Be Well Personal Training

Emotional fitness: cultivating responsiveness The ability to initiate movement from the breast bone can lead to an entirely different way of standing, sitting, and breathing. Learning to initiate movement from the breast bone will benefit you if: You have ever had physical trauma in your abdominal region You struggle with feeling rigid and you want to learn how to cultivate responsiveness throughout your spine You sometimes have trouble breathing and/or are prone to feelin...g anxious You want to feel less tense and more coordinated during your movement practice.. .. Try this: Set a timer for two minutes. Initiate movement from your breast bone. Start small, finding subtle transitions and let it expand to level changes and rotations.. .. When the timer goes off pause. Observe your breathing and how you feel in the center of your body.. .. A client recently said to me, I don’t understand why I feel so much better. These concepts seem so simple. Find the depth in the simplicity. You may be surprised at what’s there.. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #mobility #awareness #mindfulmovement #yoga #pilates #movement #therisetheshine #move

Emotional fitness: using the arms to connect the ribs to the pelvis I have a client who is in his early 40s, is athletic, and had chronic low back pain and fear of certain positions for years. When he first came to see me, his ribs didn’t connect with the floor at all.. .. I tried several things (all of the things, the breathing, the thoracic flexion with posterior tilt, the gentle somatic work), with no success, until the day I set him up in this position.. ..... The bars gave him something to anchor his hands to which allowed him to anchor his ribs. The results lasted the entire session, and when he lied down on the floor at the end, he commented how good it felt to actually feel that part of his back on the floor.. .. That was over a year ago. He still uses this exercise when he’s stressed or wants to remind himself of the connection (he uses the bars along his back deck, since Stall bars aren’t exactly common).. .. Not everything has to fall neatly into a specific exercise category. Sometimes, making the connection has a bigger impact on the nervous system than feeling the core.. .. Try this: Find a secure object bolted into the floor (beams work great). Lie down with your head towards the bam and your hands holding the beam. Exhale and gently pull the beam towards your pelvis. Pick up your feet (continue lightly pulling the beam the entire time). On your next exhale, lower one foot to the floor. Inhale, pick it up. Alternate sides and play with switching up the breathing pattern to inhale and lower one foot to floor, exhale to pick it up. What feels best for you?. .. When you finish, rest your hands by your sides and the feet on the floor. Observe your breathing and the sensation of your ribs against the floor. Do you feel supported by the ground?. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #movement #strength #movementforanxiety #connections #yoga #pilates #prehab #mindfulnovement See more

Emotional fitness: the bridge as a tool for down-regulation I have two clients, a 40 year old endurance athlete and a 50 year old mom of two. Both are prone to anxiety, both have had low back pain, and both are currently pain free and super strong. But I still include basic bridging variation in their warm-ups (and not the single leg kind). Why?. .. When bridging is taught without an emphasis on muscle activation or strengthening anything or squeezing anything, it provides lo...ts of sensory feedback to the brain about the spine’s position in space. The brain loves to know where all the body parts are (accuracy leads to better predictions for future movement). This enhanced awareness can down-regulate the nervous system.. .. For both of these individuals, they feel like their spines are getting long when they bridge. Their breathing improves and their ribs move into more of an exploratory position without me saying anything. In a way, bridging grounds them.. .. Try this: lie on your back. Feel the sensation of your heels against the floor and imagine the inside of the feet and the outside of the feet are reaching long. Press the feet into the floor while reaching them forward. Let the hips lift up. Lower down, but keep the awareness in the feet. Perform four times. After your fourth one, rest on your back for a moment. Observe the sensation of your ribs and pelvis against the floor.. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #bodyweightexercises #yoga #pilates #movement #mindfulmovement See more

Emotional fitness: adding a constraint It’s easy to view exercise and movement as monotonous. It’s one of the reasons that despite the myriad of health benefits exercise and regular movement have on emotional well-being, people have a difficult time creating the time, energy, and space to fit it into their daily lives.. .. One way to create consistency is to make the act of movement interesting. Adding a simple constraint can focus attention, make the act of movement feel les...s hard, and make the entire process more enjoyable.. .. Try this: find a semi slippery surface. Put on socks. Set a timer for two minutes. Don’t let the feet leave the ground (one aspect of both feet remains on the floor at all times). How many ways can you move?.. .. When you are finished, observe your breathing and the sensation of your feet as they interact with the ground. How do you feel?. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #movement #mobility #thinkdifferent #strength #yoga #pilates #therisetheshine See more

