Hello, Rachel. Welcome to the Soul Aligned Self-Care Podcast. I'm so happy to have you here today.
Thank you for having me. Yeah, I'm just going to jump right into it. So as a
kinesologist and appliedies instructor, I'm really curious how your relationship to your
body and the way you think the body works is influenced by some of the experiences that
you've had in your life. Oh, there's been so much in it. I think specifically the biggest
transformation for me was getting pregnant and not only only that journey of being pregnant,
but also incorporating exercise into it. So I knew that I very much wanted to maintain
my exercise regime because of being in the fitness industry, but how that looked, I had
concepts in my head and they weren't necessarily correct and I had to find my own path in that.
And then once the child arrives, you have no idea what you're in for. And that's not coming
from a negative context is just have not experienced it. So now it's not just like I want to maintain
a healthy body, but I also realize how much my self care not only influences myself, but
now the child that I'm going to raise my husband and then again going out into my work
and how it radiates out. And so there's that and then there's injury because I actually
got like mummy thumb and that did affect my mental health like because I don't know what
that is. Mummy thumb. It's so the I always have a hard time saying the technical term,
but it's like, Hellgis, girl, vice sister, something I really think the name, the Latin term,
but what is is inflammation of the wrist is the repetitive actions of like picking up
a baby in this wrist flexion that occurs over and over again. Oh wow. And so it's a repetitive
use injury and it happens right in the thumb and that's why it's called mummy thumb and
it's really common in mothers because you're you're picking up the baby putting them in
this and putting them in this and it's at over and over and then their weight is increasing
as they're growing, right? Yeah. So I got that and I was so used to physically exercising
at a certain capacity, but it was really impeding that. And I had to figure out how to do that.
And so I got depressed. I was like frustrated because I was in pain and plus as a new
mom, you're deprived of sleep and you're adjusting to this new identity and all of that. And it
was another moment of self discovery of like how important it is to take care of ourselves.
The way we take care of ourselves is not the road that we have in our brain, but maybe
a path and being open to trying new things because I will admit in that time of my life,
I was very resistant. Yeah. I was like, I need to do this or this to kind of get to that
point. And I wasn't open to options. I've had a second child since. And so I implemented
my first experience into my second experience, but I also did a lot of like self learning.
So I took some courses around delivery, around exercising, just other people had out. I had
I've had training for 20 years like my first Pilates instructor training included postpartum
and prenatal. So I just like integrated it a lot of it. Yeah. And I got into personal development
because it was so important to me to not only take care of myself, but how was I going
to raise these children and raise them in something that felt very true to me and aligned
with me and that's still a journey. And then so it's all like integrated, right? And that
integrates into my work with the clients that I work with. Like now I speak so much more
to just exercise. I'm talking to my clients of a sleep stress management nutrition. I always
kind of did nutrition, but now I have a different perspective on nutrition as I've gone through
the years. Just our mental stories around fitness, injury, weight loss, phases of our life.
And now I'm not there yet, but I have clients who are going through parry menopause and menopause
and the information that's coming, but also the stories that we tell ourselves and how can
we weed through it. I'm not saying that the people's concepts are incorrect. What I'm saying
is like we have to figure out what is going on and how do we maneuver so that they can
feel the best. Yeah, I agree. I think that I've been through all of those things. So when
children, my experience was a little different because the first one was pretty, I was young,
I was 23. I've always been very physically fit and very active. And it was just a really
the whole process, the pregnancy wasn't good. I was very sick all the time, but like nauseous
and throwing up to the point where I lost weight in my first try, try master. But at the
birth and everything afterwards, I just bounce back like so fast. But I have to agree
with you. You don't really know what to expect. And I think each child is different because
each delivery is different. Each pregnancy is different in your body change or so much
during those time periods. And I had a lot of miscarriages in between the first and the second
two. So I was very I was very scared to exercise. And you know, it was back also a while ago,
all my kids are adults now. And so I think, I think there was a different mindset about
exercise during pregnancy where it was like you like this delicate flower that you shouldn't
really do much. Now it's we know obviously that that's not the case. So my experience is
a little different, but I think one of the ways I think about all these different time
periods that we go through, I also had a couple of really really bad injuries that were
hard to heal from. And one that's just long lasting something I have to deal with. And it
is really hard when you are so used to something that works. And you have to really completely
reinvent the way that you have this relationship with your body. And also as a woman that's
gone through parry menopause and now in menopause, I have to say out of all of those things, that
was the hardest for me because the way I describe it is like it's like the whole butterfly thing.
