Their bodies, on the other hand, were flaring up, giving out, leaving them stranded on the road to their goals with fatigue, aching backs, sore shoulders, and trick knees.
No amount of ice or tape could relieve their symptoms.
Pain medication only provided temporary relief. For the majority, surgeries weren’t medically necessary.
In fact, their doctors were prescribing Yoga, Pilates and Stretch.
By working with these otherwise strong and healthy bodies, I learned that without fail, every single one of them needed 4 things: Balance, Core Strength, Proper Form and Rest.
These four things are the proactive solution to the flareups, the burnouts, the fatigue and most of those aches and pains that keep you from enjoying all of the ways your body can move.
How do I know this stuff works?
Like most of you, I came to yoga and Pilates through injury.
My all time greatest hits include:
- random weird foot pain from an intense dance schedule
- a dislocated knee from softball
- a second dislocated knee from a soccer slide tackle gone wrong
- a chipped tooth and wonky hip from falling down a mountain switchback
- a broken toe
- a pulled ab muscle (seriously…and yes, it was weird)
- a small shoulder tear from an obstacle course half-pipe ascent
….And that’s just the big stuff. Somewhere in between are all of the bumps, bruises, scrapes, limps, aches, pains and sore spots.
The first doctor visit for knee pain included a strong suggestion that I quit running…forever.
Y’all, I live for those long lonely miles in the middle of nowhere. Being told not to run was like a death sentence and I just couldn’t get behind that advice. Instead, I started teaching myself yoga from a library book…and avoiding doctors. (This was before the internet was a thing and yoga studios were still fairly uncommon.)
Fast forward a few years and I’m running down a mountain post freak thunderstorm, covered in blood and nursing a sore hip after sliding down three switchbacks. (10/10 do not recommend) The pain and my limp were so bad, that a friend drug me along to their chiropractic appointment, under the guise of introducing me to their chiropractor and then actually gave me their appointment.
This changed my life, y’all. The chiro became my mentor, my friend and eventually my boss. After fixing up my hip, he introduced me to the idea that exercise can be used as preventative medicine! All of those years of patching together self guided yoga sequences had actually been keeping me running for years.
I drank that exercise-as-preventative-medicine kool-aid and quickly got my 200-Hour Yoga certification and joined my chiro’s team as a Sports Therapist. While working at Spine & Sports Therapy, I also earned certifications in Mat, Standing and Equipment Pilates and Stretch Therapy.
Over the course of about two years, I racked up over 3000 teaching hours, using a combination of Yoga, Pilates and Stretch Therapy to help get athletes back in action.
Over the years, I’ve lost multiple workout buddies and running partners to herniated disks, chronic knee pain or back surgery.
However, since starting Pilates and incorporating Balance, Core Strength, Proper Form and Rest into my own training routines, I’ve learned to swim, racked up 9 half marathons, 2 MS-150’s, 2 sprint triathlons, and countless 5k’s and 10k’s. I also recently took up mountain biking and paddle boarding.
I depend on Pilates to keep me strong, balanced and flexible so I can keep moving!
Certifications and Qualifications
The proper certifications and qualifications (and random side interests) are always important when finding an instructor who fits your needs. I have a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines with a minor in Humanities and was employed as a Sports Therapist for two years with Spine & Sports Therapy down in Houston, Texas. Together, these things mean I geek out about bio-mechanics…a lot.
- B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
- Sports Therapist, Spine & Sports Therapy (Houston)
- 200-hour Hatha Yoga Instructor, The Yoga Institute (Houston)
- Yoga Alliance Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT)
- Certified Mat, Standing and Equipment Pilates Instructor, PhysicalMind (Houston)
- Certified Level 2 Stretch to Win Stretch Practitioner (Arizona)
- Certified Life Stretch Instructor (Stretch to Win, Arizona)
- Reiki Level II (Austin)
- Pysch-K Basic (Denver)
A few Random and Fun Facts:
On my very first try, I got stuck (seriously stuck) in my first ever yoga pose. Who knew Dwi Pada Sirsasana (Both Legs Behind The Head Pose) was a super-advanced pose?!?
I am a 4th generation Denver Native! And no, I don’t know how to ski.
My first ever 5k was the Northside Stride in North Denver. Since then, I have participated in about 60 races/tris/cycle/obstacle events and even ran a 5k at 38 weeks pregnant.
Moving furniture is an important part of my energetic release cycle. My husband has put the brakes on how often I can rearrange our house, so don’t be surprised if you come in to a newly organized studio at least once a month!
And finally, I’m obsessed with prevention and proactive solutions.
Over the course of ten years as Pilates/Yoga Instructor, I’ve found that the solution to the majority of problems is good old-fashioned prevention. If we can employ a little bit of foresight, a little bit of planning, and a little bit of proactive action, we can solve our problems before they occur.
Check out her website: https://www.pilatesnative.com
