In our work with you, we look at both "Evolutionary Movements" and "Specialized Movements".  

 

If you are a human, you do Evolutionary Movements.    Within this class are Essential Movements - i.e. breathing, eye tracking, hearing, swallowing, digesting and vocalizing - and Fundamental Movements - walking, crawling, getting up and down, changing position and lifting, carrying, moving and lowering objects.  

 

The Essential Movements are those needed to sustain life and they are, for the most part, automatic.   We do not need to learn them.   How we work with these movements is by freeing up any holding, bracing or stiffening patterns that prevent these movements from being carried out optimally.   These are the movements that we take for granted until they start to break down in our later years.   Our approach is to address restrictions to these movements to improve vitality now and well into old age. 

 

While it is not seen as a "movement", we could also include here our ability to rest fully.    "Rest" can include the range from sitting quietly and meditating to full and deep sleep.   We think of rest as the opposite of movement - rest as stillness - but it is a state of rest that actually assists the vitality of our being by permitting regenerative processes (movements) to occur. 

 

The Fundamental Movements are also movements that we tend to take for granted until we begin to lose them.  We typically learn these movements only as far as gets the job done. For example we learn to walk in a way that gets us from one place to another and then we just assume that we are, in fact, "walking well".    Often when working with clients on walking, there will be an 'aha' moment and a comment like "who knew I'd be learning to walk at this age!" while they find renewed ability, balance and even enjoyment in the development of their walking.    Likewise, we can lift, carry and lower objects in ways that wear our body down or we can learn to perform these actions in ways that continue to build our strength and ability.   The fact is, we are all doing these movements over and over again over the course of our lifetime.   To do them poorly wears us down over time.   To do them well builds us up!

 

The Specialized Movements are more specific to the individual and they are what we call Work Movements and Passion Movements.   Work Movements are the ones that you do at your job.   For example, hammering and drilling (carpentry), walking, talking and carrying (restaurant service) or sitting at a computer, typing, scrolling and reading (office work).   Passion Movements refer to movements that you do for the love of them, like painting, dancing, playing a sport and even reading.  

 

While there can be considerable overlap between these two groups, like someone whose art or sport is also the source of their livelihood, there are a few reasons why we separate them.   One reason being that for any clients who only have Work Movements in their life and never engage in Passion Movements, we hope to encourage them to find movements that they also do for the love of that action as part of work-life balance.   Another reason is to observe how Work Movements and Passion Movements can feel so different.   For example, Work Movements can feel stress-filled and burdensome while passion Movements can feel stress-relieving and joyful.   It is interesting to note here that even though someone can have this perception of difference, very often the way we carry excessive tension will be the same whether we are stressing or having fun!   

 

Working with Specialized Movements, we develop for you tools for helping those movements become more efficient and skillful and tools for being able to resolve pain or stiffness that is getting in the way of those movements.   When you feel discomfort, instead of thinking, "I have to book a session with my chiropractor", you will be able to think, "I know what to do for this" and take action to resolve the discomfort right then and there.  

 

Embodied Movement Coaching is about empowering you to grow and move well, lifelong.