Include your Body in your Life – Return to the Core!
If you are
- dealing with chronic pain or dysfunctional movement patterns, or
- having difficulty getting into shape, or
- hitting a plateau or obstacle in your training, or
- experiencing poor posture and its consequences
C&E’s brand-new Tool Kit manual — like the course — is designed to meet each body at its level of body awareness, strength and ability, and to help build a sustainable, effective and realistic home practice. Through fascial release techniques, strengthening, connection/awareness exercises, along with the integration of better movement patterns, you can feel improvement in your body — and everyday life.
As anyone who has already participated in Tool Kit classes can attest, this method has helped them to discover (or regain) correct, functional movement in their bodies. As mindless movement is banished and immobility and tension released, then muscle memory, proprioception, and deeper awareness are gained.
K wanted to erase the stiffness and signs of aging that had snuck up upon her in the last few years and Y was experiencing problems sleeping and morning achiness.
J struggled with anxiety, depression and brain fog and needed help to concentrate and manage mood swings.
H had issues with balance resulting in falls and needed to improve her proprioception, coordination and balance through increased body awareness.
D’s stressful job meant she often crashed without any energy to commit to exercise so the weight piled on and affected her self-esteem; she needed a simpler routine she could fit in and build on.
G was finding his achy back becoming chronic and D was referred by a physiotherapist due to headaches as a result of neck tension and posture.
After an acute injury, B needed a gentle re-intro to correct movement patterns, as did T, whose injury happened many decades ago.
G found most exercise hurt her joints while K needed a new routine that would make sense and stick as he got older.
H wanted to up her game and P wanted to win his races but their joint range of motion had been limiting their potential.
CORRECT movement is key, and grace is born of CONNECTED movement. Moving out of immobility via a gentle, gradual approach to healing, or building to top form, is achievable through connection. Loss of connection in the body can happen through injury, but more often builds up slowly, and it can gradually eat away at anyone’s energy, self-esteem and self-confidence by limiting capacity and vitality. But the good news is that IT CAN BE RESTORED! So often we underestimate our bodies’ capacity to heal and prevent damage. Our bodies are hugely complex, with untapped potential. Our bodies can also often retain defensive tension patterns long after they are needed but they can be safely released through the holistic approach of the Tool Kit.
Healing our bodies can be a daunting task, however, and learning about them an overwhelming one –without knowledgeable guidance and support.Tool Kit classes have successfully used the exercises in the manual to introduce the method under the guidance of a well-trained C&E teacher. The Tool Kit manual (AVAILABLE APRIL 2019) was developed to complement and extend the benefits of the Tool Kit classes, so the theory and techniques to lay down the supportive habits of correct dynamic movement are explained in more detail. The book guides you through the skills taught in the class, and allows you to build a home practice specific to the needs of your body. Complete with diagrams and practical visual cues, as well as specific technical instructions about the exercises, this manual also explains the theories that support the Pilates approach to well-being and the strength that all bodies are capable of achieving.
The goal of this level one Tool Kit is to teach or reinforce intelligent movement, by connecting the dots to bring more joy, ease and fluidity in daily life as well as to offer a system of support, when life throws curve balls. It will help anyone learn to recognize and let go of their own unique holding patterns and come into synchrony with the potential of breath and core. It will also increase familiarity with the critical functions of the brain and nervous system.
DID YOU KNOW, for instance, that your body tells the story of everything it has been gifted with and everything that has happened to you? It gives clues as to how well you have coped with accidents, injuries and emotional struggles. It tells the world whether or not you are approachable or defensive, whether or not you are open or closed. You may or may not know that the shape of the body is held via an intricate network of fascial webbing, a complex, interwoven series of connected “pockets” that encase our muscles and that is only beginning to be understood but has important ramifications to our bodies.
Learning about your own body and capacities is naturally important but also rewarding. One of the most motivating of human intelligences, curiosity (if cultivated) can see you through all stages of life and all manner of circumstances. So, if you’re curious to find out more about the Tool Kit and re-orientate yourself via a new set of principles, check out the new manual here:
“When we stop or restrict our movement, we stop feeling, and we can stagnate in a lifeless demeanor and spirit. Even a small daily practice can slowly build a self-awareness in our movement and renew our commitment. Cultivating this habit, through small building blocks, can result in amazing life-long progress.”