What IS Integrative Movement Coaching?
Firstly, I am often asked 'What do you mean by movement? Is that the same as exercise? |
Exercise is too narrow a term for what I do. We all move - all the time - constantly. Even when you are sleeping you are still moving, because your breathing muscles and internal system is working away. Our bodies have a vast scope of movement and each and every one of those moves has a function and purpose within the body. My purpose is to help you move as efficiently as possible and as much as your body needs for you to enjoy, and maintain, good physical, mental and emotional health.
Problems can arise when we don't move enough in general or when we don't move effectively. |
What do I mean by moving enough? |
We all now know that a sedentary lifestyle is not good for our health and we are also now aware that sitting too much causes issues in our body. Getting moving and generally doing more activity is going to be beneficial for health. Whether this is termed exercise or not is really down to the individual. For some the word has a negative association, whereas just moving more can seem (and is!) simpler. Getting off the couch more often, walking a bit more, taking breaks from sitting are all ways of moving to increase health.
We now also know that doing say an hour of 'exercise' - however hard and intense that is - and then being inactive for the rest of the day, sitting at a desk and driving everywhere, is still sedentary. It's called 'active sedentary' and can create the same health issues as someone who doesn't do anything. Not moving enough can manifest itself as musco-skeletal issues (joint or muscle pain), immune system issues (getting lots of colds, flus, being susceptible to other illnesses) or general feelings of lethargy, low mood, and emotional and mental imbalances. Often 'just moving more' isn't as simple to do as it sounds (especially for someone recovering from illness, injury, physical limitations, auto-immune related issues, low self esteem or mental health issues). My purpose here is to coach you towards implementing good quality movement gradually and consistently in a way that will work for you and which is maintainable for life. |
What do I mean by moving effectively? |
Problems can arise in our system when we overuse movements which aren't necessarily the most effective for the job in hand, and we neglect those that are. Movements can become dormant - use it or lose it - and we stick with our preferred and familiar ways of moving, even though they are not necessarily the best us in the long term. Habits build up over a long time or can arise after illness, injury, stress or trauma. Movements which served us well once (e.g. limping because of pain) but which are not fully addressed can have a big effect on the whole body's balance and can cause issues. This can manifest as injuries, pain, stiffness, chronic or acute issues.
This is also true in how we move through our activities, sports, and yes, exercise. If our movement patterning is not efficient enough for what we ask of our body then it will object and signal with pain, niggles, maybe even ongoing injuries and eventually may try to stop us from doing the very things that we enjoy doing. The great thing though is that we can revive these neglected movements by teaching our brain how to. As we discover how good it feels to move well, a positive momentum takes over and we open up more of the dormant movement within us and enjoy a greater sense of balance and strength within ourselves. My purpose in this context is to help you more therapeutically to get back to what it is that you do in a way that is safe for your whole body and overall health. We do this using appropriate movement as the 'treatment plan'. |
So what's Integrated Movement Coaching? |
Essentially we move best, and easiest, when we function as our whole self! Sometimes we need to look at things in insolation because we are somehow not functioning as well as we know we can. For instance, when someone comes to me with a frozen shoulder, then we need to look at what's going on with the shoulder and get it back to functioning again. BUT, a well moving shoulder is only really useful when it works well with the rest of the body and my client is only really back to themself when he / she is back doing the activities that they need to do and enjoy doing. For someone that might be being able to get their bra strap done up, for someone else that might be getting back to playing golf or tennis (and getting their bra strap done up!). It's not just a case of let's get your shoulder moving again, it's more a case of 'ok, what do you need to do and let's get ALL that movement back'. The body is not a sum of parts, it's a whole part!
To give you another example...someone comes to me after long term illness. To begin with we need to get to a place where they are able to manage their energy in day to day life, but how we do that is derived from what they will get enjoyment out of. There is no point saying to someone to go swimming when what they love is to go for long walks - let's get them back going for long walks! Similarly with someone who loves the freedom of going for a run then let's get you back running and not settle for cross training because someone said that it's better on the joints... DO WHAT YOU LOVE! |