What I Teach
Whidbey Island Yoga is a progressive movement studio that strives to educate and inspire students in the science of movement for optimum health. Ultimately, we aspire to move freely and live fully!
Movement Mechanics
Our life thus far, along with our environment, shapes us and creates movement patterns. You may not realize that broken toe from 10 years ago, the childhood fall down the stairs, or even lumps and bumps you barely remember have had a profound effect on the way you move, possibly even creating your seemingly unrelated current pain or injuries.
Natural movement mechanics CAN help us to be strong and adaptable. “Good posture”does not mean good alignment. Throughout our lives we are taught (even scolded) “stand up straight”, “shoulders back” “lift your chin” “suck in your stomach” and even “tuck your butt under”. These misguided and compartmentalized directions uphold a cultural standard of how some think we “should” look, but physiologically, they create unhealthy and even injurious movement patterns. Maybe living a natural lifestyle that would have included many miles of walking a day, squatting, digging, and climbing would have molded us into a certain shape. However, in our modern lifestyle, most of us sit many hours a day, drive everywhere, stare at screens, and wear structured shoes. This has molded many of us into a shape that is becoming less and less functional and supportive.
So, how can we live in this world, do what we need to do, and still find free and healthy movement? Through the most natural and full body movement a human can do: walking
We need to move better and move more, so first, we practice standing in a balanced position, and find what is moving and what is not. We look at every plane of motion, every joint (33 of them in each foot alone) and restore joint motions that may have been missing for years, while balancing out some that may have been doing too much. This usually feels very different from how we have been moving day to day. We add movements to redistribute our strength and mobility, which eventually means our daily movement mechanics create health, rather than misuse injuries. We rediscover a healthy gait cycle, and encourage moving our whole body more throughout the day.
Functional Yoga
With healthy movement mechanics, exploring yoga poses can help us achieve strength, mobility, and vitality. For example, ideally we can take a strong and adaptable way of standing into a balancing pose like tree, or a natural squat into utkatasana. This way of moving into the poses may not look a thing like an Instagram yoga photo, but it can give a practical purpose to a yoga practice. Rather than force our bodies into a position to achieve a pose, we meet our bodies where they are, and modify the pose to work with our natural alignment.
Our goal is function rather than achieving a pose. Exploring your body’s capabilities and getting into certain positions can be fun, but it’s more inspiring to me to help people achieve real-life goals like being able to carry a child up the hill he refuses to climb, take a vacation that will include multiple miles of hiking, work for hours in the garden without days of back pain, or even just being able to walk on the beach without knee pain.
We can rediscover healthy, fun movement through natural movement mechanics and functional yoga. Choose between therapeutic one to one or small group sessions, and lively, open group classes.
- Undo unhealthy movement patterns in order to rediscover the body’s innate support
- Rediscover how to move in strength with your NATURAL alignment using the gait cycle as a base
- Practice yoga as a vehicle to explore freedom in movement, enhance performance, and achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