Emotional fitness: mindset What do you believe about movement? What do you believe about yourself? Your movement patterns are a direct reflection of your mindset.. .. What if there was nothing wrong with your transverse abdominis or your gluteus medius? Or your tight soleus or overactive subscapularis weren’t actually the reasons your foot hurt or your shoulder was achy? Would that change your relationship to how you moved?. ..... Movement is simple: sensory input equals motor output. Youall of youworks together, not in isolation.. .. (For more evidence based ideas about mindful movement, the book Body, Mimd, Movement is available through the link in the bio now.). .. #movement #playdaily #emotionalfitness #prehab #yoga #pilates #fitness #personaltraining #mindset See more

Emotional fitness: conscious movement Moving consciously and deliberately requires focus.. .. It also allows you to notice what’s challenging and what isn’t, telling you something about your movement flexibility. Can you do something you do all of the time differently or do you default to strongly ingrained habits?. ..... Try this: come into a hands and knees position. Pick up one hand and place your hand down, rolling from the pinkie edge to the thumb edge.. .. Repeat on the other side. Place your hands down in different positions, exploring the idea of rolling the hand from the pinkie edge to the thumb edge.. .. When you are finished, take a moment and observe the sense of your hands and how they connect to the rest of the arm.. .. (I am teaching a free 45 minute grounding class for newsletter subscribers on Thursday. If you can’t make it live, I will send out the replay.) #playdaily #emotionalfitness #bodyweighttraining #strength #mobility #awareness #grounding #therisetheshine See more

Emotional fitness: grounding the hands There are certain places in the body that are filled with sensory information. The heels of the palms (like the heels of the feet) are one of those places.. .. Connecting with the heels of the hands not only gives you a chance to use your entire upper limb in a different way, it also can be calming, in an interesting way, by creating a sensation of support.. ..... (I am teaching a free 45 minute class on Thursday for my newsletter subscribers with grounding as a theme. A replay will be available if you can’t make it live.). .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #wriststrength #bodyweightyraining #grounding #yoga #pilates #strength See more

Emotional fitness: tying things together This week, I have discussed some of the main benefits of movement including concepts and how they can be applied. But where does playful movement land in the spectrum of things?. .. Play is designed to pose a challenge using constraints. Because it is challenging, not every attempt is successful. This is how we learn.. ..... The benefits of play are far reaching. It focuses attention, causes a cascade of hormones to be released, including the desirable dopamine which is your reward hormone and is released when you successfully complete a task, and can be a great way to tap into the elusive flow state.. .. Movement that doesn’t look like traditional exercise and is fun is also incredibly beneficial for individuals with chronic pain, anxiety, depression, or those who have experienced trauma. It takes them out of their heads for a moment and into their bodies in a non-threatening way.. .. My goal was fifty dribbles, combining balls bouncing at the same time with balls bouncing not at the same time. How will you play today?. .. #playdaily #movement #emotionalfitness #fitness #movementasplay #mindfulness #flow #prehab #play See more

Emotional fitness: Why balance? Stressful physical situations, like balancing on a rail, are interesting. They require physical ability (coordination of joints and stability), focus, and the ability to stay appropriately calm for the task.. .. Interoceptive awareness is the observation of the internal physiological state. If, when I get on the bar, I feel my heart rate elevate significantly and my breathing becomes shallow, I know I am not going to be successfulmy physical a...bility to respond to the situation will be altered by how I feel about the situation emotionally (I.e., scared).. .. If, however, I am able to breathe normally, my heart rate stays relatively low, and I can focus on the present, I am much more likely to be successful.. .. Our ability to express ourselves physically is directly affected by our emotional response to the situation (and vice versus). Challenging balance situations are a way to practice more than just standing on a rail.. .. #playdaily #emotionalfitness #balance #movement #therisetheshine #yoga #pilates #personaltraining #prehab See more

