You may recall that one of my themes which arose from my work with the Wardrobe Architect was to create and live in clothing that is "Work2Play". It's gotta move with me and enable me to work and play at anytime. So when I saw Stephen's video, I was not only inspired, but delighted. Here is a man in his 70's saying - get outside and play. And, my engineering mind is thrilled by someone inventing toys for adult play. It's brilliant. He's brilliant!
Shortly thereafter, my Dad started talking about a book he was listening to and how the author suggested walking on uneven surfaces, forwards, backwards, sideways. I observed him letting go of "complying with social norms" (a big deal mind), in favor of walking in new ways to assist his muscles and body in total health. So cool. Really. I'm impressed, Dad.
He and I only talked about the subject matter of the book, but not the author nor title.

I see myself as an athlete and I'm also dedicated to returning my body to a state of health I was in ~ 10 years ago. I have had several injuries over the last 10 years and was dealing with the fears of having to live a life of constantly injuring myself when I stumbled into doing some Akashic Record clearing work with Tess Whitehurst.
I believe in reincarnation and know about some of the past lives I have lived. What I didn't know, that Tess helped me with, is that part of my fears around injury were tied to fears carried over from my past lives. Our clearing session brought illumination and realization to me in ways I had not expected. I felt so light & free after that I danced around the room. Many burdens were released.
Though, I find that my soul is still clinging to some of the fears, and I am turning my attention away from fear and toward living a healthy, athletic life. In doing so, I put the intention out that I wanted to learn exercises and ways of living that will support an injury free lifestyle. Boom! It arrived. Thought not as I expected.
One day, in skimming my Bloglovin feed, I saw Suzannah of Create/Enjoy, a cool sewing and crafting blogger chick from PDX, write about her hiking wishlist. Those who've read my blog for a while know how much I love hiking and photographing wildflowers, especially so in my native Pacific Northwest surroundings. In Suzannah's post, she also wrote about Katy Bowman's podcast and the exercises Suzannah was doing to restore her foot heath and strength. WHOA! COOL! Here was the universe answering my intention through someone. DANG this is COOL! (have you ever considered that every word you utter, write, or movement you make could be the answer to someone's prayers? Let that one flutter about your heart for a while then settle in. It's a doozie!)
So, I started looking into Katy Bowman's website and then looked for her books. I mentioned my discovery to my Dad and he said, "you wanna listen to the book?" Turns out, it was the same damn book he was telling me about. Isn't it wild how we arrived at the same book, yet on two totally different paths?
I bought a couple of Katie's Alignment Snacks and really enjoy the release I feel from the simple movements she has us do. This video (below) on Advanced Foot Mechanics is brilliant. What I find most interesting is that I learned much of this from David & Karen Ufer while doing Iyengar Yoga, which is all about alignment in any pose. I love that Katy's work is not only scientifically backed (she is one impressively smart and curious chicky), but it also confirms what I have learned from Iyengar & the Ufers.
I'm also seeking new ways to add movement and play to my life throughout the day instead of sitting so much and then exercising for 30 -60 min. It's refreshing and fun to invite movement. And I'm realizing I needn't be so hard on myself. I feel so much freer knowing I get to play and benefit my body by jumping on logs, climbing on the playground toys, hanging from the monkey bars, or throwing some grapevines into my walk.
How about you and your health journey? What books are you reading? What videos or exercises are you doing? What clothes are you sewing or buying to support a movement lifestyle?