You go through like a complete metamorphosis in your body. Every single aspect of your body
and your relationship to your body changes everything. Nothing, nothing works the same, nothing
feels the same. And it's very humbling, especially when you're a very physical person. And there's
good things and bad things about that. What I think the overall message that I got from all
those things was you, it's a very individual thing. Everybody's different, right? And so
I think it's more about the relationship with your body. And I believe that you, you, you
connect these things. You, maybe you could tell me more about that, how you connect movement
with really tuning into your intuition and connecting to yourself on that deeper level
so that you can listen to the messages your body sending you. So you could talk a little
bit about that. Yeah, I think during my pregnancy, I kind of had the mentality that I had in my
early 20s that I can like plow through anything. And during that time, I think I started to
realize how much I needed to listen to my body, like, especially energy wise. I could go into
a workout and then think I felt great and just push myself. And then I could barely keep
my eyes open because I was so exhausted. And then, but I did listen to it. I was like, wait
a second. This is a signal that I'm like going too hard too soon. I was very aware of like
pelvic floor because that's something else that is a lot more research around these days than
in the past. So I paid a lot of attention to like how much load am I lifting so that I didn't
injure my pelvic floor. And I really worked on progressively building. So I didn't have like
any injury in that sense. But I had to learn about my energy in the sense of, okay, if I
work out for this one hour, what about the rest of the day for my kids? Or even just my mental
state, right? Like whether it cause brain fog, whether it cause just like mental, like focus,
all of that. And so it's kind of changed the way I approach my workouts. Like when I wake
up first thing in the morning, I think how did I sleep last night? Because my kids are
two and five. So they're starting to like sleep through the night, but not necessarily all
the time. But before it was like, I'd be lucky if I got three to four hours. So how did I
sleep? Okay, based on how do I sleep? Do I actually get up and work out or do I stay
asleep? Like that was really hard for me to transition from like working out all the
time to it's okay that you're not going to work out five times a week. You need sleep. And
we need sleep for so many reasons. And I now have a greater appreciation for it. So first
ask myself if I need to like keep sleeping or get up. Then I ask, oh, like kind of move
around and ask myself, how is my body feeling? Because sometimes you just like based on your
sleep feel achy or whatnot. So do I need to stretch? Do I need to go for a walk? Maybe I need
to fuel my body, hydrate my body. And then when I actually get into the physical space that
I'm going to work out, I might have a thought. And I might be like, okay, today is a strength
training day. And I'll start moving. And I'm like, oh, I don't have the capacity that I thought
I had. Okay, what could I do? I can still go through certain movement patterns. Maybe
I'm going to lift lighter. Maybe I'm going to move slower and have more of a bigger warm-up
and then get into it. Like all of that has really been integrated into it. And there are days
where I'm like, today feels like a light day. Today feels like I have lots of strength. Today
just feels like a Pilates day. And I need to like stretch and be dynamic. And that has been
a transition because before it used to be like, these are my strength days. These are my Pilates
days. Oh, I work out two times. It was just so regimented. And I had to really let that go and
give myself permission. But I had to really listen to my body and play with it. And that's
the time. Yeah. I think that's really important. And I don't think I can stress this enough to the
listeners that which are mostly women that we really do need to listen to our bodies. And I think
women are very guilty, men too, very guilty of not listening to the signs. And me myself,
I wish I learned to do that in my 20s because I didn't learn to do that until my 50s. I
perpetually would work myself to death, like working at first of all, I enjoyed it a lot. And it was
also a big part of my life. So I was a runner. I was part of a running community. I ran races
and I did triathlons. And so it was a huge part of my life. You know, when I was training for a
triathlon, I would be, I used to sell real estate before I do what I do now. And I remember, you know,
going for a swim in the morning, coming home, putting up like a suit on, having it like stick to my
body because I'm still damp, going to show houses, coming, riding my bike, and then, you know, and then
doing a show in more houses than doing a run, you know, and actually enjoying that. But never listening
to my body and I had a stroke when I was 39 because I just, it wasn't a typical stroke. I had a
vertebral dissection, which is like a tear in your artery. And that's why I had a stroke. So the
vertebral dissection caused the stroke. So it wasn't like, I was, my arteries were clogged and I had that
type of stroke. And it was just from too much stress and just too much overwork, overworked myself.
So I never listened to my body. So I think what you're saying here is it's a huge step. And I think
it's really hard for women to do this, especially women that are really driven and are very,
like, into their workouts, you know. And now I do like exactly what you are saying. Like, I
I do yoga and I lift weights. I don't run as much distance because it's really not good for me at my
age. So I do a minimal amount of running to be able to run distance running. That makes sense.
