I can’t remember what year it was that I started teaching fitness. I know I got certified by AFAA in 2000 and waited two years to teach. I wanted to make sure that I knew my stuff before I stood up in front of a crowd and claimed to be knowledgable. The joke was, of […]
What’s Your Movement Heritage?
Jan 11th, 2016
One of the coolest parts of my job is figuring out why people move the way they do. Our bodies are living, breathing, moving monuments to our history of experience. Take me, for example. I took ballet for thirteen years and have worked very hard for the past seven to rid myself of the automatic […]
Taking To the Trees
Sep 14th, 2015
I’ve mentioned a few times that I am reluctant to bid summer farewell. I love the heat, I love the freedom, I love the long days. But, as it does every year, fall arrives and when it does I am reminded that Atlanta is at her finest in autumn. We got a little taste of […]
Movement That Matters
Aug 31st, 2015
Twice a week, I teach an hour-long class at a big box gym. The goals of the class, as outlined by the national headquarters are: strength, core, range of motion and caloric expenditure. We use hand weights, and I walk the class through about forty minutes of mainly compound movements, coupled with some body weight […]
Towards a More Robust, Resilient You
Apr 2nd, 2015
The more I’ve learned about the human body, and the longer I’ve lived in mine, the more I’ve come to reject our culture’s notions of what it means to be “fit” and “healthy.” I could explain it a lot of ways, but it can be easily summed up by saying I no longer look at pictures […]
The “Freak” Injury That Probably Isn’t So Freaky
Mar 10th, 2015
I’ve been swimming once a week for the past few months. Last week, as I finished, another patron was waiting for my lane. We exchanged hellos and he asked if the water was warm. “I don’t usually swim. I’m a runner.” But, this,” he said, motioning to a very swollen, purple ankle. Turns out, he […]
Unmasking Compensation Patterns
Dec 8th, 2014
In my post Compensation, And Not the Money Kind, I wrote about how the body gets around deficiencies in strength and mobility by recruiting other parts of the body to accomplish the task at hand. While I am not trained sufficiently to identify many individualized compensation patterns, there are recurring ones I see in my […]
Compensation, And Not the Money Kind
Nov 11th, 2014
Regular readers know that I am studying to be a Restorative Exercise Specialist through Katy Bowman’s Restorative Exercise Institute. Not surprisingly, I incorporate much of what I learn into the classes that I teach. Both through my RES studies and the work I’ve done independently, I’ve become fascinated by the compensation patterns that the body adopts. […]
Moms & Dads, Put Down Your Phones and Play
Sep 18th, 2014
This isn’t going to be one of those posts where I tell you to put down your cellphone because “they’re only little once.” I have three kids, and sometimes the first eight minutes on the playground represent the only chunk of the day that I have to return phone calls, emails and texts without someone screaming, […]
Movers & Thinkers : My Favorite Movement Iconoclasts
Sep 3rd, 2014
Critical thought. It’s probably the unifying theme to this blog. I apply it to the subjects that interest me the most: nutrition, wellness, emotional well-being, parenting, birth and pregnancy, breastfeeding, movement, relationships, the media’s perspectives on women and mothering … and more. I thought it would be fun today to share with you a list […]