Emotional fitness: How clearly can you sense your physical self?. .. An easy way to increase mobility and noticeably alter how a person is moving is through ground movement. Why?. .. One of the reasons is being on the floor requires a certain amount of joint coordination through the feet, knees, hips, and pelvis. Another reason is the sensation of the floor on the parts of the body that are putting pressure on the floor provides sensory feedback to the brain..... .. The brain loves sensory feedback. It creates a more clear picture of what’s happening right now and provides a more accurate depiction of what could happen next.. .. The result? Movement becomes more efficient, range of motion increases, and the person feels generally calmer, more focused, and less tense.. .. So, if you are able, spend some time right now playing with two or three familiar movements on the floor. See if you can really tune in to the feeling of the floor against your feet, legs, hands, and spine. What do you notice?. .. (I am teaching a free livestream class focusing on grounding movements for email subscribers on Th, November 26 at 10AM PST. A recording will be available for those who are unable to attend live. My way of saying thank you.). .. #playdaily #movement #emotionalfitness #grounding #mobility #flow #yoga #pilates #movementforanxiety #personaltraining

Emotional fitness: Neuroception What do you see? A hip mobility drill, a lower limb coordination drill, or maybe a progression to a locomotion pattern. But what is the logic in the progression?. .. Today’s riddle can be answered by the concept of neuroception, a term coined by Stephen Porges that essentially refers to the level of safety felt at a given time. In movement, neuroception can be thought of as how safe the movement feels.. ..... Placing my hands on my thighs not only gives my hands something to do, it always my brain to feel my lower limbs and how they are moving. This feedback creates a clearer image of my movement pattern in my brain and this clear image reduces the sense of threat I might otherwise perceive with the movement.. .. This reduced sense of threat changes how I move and increases my range of motion. My nervous system chills out and my options increase.. .. I used this concept with a client yesterday. She broke her foot hiking a year and a half ago and has slowly begun trusting her foot to support her in different positions. Physical trauma reduces sense of safety; instilling confidence through increased body awareness increases safety. The look on her face when she successfully completed something she thought she’d never be able to do again was immensely rewarding for both of us.. .. When you begin looking at the movements you teach and perform as more than just, mobilize this. Strengthen that, it becomes more meaningful. (Neuroception is discussed thoroughly in the book, Body, Mind, Movement, available for purchase in the bio.) #playdaily #emotionalfitness #squats #mobility #yoga #pilates #personaltraining #therisetheshine #movement See more

Emotional Fitness: What happens when you slow down familiar movements and observe? What do you notice?. .. I noticed I wanted to pull away from my left ribs instead maintaining connection. It was insanely subtle, so why would it even matter?. ..... Because it allowed me to observe something similar when I was running the next morning and it allowed me to tune in more fully to the smallest shift in a client’s rib cage position later that day.. .. The ability to observe without judgement is called open monitoring. It’s a mindfulness technique that has a slough of benefits, both psychological and physical. (I talk about it at length in Chapter 4 of the book, Body, Mind, Movement. Link in bio to purchase.) Observe something familiar in your life, with a renewed curiosity, as though you were watching instead of fixing. What do you notice? #playdaily #movement #strength #mobility #yoga #mindfulness #emotionalfitness #therisetheshine #prehab See more

When you look at this exercise, what do you see? Maybe a hip mobility exercise or a task based balance exercise or a foot exercise.. .. While it does all of those things, it also focuses attention. Focusing attention is a way to be present, become less anxious, and calm your breathing and heart rate.. .. Movement can provide more than just physical fitness. When the individual is taken into account in a holistic way, movement contributes to emotional fitness and balance, too. (Focused attention is covered thoroughly in the recent book, Body, Mind, Movement. Check out the link in bio to purchase.) #playdaily #movement #emotionalfitness #strength #mobility #balance #personaltraining #yoga #pilates #therisetheshine

