I recently read this idea: “Emotion is energy in motion.”
It’s so simple... and so brilliant.
If you’re not moving and connecting with your body, your energy can become stagnant. If you’re not moving through and connecting with your emotions, stagnation can also arise.
No wonder it feels so good to move when we feel angry or upset. No wonder I’ve witnessed so many emotional reactions to movement in my career.
“Every time we are done with a workout, I’m so angry about my divorce.”
“I came in here in such a sour mood and I feel so much better now. I’m not spiraling about the things I was so anxious about before I walked in.”
“I just realized I haven’t been kind to myself or been taking care of myself in a lot of ways. It feels good to be back in my body and connecting with myself.”
“For days, I’ve been thinking about generational family issues and realizing how much I need to change. I haven’t been able to figure out how to say it until now. It all just came spilling out.”
These are just a few examples of things I’ve heard from clients over the years. Let me just say, there’s a lot of heavy stuff here, and it’s way beyond my scope to go deep diving into these layers, which is why I often refer clients to several trusted mental health professionals (see their info below). Still, I bring it up now because this is at the core of why, as a movement professional, I do what I do.
Yes, it's important to be physically healthy and agile. Yes, it’s fun to feel fit and achieve goals. But there’s this other layer of benefit that comes with moving, connecting to your body, being embodied – and it’s processing emotion.
To not let yourself experience any emotions is to freeze yourself. For example, fear of pain when dealing with an injury will naturally “brace” the body near the injury to keep you from moving. That makes sense initially, but over an extended period of time, it can keep the experience of pain alive.
In other words: the key to getting over the fear of pain with movement is tapping into courage, experimentation, and trusting yourself to shift past fear and into moving again.
What a gloriously simple, yet mildly annoying, lesson!
Like most other things in life, this is a process. And sometimes it’s slow. It also requires getting creative with how you define progress, because it’s pretty much never a straight line up.
Move Your Body, Energy, Emotions
If you’d like to explore these ideas in your movement and your life, here are some resources for you.
For support in moving your body and getting the energy flowing, we're excited to share that we have a new team member, Molly! To celebrate her arrival at the studio, you can enjoy 20% off Intro Sessions and packages booked with Molly for a limited time.
Molly is an NYC-based performer and wellness professional. Certified in Pilates, Antigravity and The MELT Method, her classes utilize movement and breathwork to build strength, as well as body work and meditation techniques to create awareness. Her goal is to encourage people to treat their bodies mindfully by offering self care techniques designed to create space in the body and mind, allowing them to work as one unit. She strives to help others realize their potential for greatness.
Email us to take advantage of this special offer.
For support in processing emotions, you can check out these mental health professionals.
Dana Galante, LMFT
Specializes in working with women struggling with pre/postnatal emotions and related issues
Heather Edwards, LMHC, NCC, BCC
Specializes in working with trauma through EMDR
Evin Lawson, LCSW
Specializes in addiction and substance abuse
Ladies of New York! Please Yourself!
There were a lot of great takeaways from the first iteration of our workshop Pilates for Better Sex, and the inside joke “please yourself” (a la How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) is just one of them. We had lots of great questions asked, myths addressed, and food for thought dispersed. Email us to get on the list for our next workshop.
#lookbetter
We had a self-love challenge last month and to keep all those lovey dovey feels going, here are some seasonal tips to support your nourishment.
Hydrate: We are shifting closer and closer towards Spring. (Mark your calendars for the Spring Equinox on March 19th when the days finally start getting longer again.) In the meantime, the heat is still on and sucking all the moisture out of our bodies, so it’s important to keep your body hydrated. It’s also nice to use this time to reflect on the seeds you’re planting this year and keep those “hydrated” as well. What are some intentions related to goals you set for yourself back in January that you can focus on and water a little more right now?
Exfoliate: On the subject of dry heat, our skin really pays the price for this. Combine that with always being bundled up and not getting much sunlight and now becomes a great time to give our skin a little extra love. I really enjoy making my own simple salt scrub with olive oil, sea salt, and some freshly squeezed lemon juice. It’s a lovely little treat after a nice warm shower in the evening. Add some safe-for-skin essential oils to make it extra fancy!