And so I just, I changed the way I work out. I'm not running seven days a week anymore. But I
listen to my body if I wake up and it's a, it's a lifting day. And I'm exhausted or I didn't sleep
the night before. I'm not lifting. If anything will go for a walk or I'll do some yoga. And if I'm
really really tired, I'm not going to do regular yoga, I'll do like, lean yoga, which is very, you know,
kind of chill, you know. So I really listen to my body now. And I think the benefits of doing things that
way are, I think there's way more benefits of doing that than there is just continuously working,
even when you don't feel like, you know, I do have a question though. How do you differentiate the fact
from not working out because you know, it's better for you not to work out from making excuses
about working out because you just don't want to work out. You know what I'm saying?
Well, again, I like sometimes that comes down to a feeling in our body, right?
Some of the fatigue that I have faced, I'm just like, I can barely open my eyes
versus just like, maybe I'm just like moody and I'm like, I don't feel like this, right? Like,
I always say to my clients, the hardest thing is getting here. Yeah. Like my one client, she always
makes you chuckle. She, she's always like, every time I say to my husband, oh, I don't want to go,
I don't want to go. And he's like, why are you going? And then she's like, because I know when I come
home, I actually feel better. But it always confuses him because he hears the like dialogue, right?
Good thing for her. She knows that's just her resistance. Actually likes being there. It's getting
there. That's the challenge. And resistance is a funny thing. Like I literally just asked my
girlfriends yesterday. I was like, what's the difference between resistance and intuition?
And they said the same thing to me feeling. And I knew that when I was asking it, I was just kind of,
you know, you're in that thought pattern and you're like, maybe resisting something or denying
something. And so you spew that out. So it's like when you first wake up and you're like,
how am I feeling? That first thought that comes out, it's like, that is how you're really feeling.
Yeah. Then what happens after that is probably the resistance. Yeah. Yeah. I think I heard someone
describe it this way. I can't remember who it was, but intuition is just a very soft nudge. And it's
not. And then like when it's not intuition, it's like a voice in your head that's like,
I don't want to go because I was cold out. I mean, yeah, you know, like that's the resistance.
But the intuition is that knowing that just happens that very quickly, like you said. And that was the
that helps me understand it a little bit more when I try to listen and align with my body.
Now when it comes to Pilates, tell me what differentiates you from some other Pilates and
structures? What do you think you do differently? I don't stick necessarily to the traditional
repertoire. So like Pilates, we learn the repertoire and then we kind of really practice it.
And we repeat it and we repeat it. I integrate a lot of other things into it in the sense of
I might walk into a group and someone before I walked in said, oh, my back is really bothering me.
And I actually watch them and I'm like, oh, they're hips are tight today. And I know so and so also
has tight hips and so and so. Okay. Today is hip mobility. So I'm going to pick some exercises
that are going to help them mobilize their hips. That's going to also strengthen and create stability.
But that might not mean that I stick to the traditional Pilates because there are some exercises
in Pilates. We do so much hip flexion that they can kind of get grippy and ropey in their hips.
So I might be making sure that we do some like mobility exercises. So I'll take mermaid and make
it a little more dynamic. So a lot of people know from the fitness world, like shin boxes or a zed
sit. Well, that's how we sit in a mermaid, but we kind of do a side bend. And really what we want
in this position is like to move and get that rotation in the hips. And then maybe we'll add in
some side bending and stretching. And then maybe we can do some hip flexion. And then after we do
all this hip flexion, maybe we're going to do some hip extension. So I don't stick to the traditional,
like this is the sequence. But I think a lot of instructors are going in that direction. And then a
lot of the science behind studying kinesiology gets implemented. So I love nerding out and I love
saying to my clients, okay, here's my moment. And then I give them the Y and I give them the explanation
of why we're doing it so that they also understand what I'm trying to do. And so like often, I'll say to
them, okay, we sit in chair so much that we're going to do this exercise so that we can like counteract
how much sitting. But then when you guys are outside of this classroom, I also want this, this and this
kind of thing. Yeah, I love that because I love knowing the Y behind everything. And sometimes I,
if I don't really completely understand it myself, I don't want to do it until I understand why.
You know, so I love that you do that. I feel like that that's very helpful for a lot of people. And
actually, I think it probably helps people want to do it more knowing exactly how they're helping
themselves. You know what I mean? Well, and the one thought that came to me is like my own personality.
There was something recently, someone kept saying something to me, like various people. And then
someone finally explained to the why and I stopped being resistant to it. Because now I understood why
I should do whatever it was that people were telling me to do. Now I understand, okay, now I'm going to
do it. And I think what comes with exercise, nutrition, all of these self-care things, it's like
people will come to and say, well, I need to lose weight. And it's like, well, one, what's there? Why?
