move – Page 6 – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Learn to Love Moving & Be A Part of the Movement Movement!

Your mindset can make all the difference as to whether or not you stick to a new plan. So let’s try to change some common misconceptions about moving. Let’s learn to love movement.

I Don’t Have Time

This is never really true of anything. We have the time. It’s about how we prioritize our time, and it this case whether we prioritize movement. Most of us have the ability to reorganize our schedule. If you get together with friends you could ask to go for a walk instead of meet up for food or coffee. If you sit down in front of the couch you could get up and march in place. When you pump gas you could do some exercises. On a phone call at work you could do some exercises. But we often feel embarrassed to move in front of others. Screw them. They aren’t moving. And if they aren’t they don’t feel as good as you when you move. Most likely they are just jealous that you don’t care. And, you might even inspire someone else to move.

As a side note, even if you think you don’t have time, you can tweak little things. Park far away […]

Learn to Love Moving & Be A Part of the Movement Movement!Maggie Downie2018-01-13T16:39:42-05:00

Wiggle Your Tail Bone Because You Can

Did you know that you can move your tail bone just like you can move all your vertebra? At least you should be able to, but to feel it you may have to do a little digging. The best place to try it is in the shower. Next time you take a shower, find your tailbone with your finger. You don’t actually have to go too deep into any crevices to find it. When I was in China and getting a massage, the therapist rubbed my tailbone. That was shocking and unwelcomed, but when you are searching for your own it’s not that invasive.

Once you find it, by engaging your pelvic floor (think do a Kegel) you should be able to feel it wiggle just a little bit. Think of the range of motion you can get from the first joint of your pointer finger. It’s not a big movement, but you should feel something.

The tailbone is really the last bone of your spine. If something in the body is meant to have mobility, we want to keep it mobile. Since everything is connected, if your pelvic floor is too tight or too slack that effects the positioning of the […]

Wiggle Your Tail Bone Because You CanMaggie Downie2018-02-14T15:33:38-05:00

Movement Beats Polio

My Grandma inside the igloo!

My grandma contracted polio when she was nine. She was so sick her mother had to push her in a baby carriage to walk her to the hospital. She was embarrassed and mad at her mom because she was nine and didn’t belong in a baby carriage. No one else in the Waterbury area had been diagnosed with polio so at first the doctors didn’t know what was wrong. Before long there was an entire ward of children with polio.

For six month, my grandma was strapped to a wooden plank to immobilize her. It was the early thirties. The hospitals didn’t have air conditioning and she talks about how hot it could get in the room she shared with a group of polio-infected children. Those that died were wheeled out. One of her best memories from her time in the hospital was on summer Saturday nights when the nurses would wheel patients who were well enough out onto a patio for fresh air. The nurses would turn on music and dance.

When it was time to go home the doctor told her mother […]

Movement Beats PolioMaggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:42-04:00

Movement is Maintenance

Body vs. Machine

Your body is not your car. You can bring it in for regular checkups, but you can’t replace the parts anytime you want. And if you need to and the part is available, it might be VERY, VERY expensive.

So do some regular maintenance (code for movement) and help your body feel better and last longer.

Movement is MaintenanceMaggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:42-04:00

Chill Out for Better Results…It’s Not All or Nothing

The barefoot running movement got a pretty bad reputation because anecdotally lots of people got hurt barefoot running. If I got seriously injured doing something I attempted to do for my health, I’d stop too. If I loved running before I altered the way I did it and hated it now, I go back to my old ways. It makes sense.

One of my friends tore both his Achilles tendons running with minimalist shoes. But what he did and what many barefoot runners did was push too much too fast. The barefoot running movement and the makers of minimalist shoes all said if you want to make this change you have to start slow—really slow. Go too fast and you’ll get hurt. Taking on more than we are ready for is a major reason people new to exercise stop moving. They work too hard in a hope to get quick results, get hurt and don’t want to continue. Some people associate exercise with pain and getting hurt. That’s always been their experience. Moving doesn’t have to hurt, and should NEVER hurt in a “bad” way. The concept of no pain no gain has been disproved, but it is a really hard […]

Chill Out for Better Results…It’s Not All or NothingMaggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:49-04:00