​I spent the day at my son's Region track meet watching these high school athletes do some crazy things with their bodies and do you know what the most beautiful thing was? Those kids never thought twice about what their bodies could do, or more importantly, couldn't do! They launched their bodies upside down 12 ft in the air by a pole, they jumped up and over a bar laid out backwards for a high jump. They jumped ridiculous distances in a technical triple jump, they ran a mile in 4 minutes and some change and they did an all out sprint for 2 laps! They put the work and training in and then let their bodies do what it knew to do.

Do you remember what it feels like to trust your body and just go out and play, run, lift weights, and work in the yard? To not have to worry if your back is going to give out or if your knee is going to be so sore for the next 3 weeks that you won't be able to do anything?

My mom was watching me jump in the back of my truck to tie down a push mower and she said to me, "you know what, Tess? One day Abbey (my daughter) is going to do all the things you used to do so easily and can't anymore and it's going to make you cry." I know one day my time will come, but I will buck it all the way. I want to not just be able to live, but live with joy and thrive. I want to trust my body and what it can do. I want to go out and run a 55k trail run in Utah or enjoy the splendor and awe of walking Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon while watching the sun light up the canyon. I want to go play pickle ball with my brother and KanJam after that. I want to workout at Creed with the people I've met there and know they're going to be at the 8am class when I show up or push my muscles during a yoga class at TransFit.

And do you know what else? I want the same thing for you! I want you to plan your next trip, go for a run in this beautiful weather, meet me for a workout, and do all of those things in trust of your body! I'll help you put the work in now and relish in your stories later...

Call me if you remember what it used to feel like to play with abandonment and you want to get just a little bit of that feeling back! 

There's a singer/songwriter I like to listen to. His name is Drake White and he sings a song called, "Stompin Ground." Here's a couple lines of the lyrics:
"Is it big city concrete or a one horse town,
Does it free your soul or does it hold you down"

When I hear the song, it always makes me think about my stompin grounds which is right here. I graduated from Oglethorpe County High School and I had a blast. I loved high school, I had great friends, great teachers who wanted the best for us, and great classmates. There are a lot of us still here and rarely does a day go by when I don't see someone I knew growing up.

Even though I loved it here, loved my family, and the house and farm I grew up on, I had always said the day I graduated from high school, I was leaving. I was headed to the mountains and truly thought it would be out west to the wide open spaces. I was ready for something bigger and different.

So when I hear the line of the song, "Does it free your soul or does it hold you down?' I can happily and honestly say YES. My home town does both. I have fond memories of growing up here and it has been really special to be able to work with people I grew up with, their parents, their kids, and now even their grandkids! For a parent to trust their child or family member to my care is something I never take for granted.

Maybe I used to feel like my Stompin Grounds held me down, and honestly, I can still feel like that sometimes, but then I think, instead of my home town holding me down, maybe it's that it grounds me. It's a safe place to launch from and dream from. I can fly, I can travel, I can try big things, and I can fail because I have a Stompin Ground that holds me down. It's like an anchor that isn't made to hold a boat back, but to keep it in a safe place for a little while for you to rest. That's how I think about my Stomplin Grounds.

What about you? Are your Stompin Grounds "big city concrete or a one horse town and does it free your soul or does it hold you down?"

There are few things that can make a Mama Physical Therapist cringe more than to see her 6'1 ft son walk around all hunched over with rounded shoulders!  Be proud of that height, Eli!  The only thing I said to him to correct his posture from picture 1 to picture 2 is, "Pretend you have a string on the top of your head and it's being pulled to the ceiling."  Then all of a sudden, he's stacked from head to shoulders to hips to feet.  

    So besides just looking more confident and sure of himself, what's the other benefit to good posture?  When our shoulders are stacked over our hips, it allows for a more natural belly breath or diaphragmatic breath.  As we inhale, the diaphragm lowers which pushes the organs down and, in turn, the pelvic floor muscles stretch down.  On the exhale, the pelvic floor muscles gently "rebound" up which also engages our transverse abdominis and the multifidus to provide stability and strength.  So what??  That means during our workouts, jumping rope, trying to get a PR, lifting our baby out of their crib, lifting a load of laundry...we should move, lift, squat, transition from sit to stand on the exhale!  By moving on the exhale, we are setting our bodies up for strength and stability just through the breath.  Try it out!

     During those hours of training and the hours on the trail, I discovered some really powerful tools I use when I run to help with pain, fatigue, leaking, and endurance.  I have passed these pearls onto my clients and I'm so excited by the results I want to shout it out to everyone!
     1.  A diaphragmatic breath/umbrella breath/belly breath allows the system to act like a cylinder where the diaphragm lowers on an inhale which relaxes the pelvic floor and on the exhale the pelvic floor rebounds very subtly and unconsciously which engages the transverse abdominis and multifidus to provide stability and support. This breath pattern also decreases leaking and pelvic pressure.
     2.  If I can't find an ease of breath from the low belly while I'm running that usually means I'm holding something tight which can lead to pain over time.  If I shake out my body, stack my shoulders over my hips, and drop down out of my ribs the ease comes with the breath again.
     3.  If I start to feel tension, pain, or a stitch then I focus on a longer exhale.  My preferred breathing pattern during a run is a 2 second inhale and a 5 second exhale (based on the James Nestor book).  
     4.  If I'm going uphill or running faster, I may not be able to do a 2 second/5 second breath pattern because I'm out of breath!.  That's okay, I take a few bigger inhales, catch back up on my breath, then start again.
     5.  I recommend an app called Breathe by Joachim Nohl.  It's a black background with an orange circle.  I set different parameters based on the book to practice my breathing on a daily basis and have even used it when I run.
     So go enjoy your next run or adventure and think about your breath!