The stretch you didn’t know you needed: Playing with shapes and moving gently in and out of positions that are slightly unusual can lead to improved body awareness and general feelings of well being. There are many ways to approach this variation and while it doesn’t look practical it feels amazing. (Seriously, you should put down your phone right now and try it.) #playdaily

Individualizing movement: The fundamentals of this movement look similar, but the experience for the practitioner will feel very different. Changing what the hands do during the task is one way to alter how the movement is performed; focusing attention to different aspects of the movement through language is another.. .. Which option is the best choice for the person you in front of you? It depends. On what? So many things, all of which are covered in depth in the Body, Mind, Movement book club. The next round starts November 13. If you are tired of systems not explaining why their exercises work and/or you want a deeper understanding of how to work successfully with the person in front of you, consider joining us. https://www.jennpilotti.com//body-mind-movement-a-virtual- #playdaily

This 5:30 minute video touches upon one of the key concepts in the book, Body, Mind, Movement and how it can be applied to a basic, Lunda too all movement pattern. (The options in the video are by no means exhaustive. There is no limit to the amount of ways this particular starting point can be cued.) #playdaily

I stumbled on this earlier this week while working someone who had a touch of tennis elbow. It was remarkably effective, and I ended teaching variations of it to two more clients throughout the week to highlight different things. Give it a try if you work with anyone who spends time at the computer. #playdaily

I had a consult earlier this week with a woman who, due to a series of life events, hasn’t had a physical practice in eleven years. She used to be a devoted yoga practitioner, connected deeply to her body. In recent years, she felt disconnected and every time she tried to take a yoga class or workout she would end up injured.. .. By the end of our session, I could see she felt emotional, in a good way. Her movement patterns changed, her posture changed, and she could feel thi...ngs for the first time in eleven years.. .. I wrote the book, Body, Mind, Movement, for people who work with individuals on a one on one basis so they could work with people of all ages and abilities. Fitness and movement isn’t inclusiveit favors the already athletic and the already body aware. But what about everyone else? And what about people who have thingsinjuries, pre-existing conditions, are pregnant, have just had surgery... Where is the information on how to help these people gain body awareness, become more mobile, and get stronger?. .. The fundamentals of the mind body connection aren’t taught. Instead, they are presented as magic tricks in workshops. I set out to demystify these concepts and explain why things work, allowing the fitness and movement professional to be a more informed consumer. When you understand the basic underlying principles, it’s easier to know whether an exercise is appropriate for that person in that moment.. .. I received this dm this morning from someone who said more people should know that I wrote a book because it would help them help their clients.. .. I don’t excel at self promotion, but I believe in this work because I see it help my clients every single day. I used concepts and exercises from the book I wrote to help the woman earlier this week. The initial awareness lays the groundwork that we will build upon to get her stronger and I use these concepts with all of my clients, seven to eight hours a day, five days a week.. .. The book Body, Mind, Movement is available now. #playdaily See more

Keep the jengq blocks even, I told my last client of the evening yesterday as he set off across the 2x4, similar to how I am moving across the 2x4. This exercise was set up intentionally. What does holding the jengq blocks and keeping them even do? How does that simple act change the way someone self organizes?. .. We cover topics like these in the book club that accompanies the book, Body, Mind, Movement. We will also discuss these types of strategies in the pelvis workshop November 7 (both links are in the bio or on the website). Play with it yourself. See what happens. #playdaily

Connecting to the pelvis: One of the participants in my last round of book club requested a livestream workshop on the pelvis. And so, November 7 from 12:30-2:30 PST I will be teaching one.. .. The pelvis is one of my most favorite areas to help people connect with and integrate more fully into movement. I began studying it early in my career (the first article I read about it was in 2004), and the first time I wrote about it (badly) was in 2014. Fortunately, I have gotten mu...ch better at explaining how the two sides work during the gait cycle and how to help people feel and integrate both sides of the pelvis into movement. (The fact that there are two sides is, in my world, a very important piece of information.). .. Register or find out more here: https://www.jennpilotti.com//connecting-to-the-pelvis-an-o. If learning through livestream format isn’t your thing, consider playing with your transitions. What happens if you lead with your pelvis? How does that change things? And how does initiating from other areas affect your pelvis? #playdaily See more