercise, nature, food and how best to twerk on the beach. Ok, that part wasn’t me, but another bunch of super-babes!
This was the theme of the week: if you think of your body as being made of clay then you are not only the lump of material to be molded, but the artist who does the molding. Every way we move or don’t move has an effect on the shape we create. You have the possibility of making change! Even those who have limited physical ranges can have a huge effect by the act of THINKING about moving! For more amazing information about this I recommend The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doige MD. I took it as my reading-on-the-plane book. I’ve read it three times now and absorb something else every time!
I got to be the student instead of the teacher. Learning something new every time I see my teacher, Katy Bowman, is one of the great gifts!
We took 2, 3 or even 4 classes a day! Even though my job is all about moving and teaching moving, I don’t make as much focused time for myself as I could. These weeks are golden for me!
We went on a three hour hike of the Dungeness Spit. It was fascinating to see how we all navigated the uneven, rocky, tree covered terrain. I did some of the walk barefoot and then realised that, although it was a terrific feeling and a good challenge for my feet, I wasn’t getting to look at the gorgeous views as I kept my eyes on the uneven rocky beach below me! I walked on fallen trees, swung over and under logs, jumped and squatted, chatted and breathed in the salty sea air. Awesome.
We did a fantastic morning of negotiating an indoor obstacle course. We went around walking, walking while carrying things, crawling, crawling on all fours, crawling while carrying things. Crazy awesome whole body workout! If you ever want to get your core going I can’t recommend this enough. I imagined I was carrying vital medicine for my children while making my through a lava field. Most effective for making the jump from a right side up to an upside down BOSU feel risky!
I had a wonderful week meeting new people and seeing some of the tribe that I haven’t coincided with for a while. I re-fueled my energy and got my imagination going. I am so grateful for having these opportunities to learn with professionals from so many disciplines: not only those who specialize in Restorative Exercise but also in Pilates, yoga, massage, energy work, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and amazing students who are not in it to teach but to learn for their own sake.
Now I’m back to the studio and ready to go … Let’s get moving and have some fun!
xo
Alison
I’m the owner of Boomerang Pilates and creator of the Move SMART program. I teach teachers how to incorporate sustainable movement and authentic teaching in their classes. 