Why do they need to lose weight? Do they need to lose weight for a health reason, for
their concept of what a body should look like? But then also,
the flip side of it is like, what does that take? And what does that take the understanding and the
knowledge of that so that they can actually implement it? Because a lot of people, like macros,
is something that a lot of people are aware of. They don't necessarily understand. So they're like,
oh, I have to measure my food. I should have this or that, but they don't understand the why.
Right? And when we implement the why, then it's like, okay, I'm going to eat protein at every single
meal because that helps me build muscle. And if I have more muscle, that's going to make me stronger,
but it's also going to protect me against all these health things, then person's like, okay,
I will try to eat protein. Now that makes sense. I am guilty of that 100%. Like, if I don't
completely understand it and maybe even like, on top of not understanding it, I don't, I believe
something else to be true. If somebody explains something to me and then I'm like, oh, okay, well,
that makes sense. And you know, maybe I was wrong. And, you know, I can go in a completely different
direction, but I do need to know like the why behind things. I've always been that way. And it's just,
I think that's very, very helpful. Yeah, I agree. So going into, we're at the end of the year here.
And I'm sure you run into a lot of people at the new year wanting to start new programs and do new
things. And everybody really does have a little bit of trouble sticking to new things. I think,
for me, I think most of the time when I see people do this, I feel like they're just trying to do too much at once.
But can you offer some guidance to people that maybe three different types of people, the person
like me who's always worked out, but maybe wants to step it up. And then there's the person who
maybe worked out, but has stopped in this restarting. And then the person who's never worked out,
but knows they have to start working out. Maybe they're at a like entering midlife and they realize
that they need to do that. So can you give us like a few different nuggets for those people to help
them get started in the new year? I almost have the same answer for all three. And it's pretty simple.
Well, that's even better. Yeah, it's adding maybe five to ten minutes of something into the
probably a walk. Yeah. So like the person who's never done anything, doing something is daunting.
And so for them, they need to start very small. And they're like, where do I start? And walking does
seem as long as they don't have a reason that they can't walk. Walking seems attainable.
And so if the weather is a bear, a variable, because we're going into winter, it's like, can you go
somewhere? Like when I used to live in Ontario, a lot of the arenas would open themselves up so that
people could just come in and do laps here in BC. We can go to like a mall and indoor mall and do
some laps. So it's like starting small, but also that it can be done, right? Because anyone can find
excuses. We're all capable of it. The person who has worked out and stopped, again, they are,
they are like, oh, this is where I was. Here I am now. How do I get to where I was? Well,
we can't jump into where we were. We have to start where we currently are. So again,
we have to start small, but their, their small could be walking or their small could be like five to
10 minutes of like mobility work and then that mobility work would progress into strength training.
Yeah. The person who already works out a lot, they probably don't need anymore.
So they need more of an active recovery, which includes yoga, polotties, walking, stretching,
foam rolling, all those things, but each category got walking, but for a different reason.
Thank you. That was excellent. Can you talk about recovery a little bit? Because I don't think
most people understand how important recovery is and talk about what happens during that recovery period.
Recovery allows the body to repair itself. So what people don't understand is exercise is a
positive stress on the body, but that positive stress does cause micro tears in the muscles. And
those micro tears are what need recovering. So that's where we need to hydrate, fuel, and
rest, which includes sleeping, but it doesn't mean that you don't have to do anything. You just need
to do something low impact. So walking, stretching, again, yoga, and polotties, any mindful movement can
fall into that. Now, I've also seen the other end of it where it scares people when we say micro tears.
Like, and it's just an understanding of like, this is a normal process within the body, right? When
we're doing these exercises to build our strength and our muscle, it's very minute, it's not concerning,
but for those who don't exercise, and then they get that first like soreness, it's really uncomfortable
if they're not used to it. The other reason exercise is a positive stress is it builds resiliency.
So the first time is always the hardest and we feel it the most. But the more consistent we go,
the less it is a challenge, but that's also why we have to adjust programming because the body needs
to adjust to change, where we're consistent. Yes, we can maintain, but typically when people are in
fitness, they want to continue to improve. So that's where like my new changes. Also, people who are
like, well, I need to be entertained. So they want to do a new exercise all the time that doesn't
be consistency. Consistency is not in necessarily showing up, but it's what we do when we show up.
So every time I, in a week, do a squat, a deadlift, a push and a pull, that consistency shows up.
If I'm like squatting once a month, that consistency is not there, therefore the strength will not
build. And I think that piece, like people are like, well, I work out five times a week, but the reason
they don't have consistency is they're not doing the same thing to build and you get up every time.
