In our world that has a pill for every condition, where conditions seem to emerge daily and then the pills to fix those conditions appear in ad after ad, we understandably can fall into the desire for a short term fix for our aches and pains…

This month I want to play with breath as movement and cycles. In my acupressure class we’re learning that the lungs are associated with Autumn, the color white, the sound of weeping, the emotion of grief. “The Lungs Rule Qi”…

If we had a deeper understanding of how and when trauma expresses through human bodies could we more meaningfully support individual healing and community health?

“Proprioception, otherwise known as kinesthesia, is your body’s ability to sense movement, action, and location. It’s present in every muscle movement you have. Without proprioception, you wouldn’t be able to move without thinking about your next step.”…

The remodeling cycle consists of three consecutive phases: resorption, during which osteoclasts digest old bone; reversal, when mononuclear cells appear on the bone surface; and formation, when osteoblasts lay down new bone until the resorbed bone is completely replaced…

Osteoporosis means “porous bone” and is a condition where the density of the bone decreases, especially in the spine, hips and wrists. What’s most challenging about this condition is that people with Osteoporosis don’t experience any pain until a first fracture, and then the likelihood of subsequent fractures increases dramatically…

Back pain is often why people end up in a Pilates studio. Pilates’ focus on strengthening the core (abdominals, diaphragm, pelvic floor, hip and back) can be tremendously healing and an excellent way to ward off future back injuries.

“Pelvis, also called bony pelvis or pelvic girdle, in human anatomy, basin-shaped complex of bones that connects the trunk and the legs, supports and balances the trunk, and contains and supports the intestines, the urinary bladder, and the internal sex organs.”

The pelvis is critical to movement. It transfers force from the trunk down to the lower body and disperses force from the lower extremities up into the spine. In Congolese movement traditions, the pelvis, loketo, expresses our relationship to the Earth.

I began 2020 teaching Reformer classes and seeing clients at Center Strength studio in Berkeley, and seeing clients at my DBP studio in Oakland. I was coming off a busy creative year in 2019 with the showing of my Reconstructions Performance Ritual and having my Cipher Study #1 installation/performance piece in Rhiannon Evans MacFayden’s Bodies on the Line exhibit at the Berkeley Art Center. I was completing my training on the Core Align Pilates equipment and continuing weekly participation in Pilates for Rehabilitation course. I was gearing up to serve on the Berkeley Civic Arts grant panel for the third year. I was busy and completely unprepared for what the rest of 2020 had in store for us.

Breath and the muscles that support breathing will be the focus for June 2021. Our breath was under assault on many fronts during 2020 – Covid, Wild Fires (in California), Police Violence – and many people lost their breath to illness and violence. Many of us are grieving multiple losses – loved ones, homes, jobs, community.

My friend Ying Mei Tcheou shared this article about Yamuna Body Rolling from the Journal of Physical Therapy. The abstract follows.