Reflections by Sharon

GYROKINESIS® What the heck is that? What am I getting myself into? These were questions I asked myself when Laura, the owner of Believe Movement Studio, recommended I give this class a try. I knew the class was similar to Pilates and Yoga but didn't know anything else about it.  Since I am on a mission to strengthen my core and do mind/body classes I thought, why not? People! This class is deceivingly challenging! We begin by sitting on a stool. Easy you say? Well it is until you begin. Then we spend about an hour moving from the spine and that "special" area 2 inches below your navel. Ah the Joy! Then, let's not forget about the breath. Breathing is incorporated along with movement to release energy flowing through our bodies. After a few minutes of breathing and moving from the core and spine this class becomes something more than exercise, this class becomes a physiologically spiritual experience. I guess you could call it a mind body connection. Truly! Try it, you might find you like it!

 

Reflections by Nyla McCarthy

Laura and the folks at Believe Studios have helped me to do just that: believe. I injured my back and my knee pretty seriously awhile ago and have been dealing with serious pain and movement limitations. This is all exacerbated by the fact that I spend two to three hours a day in my car, traveling across the state in my professional capacity working to end abuse. I then gained weight due to my limited mobility and my whole image of my body and Self suffered. I was feeling pretty low.

Then I discovered Believe right up the street from me! Working both in small, supportive classes and individually with Laura as a coach, I have begun to reclaim my health and my self esteem. It is so motivating to feel my strength and flexibility coming back that my attitude has changed. I have accepted my limitations as temporary rather than as some kind of life sentence meted out for the crime of work-a-holism. I am a fifty five year old woman in the process of reclaiming her real identity: that of a vibrant, healthy, and optimistic spirit. 

It's hard work, don't get me wrong; and my crazy travel schedule makes it a bit of a challenge, enforcing some unfortunate gaps between my workouts. However, I have felt and seen the results and I intend to stick with it. 

And by the way, as I accepted positive changes about myself as being possible and began to truly Believe in myself again, love entered my life after a long, long hiatus. I don't think it was a coincidence. Be open to the possibilities for yourself and let yourself Believe. You just never know....

 
 Nyla McCarthy, Training and Prevention Unit Director
Oregon DHS Office of Investigations and Training
...and longtime Woodlawn neighbor...

 

Term Reflections by Ryan Vandehey

It's such a beautiful misery, this Pilates stuff; while I'm doing it, it's so humbling, so ridiculously challenging (it seems like every exercise requires six or seven discrete, conscious movements/poses at the same time, and they all have to be perfect or I just come tumbling back down to the ground), that I'm amazed I can attempt the exercises at all, let alone improve.

But then class is over, and my immediate reaction is “that's all?” Because my body awareness is so dramatically improved from ten weeks ago. My shoulders still hunch forwards, my belly still sags (pulling my back with it), my leg muscles still get locked up like they're in a straitjacket. But now when those things happen I know where to pull my shoulders back to, and it's getting easier to keep my stomach tighter, and knowing which muscles are getting tense from biking means I know which muscles to be stretching.
And the awesomeness keeps rolling. I realized the other day I can touch my toes, which wasn't true before. And I don't feel as full-body stiff anymore. And I can do a teaser, which even a couple weeks ago wasn't happening for me. It seems entirely appropriate that our final Pilates session is my last class; I can't think of a better way to end the term.

See? I'm not even writing a stiff, formal paper about how I've improved. I'm in that poetry mindset because this class has reminded me of what's great about being alive and in touch with myself, and it's reminded me that I can do any damn thing I want, if I just remember to breathe and pull my belly button to my spine.

 

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