With age comes the need for time. I notice and reluctantly admit that the older I get, the more time and patience I need to give my body to recover, heal and bounce back from darn near everything! Hell, it seems to take longer to recover from a mosquito bite, an oven burn, and a simple scratch. So when my hip, inner thigh, psoas and fascia wrap around the leg decided to tell me they didn’t like whatever I unknowingly did or was doing, I noticed.
Finding the ease in moving while allowing a healing release to unfold
“PATIENCE child. Practice PATIENCE.” That’s the voice in my head, reminding me, “your old self needs more time and maybe more tools of support.” Nothing was broken, nothing visibly bruised, just tight and over stretched at the same time. Which means I overwhelmed a “push-pull” oppositional movement and needed time to re-knit and release.
As always, I used my Pilates work (private, semi and individual work) with specific attention to hip mobility and spinal alignment and conscious attention to the psoas, pelvis and breath with all my focused workouts.
I stole this lateral lunge (shown below) from Ricardo Jaramillo and added Eve Gentry’s Lunge while wrapped in a hip/leg stablizer . A couple of times, I added the infrared light wrap, while I worked opening the hip.
First Bike Ride in 30+ Days. I didn't go hard; I just moved smoothly.
Check the Hat ;)
I bought a few “tech gadgets” to assist me. As you will see below, I have combined them for use. I am wearing a hip/leg stablizer in the video above.
Acupuncture, myofascia massage, water resistance therapy (hip circles, bicycles and leg splits) in the pool; steam and sauna heat, and ibuprofen have been the medicine for a good 30-45 days. I never stopped moving, I just made slower, smaller, conscious movements and focused on keeping everything within the frame of my body.
The gadgets kinda make me look like the bionic woman, but in truth I felt like a relic. It’s as if my body’s 67 years is calling for the pause, to slow down, pay attention and use these tools.
Every morning, after showering, I rubbed Ancient Minerals magnesium lotion into my joints and wrapped my hip with Infrared light. As shown in the video clip (to the right) I found a way to get a pulsing massage on my shoulders and back with the Nooro body massager. All of these tools and devices have been added to my “Stuff to Love” list.
Granted, it’s only been 30 days, yet the message is clear. Time. Patience. More Ibuprofen.
- Saturday I had a therapeutic myofascia massage
- Tuesday was the much needed “therapeutic Pilates” session with Brett; a repeat of a session we did together a month ago. If anyone knows how to work, heal and lengthen the hip and legs is a Master Pilates Teacher that is a former dancer. Brett always keeps me focused and in “my box” and I am always grateful the way “he pulls me back” to the basics when I would, if left to my own devices, (when I’m feeling myself) ‘add a flourish’ to a movement that wasn’t necessarily called for or what he asked for. 😉
- Wednesday was before client sessions, I take advantage of the water therapy treatments in my building, (steam, sauna and bicycles and split stretches in the pool). This is a 1X movement practice that I couldn’t live without. I felt so open and energized that afternoon that an impromptu bicycle ride was joyous and gleeful. A first in 30-45 days!
As Dr Loh, my acupuncturist said, ” sometimes we make mistakes.”
Message to self: Find the ease in the movement. Less umph. More ahhhh.
Gina Jackson, is a classically trained Pilates Teacher and has been teaching along the Gold Coast of Hudson and Bergen County, NJ for the past fifteen+ years.
Certified by Power Pilates of New York, Gina has trained with Master Teachers Bob Liekens, Susan Moran and Brett Howard; loved workshop training with Cary Regan and Blossom Leilani-Crawford and has particularly enjoyed listening to the personal stories as told by Pilates Elders, Kathy Grant and Lolita San Miguel.
An active teacher and blogger, Gina manages a private personal training business supporting a myriad of clients, teaching all to honor their health, strength and life with the principles of Pilates at its core.