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...

 When people start to work with me, they want to know how long it's gonna take...for the pain to go away. I gave a talk to my Beloved Bust group about intimacy after breast cancer and we spoke about scar release, fight or flight, and specific ways to reconnect with yourself and heal after trauma and someone asks..."Isn't there a pill for libido?" There are...and pills for pain and all the things which are great...but the long-term relief that you are looking for is not gonna be found in that pill. My practice, both online and at the clinic is full of people that want more than a pill or another surgery. As the saying goes...

"Healing is not an event but a journey" and sometimes that journey is longer than we think and the wins can be overshadowed with doubts, self-sabotage, and all the things...but know that you are on your way! It can be so subtle as that chatter of pain softens and makes room for more dreaming and more heart in your everyday. So ponder...

I don't know if you knew this, but I grew up with horses. My dad not only worked at the factory for Chrysler but my dad trained horses. Western mind you... all cowboy or cowgirl if you will. I loved hanging out in that old barn and helping my dad feed the horses. Now I don't remember stretching or thinking about fascia or how the body works back then, but I do remember jumping out the hayloft, falling off the fence(practicing cartwheels:-), and crashing into trees while swinging on vines in the back pasture. 

When you're young like that you still bounce. I would stand up and brush it off and then get back to what I was doing. 

Now picture me in high school, running track. I was a really fast, middle distance runner but I wasn't consistent. Sometimes when I ran it felt like I had a different shoe on each foot. I lost my ZIP! Now when I look back...MY HIPS WERE OUT! Tight on one side and not on the other. Sometimes fast and sometimes not so much. Guess who landed on her hip...

I'm feeling a little "off" today. I did get my second vaccine on Sunday and I have been busy with work and all the things and the world is still wacky with covid and all of the limited activities...ie not much change of scenery if ya feel me. 

So, understandable if I take into account all the things though I do have a preference. You see, I prefer my bubbly, energetic self and so when she's not around I feel a little lost or meh... I do like to spend time alone and meditate and write and binge some TV, like Hotel By the Sea. (I don't know what it is about Danish TV, but I love it!) ME TIME is great but it's the Myofascial Stretching that pulls me into my body and out of my head.

So if I'm wondering why I feel meh, my brain can make up that something is wrong or needs to be fixed. Get on the mat and I'm breathing and my attention is on my body. Next comes the "full of wonder" phase as I feel all of the interconnections and the magical world of fascia....

You may not know this about me but, when I was twenty-one, I broke my back in a car accident. I had a can-do attitude and when they told me I would have trouble walking my go-to was "Watch Me!" and I pushed through it and got back to walking! I had a great doc that left out the hardware and decided I was young and we would just see how my body and back would heal on their own.

The world is so often focused on strengthening. Be strong! Work it! We've even made our push past it mentality into fun and glamour...WORK IT! Way to Push Through!! High fiving each other on our way out of the gym. (Remember the gym...hmmm)

Anyway, when your shoulder is tight or your back hurts the most common treatment before surgery and the like, is to strengthen it. Yes, oh so important, but you can't strengthen,(for you data peeps...ie: push against resistance from a lengthened position and contract), if it's tight, dense, and bracing. You can't tighten something that won't even open in the...

I'm writing this on Sunday which in our house means pancake day:-)

This tradition started with me and my daughter, Emma, but I have continued it well into the Emma is away at college phase and now even into the phase called Emma loves California and isn't coming home anytime soon:-) (Cali IS so lovely:-)

Do I want chocolate chip pancakes or blueberry...or lemon, lavender, pecan, AND blueberry pancakes? This weekly tradition warms my heart and brings me joy and I get to chat with Emma and share my pancake flavor of the week. If I skip a week I'm ok but I do feel like something is missing... a subtle little tug that makes me sure to pancake it up the next week. 

It's the bits of self-care that add up to a full heart and happy body. I'm sure you get the gist and all but this is what weekly myofascial in my world means to me.

Giving attention to your body (aka fascia), even if you're not hurting, is that bit of self-care that keeps it all humming along...