One to One personal coaching
I know it feels counterintuitive to move more when we are in discomfort. But in fact what we need to do is move differently.
Certainly not move less which is the biggest mistake we make when discomfort comes a knockin.
We need to move differently!
That’s where movement education comes in.
It identifies the movement patterns you are missing and then gently reminds the body and brain how to do them again through movement.
If your hips hurt, your knees won’t bend, it’s hard to imagine doing the things you love.
And even more difficult to believe that an effective solution to your aches and pains could be in moving itself.
What I do differently…
I support your body to move from a place of improved communication between your brain and your body.
Better information creates better movement and better movement creates better outcomes in terms of you saying goodbye to pain and hello to life!
How?
The Heather Dennis Method uses a six step method that restores how you used to move when you were younger and lost either through disuse, abuse or lack of use.
The good news is you know how to do all this movement stuff, you just need to remind your brain and body of that fact.
Here are the 7 steps:
1. Awareness
We improve how you sense yourself. In relationship to the ground, one part of the body in relationship to another and one joint in harmony with another
2. Movement
Functional movements of the joints like moving our spine like a piano keyboard rather than an iron rod. Moving our shoulders the way mother nature designed them to be moved. Learning to swing your arms when you walk.
3. Support
Feeling the support of gravity from pushing your body into the ground. The support of your breath from the inside out and the support of muscles contracting to support and move your joints
4. Control
We need to feel our joint movements in order to control them. We can’t control what we don’t feel.
5. Coordination
Coordination is about doing three things at once. Here we start with controlling one thing then another and then another. It’s juggling mind and body and awareness that creates a smart body
6. Balance
Balance is a skill. It’s the final cherry on top of getting the first six steps in place and then creating stillness in mind and body
7. Relaxation
Being able to relax is a skill. One that comes more easily to an aligned and adaptive body. Short relaxations are a mechanism that helps the body integrate the changes each movement lesson creates.
By practicing these 7 steps you’ll uncover your own unique movement signature. The one you were born with. The only one that works for YOU!
Here’s what you can expect in a one to one or group coaching session:
⟶ Basics first
⟶ We’ll address the low hanging fruit first. Things like getting up from a chair. Hinging your hips to bend forward. Getting up off the floor. Reaching for things. Getting our walk back
⟶ Then we’ll go to the center…your spine. Which is meant to move like a snake not a steel pole. Here moving the spine is as important as stabilizing it.
⟶ Breathing and core they go together. Here we learn how to support ourselves
⟶ Shoulders and hips need to move in all directions
⟶ Knees and ankles need to flex and extend
⟶ Elbows and wrists need to bend and extend
⟶ Unlock your jaw and free your neck
⟶ Hands and feet are the way we interact with the world around us
Most people are aware of what they can’t do.
While we respect and consider limitations we start from a place of what you can do and build from there. I want to give you hope in getting out of pain and back to life.
You will learn how to get stronger so you can carry heavy suitcases on your next trip to Paris. Dance all night, paddle the day away, play golf, or pickleball.
You’ll have tools to manage when you might overdo things and the aches come back.
This is the work I do in my group and one to one coaching service that helps people like you get unstuck so you can start moving better, feeling better and living better in as little as one session.
We can do this either online or One to One in my fully equipped Pilates Studio near Lunenburg. Perhaps you’ve heard of or tried Pilates. Unfortunately the only commercially viable way of doing it is what are called Mat Classes. Joe Pilates, it’s founder would disagree. You see he developed spring loaded equipment that supported the body to make movement easier. And remind the body of its natural ease. Which is the polar opposite to most gym equipment we see today.