Body Casts

In the midst of these uncertain times, we’re “All in the same boat, but not all in the same storm.” I wish I could remember who wrote those words, because the sentiment seems to perfectly encapsulate how differently everyone is experiencing the Covid-19 crisis. Personally I am alternating between fear and anxiety (which drives me to excessive production as a way to deflect the unknown) and acknowledging my decades of fatigue and exhaustion already brought on by excess productivity (which calls me to rest and contemplate and dream). As a result of these two states, I’m having bouts of insight that I’m moved to record here for the future shape of my work. However, I don’t want you to think that I am suggesting you should use this time to be, do, or change anything that doesn’t feel appropriate for you now. Even I can’t do that, and these are my thoughts. Just know that in the After Times, these posts will form the foundation of how I want to effect change in the world. Do what you can for yourself now. 
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Aren’t these Grape Hyacinth cute? They’re tiny too, just a couple inches high. If you wanted to, could you get your face all the way down to the ground to find out if they’re fragrant?
                    
There’s 2 parts to that question- whether you have the mobility to get your face that close to the surface of the Earth without having fallen on it, and also whether your clothes allow for that much movement. Both can be improved upon! The first is something I can help you with. The second is something you choose.

Let’s think about the clothes for a second. I went to the Mutter Museum and looked in horror at the misshapen skeleton of a corseted woman. It’s incredible that anyone would have accepted that as not only fashion but proper and essential.

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But then I thought about today’s fashion. I am not generally considered fashionable- tasteful, maybe, and sometimes even matching, but certainly not a trend-follower. And yet I own jeans I have to unbutton when I drive. I own boots that could break an ankle, or in fact one pair that could prevent an ankle break they’re so stiff. (They’re the ones that messed up my knee.) I own underwire bras, and too-small underwear, and narrow-shouldered button-down shirts.
 
Clothes that restrict movement are called body casts. That name makes sense, since they hold us back like a medical cast or splint would. And you know what- I love some of them. Those break-an-ankle boots are gorgeous. I traded an entire pilates training package for them years ago, they’re knee high stretch suede by a real designer, and heeled. Amazing. But. I rarely wear them.
 
The concern is really for when we wear our body casts day in and day out. When we train our bodies to lose mobility and support structures, or even damage circulation and lymphatic drainage. What good is, say, getting out in the garden if your pants cut off your lower body blood flow and your bra won’t let you take a deep breath? It’s not like torture, it IS torture!

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What would it take to allow yourself the freedom to completely move, to have full Range of Motion, at least most of the time? Sure there are special occasions, but what would your life be like if your Usual Occasions gave you access to more movement? Movement is medicine too. 
 
If you’re not sure what you’d even do with more range, then let me introduce you to the Release and Relief online coaching program. We’re learning to release long-held buttresses that have been holding you up while the rest of you couldn’t, and to move with newly aligned muscles. There’s also herbal supports built in, because that stress and GI inflammation isn’t doing your back pain any favors, for example.
 
If you have made the transition into moveable clothing, what has it been like?