This summer is a doozy. (Insert all things doozy here.....)

We don't have to make a list but list it is. We are strong and courageous and resilient and tired and prickly and in pain. We are reaching for our higher selves that can ebb and flow with the change and pivot even when it feels easier if we could just keep things the same. How do you manage all the things? That self-care I'm always talking about is more than just a body that bounces back after you fell off the curb. That self-care is building up your resources that help you when you are in the thick of it. Life, relationships, body, work, relationships...

 You don't have to work on "it" when you are "in it". Your newfound resources that you've been working on show up when you need them. If you can be with yourself, show up with compassion and empathy for yourself even when it's ugly.  You are building trust. You are creating a witness. You are honoring self.  

So let's...

I'm waiting for an idea. Well, I have an idea. I just don't know quite how to put it all together. I actively think about the pieces but it gets all tangled in my head and another day goes by. Then I put it aside and don't work on it. I play rock star in my living room with me and my guitar. I lay on my foam roller and let it all go. I rewatched Ted Lasso and it's still really good. And then I see my idea start to form. Little bits show up at a time. Cuz ya know...the magic shows up in the spaces.

 When you take the time; when you create spaces in your day, your week, your year, you are wooing those sweet possibilities without having to know what said possibility is. Knowing or wanting to know, as in really really know... if you already knew it you would know... ya know?

  
Add some Myofascial Release to the mix and you got yourself a whole bucket of possibilities. You are creating space between your joints, your vertebra, so all can slide and...

Hello beautiful Wednesday! Hello beautiful blue sky! Hey body...How's it going? Great job sleeping last night! OH yeah, I can water the garden, no problem. Hello lavender. Oh Honey, did you not get enough water? it's ok... It's not as hot today. 

Body - "How about some coffee?"

Oh yum, hits my chocolate button...yes let's.

Body - "Can we do that hamstring stretch with a twist?"

 The body doesn't always speak up in such an obvious way. Your legs might feel heavy as you walk. Your body might have a catch in your neck as you reach up to grab your favorite coffee mug. You might feel restless in bed as your body wants to toss and turn.  Pain, tightness, and discomfort are a few of the ways the body starts to chime in, "Heeeeyyy, over here please."

It starts with your attention. Create some time where it's just you and your body. My Myofascial Stretch of the Week is your reminder to say hi to your body. Your mind might not want to...

I just got asked to contribute to an article about Radical Rest. I love that there is a movement questioning the hyper-busy state that most of us were taught to strive for this particular level of achievement. Burnout is real but we don't really notice it until we are fried, done ala done. Same with our bodies. When the "busy" starts messing with your body as in creating pain, then one starts to pay attention. Tradition health care needs a diagnosis to treat your symptom. In the word of Myofascial Release, we are looking for the cause of those symptoms. That's the magic. 

Gentle, sustained compression and elongation for two to five minutes in one spot. This work is never injurious as you are listening and creating a  witness to your body as the fascia softens and melts... without going past your edge. You are creating space in your body; space between the joints, between your vertebrae, and space between your thoughts. 

 If you...

I think I forget to ask myself what I want. Sometimes I'm just doing things because that's what I do. You make the coffee without thinking about making the coffee. You're dressed and ready for work and where are the keys and the dog leash, and the morning has gone and left. I love a good routine and it seems to serve me well...to a point. Then there was this trip I made to Vail, Colorado to speak to the nicest group of surgeons about Myofascial Release and to share some of my Myofascial Stretch Method techniques. It's been a few days back and I've still got the mountain glow:-D 

Sometimes the breakthroughs are in the routine and sometimes the breakthroughs are in the unknown. Another way to say it is ..."Go For It Honey!" 

That routine you've got going on was at some point new to you. So what do you want? Ask yourself and then add the little daily/weekly routine that is gonna get you there! You get to pivot and try new things as well as leave other...

I had one of those weeks that is full of all the things and where my brain is questioning all the things and where everything is perfect and tricky and also not so smooth and really it's all good. It's amazing how just a little bit of change in routine but when it's a little change in routine on multiple levels and areas of your life it feels like everything you look for is not in its normal spot. This is when you have a chat..with your body. 

You lay on the foam roller to let it go. Yes, the fascia AND the day. You let go of your thoughts of how it should or could be. You lay on that ball to bring more movement in those sticky hip joints, AND the whirling thoughts and feelings. You create a witness as you watch yourself, feel your body and get out of your head...you give it a place to go. Anyone spinning out there? 

 Your routines of self-care, the benefits of your beautiful work, and dedication show up when you are "in it". The vagus...

Oh did I sleep last night! I might have woke up once and then zonked right out back to the land of zzz's. This is a beautiful example of healing. So what's with the "tossing and turning wide awake holy moly I gotta get to sleep" mode? Tired but wired is an example of the nervous system stuck in fight or flight...on a primal level your body does not feel safe. We don't heal first and then the nervous system goes off duty. Nope. You gotta sweet talk your body AND nervous system and then your body can heal and you can get that magic sleep. It's all connected!

Myofascial release is talking to your fascia yep and then some! Gentle, sustained compression and elongation without going past your edge. Helllooo nervous system...all is well. You could take more pressure on that hamstring or fit more "doing" in your day but your nervous system can register that as you being chased by a tiger! 

 If you are running all day and then some, pushing through pain, and putting...

My daughter Emma's in town. It's fabulous and she just arrived and my heart is so content just being in the same house. As I sit here writing, I wonder if I could feel this content and full with me, myself, and I. Namely my body and the ebb and flow of all the aches and pains that come with having a body. Even the little pangs that tell you to get off the computer...

Pain is the body asking for attention...AND if you do that Myofascial Stretch Method technique, not only when you are tight or have pain, but as a point of self-care to prevent the big injury, recover faster from the fall, and be able to just sit with yourself and your body and feel that big whoosh of "content", "life is good" sort of feeling, like when your favorite person comes into town.

 Hello Body! It's soooo great to see you! Would you like a drink of water? Something to eat? A little foam roller along the spine? I've got this one new V-Sit foldover with the noodle...and when you...

Where's the pivot?

That little opening leads you to your new favorite self—that moment when you catch yourself in autopilot AND you notice. You can still do the thing, think the thought, but you are watching. You notice and here is where you hover. As John Barnes, founder of myofascial release as we know it, refers to stillpoints. The moment where all movement stops and we process, integrate, and heal.

You don't always have to be moving to get where you're trying to go. You don't have to be searching for the answer to show up.  The magic happens when you hover in the pause—engaged with deep listening and awareness.

 Meandering a stillpoint can be tricky as we are taught to go and go some more. So the pivot...? The shift you are looking for is in the allowing, the letting go, and the trust that it's working. Myofascial Release is a big door that can open to a world of less pain, more movement, and a place where you...

I love my car. It's a Mini Cooper and it just fits my body so. As a lady at 5'4" the Chevy Equinox I had before was way too much car for me AND backing up that beast was a bit of a looky with a prayer. I'm old school as far as driving and I am not a fan of the backup camera in the dash. In that SUV, I felt like there was an acre of view that I was missing that could include puppies, tricycles, or curbs. 

You might not realize that you can't turn your neck until you can't turn your neck. It can be years in the making but you're gonna want to pay attention because rotation is the fountain of youth!

I can't vouch for the puppies or the trikes but I definitely made friends with a few curbs. Hey, no judgment as I live in the city and get home a little later than the rest of the block so my parallel parking has got to be spot on. 

That means that I am looking over my shoulder, which means my rotation, the ability to turn my neck and really my whole spine without a...