Yeah. Yeah, I think it's really important to note, and I learned this lesson like the hard way when I
was training for a marathon. As I said, I enjoyed so much. I enjoyed running a lot. So I was on two
different, I was in two different training groups. So I had like my marathon coach, and then I was also
in just like a social running group training. And so I was training probably like five days a week,
and I had no downtime. And my, my, my, my, I was doing a half marathon. My half marathon time
went down that year. Like I didn't, you know, I didn't improve because I wasn't resting enough.
And so when we don't, you know, I learned that if I don't allow myself to rest, I'm, I'm not going to
get anywhere. There's no, you know, it's just not going to happen. And also, you know, when, when we rest,
that's when the muscles building, that's when the muscles, you know, if you, if you want toned
muscles, then you have to rest. That's part of the whole process. And I think it's so important for
people to know that because they think the more they do, the more fit they're going to be. And that's
just not the case all the time, you know, so I think that's a really important thing. Um,
sorry, I just wanted to go ahead. I'm sorry. Oh, I just wanted to point out also, like this repair
happens when we sleep, which is why sleep is so important, right? Like,
yeah, like people who are like, well, I sleep like four hours. And it's like, well, our body needs like
six to eight, maybe even nine or 10, depending on the individual, um, that we need to be making sure
we're getting like good quality sleep for that repair to occur as well. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, I need my
sleep more. So now as I get older, I feel like I feel it more like I'm, um, there were days where if I
had four, I was sleep, I could still function now. No, not so much. Like now, like, yeah, I'm not
functioning well for four hours. So it's definitely different and I feel it a lot more now.
Um, but it's always important to get enough sleep. That's, yeah, if you're not sleeping,
or I should say, if I'm not sleeping, I'm not, I'm probably not going to work out. Definitely not.
Maybe a walk, but that's it, you know, um, thing that we didn't talk about today that you want to share
that you can take off. I think that everyone is capable. I think that there are a lot of
social norms and dialogues that have caused people to believe certain things about
fitness and whatnot. And so therefore it can be intimidating. But I think anyone can start
exercising. And I say that because my goal is always to meet the client where they're at. So
it can be a possibility that someone listens to this and they're like, okay, I'm going to go work out
and the first person that they meet might not be their ideal person. And also be okay to walk
away from that because it's not necessarily like if you go to work out with a trainer or a coach,
it is a relationship and that relationship, you have to be able to communicate and talk back and
for it. And they should be able to adjust what you're doing so that they meet you at where you're
started and that you can succeed in this. I believe anyone can succeed in fitness and get to where they
want. It's having that support around them to get there. Yeah, I agree. That's very important.
Yeah, it's kind of like finding a good therapist, you know, you have our dating kind of like you have
to find someone that feels aligned and that you connect with and that because you're going to be
working with them on regular basis. And that goes for just like yoga instructors, Pilates instructors,
you know, any type of person that you're working out with, there has to be some kind of a connection.
I definitely have like my favorite yoga people and my favorite instructors that I've worked with
before. So I could a hundred percent agree with that. Talking about that, where can people connect
with you and also work with you? I know you're in BC, right? So do you have anything online too?
Yeah, so I have my website returntoform.ca. I have Instagram, which is return to form kinesiology.
I do work with people online as well as in person. So I am located in an IMO BC and people can
come to my studio and work with me. But I also work with people virtually. And that can kind of be in
a couple of capacities. Like sometimes it's like one visit and then we're kind of
bantering back and forth between like email or whatever, how we choose to communicate. And sometimes
it's like regular appointments. So that again can be like online or in person. And yeah, those are
pretty much the places I do offer. So I have a prenatal and postnatal webinar that people can purchase.
So the webinars are like how to exercise throughout those phases. So there's a program that goes with
it, but also just kind of information. So like some contraindications, things that they should be aware of.
So it can be for the individual or practitioner if they wanted to work with them. And then we also
offer a clinical Pilates workshop. So anyone who is in like the movement field in the sense that
they're working with people, it's a day workshop where we go over just some basic exercises to start
them that they could give to clients to refer to them for like back pain, shoulder neck pain and stuff.
Excellent. All right. All that information will be in the show notes.
It's a pleasure having you on tonight, but before we go, I like to ask everybody that I have on,
what is your favorite self-care practice that has had the biggest impact on your life?
For me, journaling. I love that. And what's crazy is I had a story in my head that I struggled
with spelling reading and not reading, but writing. And so I resisted journaling. And now I feel like
I can't live without it. Like if I don't journal every morning, there's just this, the thought process
that translates for me when I journal. And I give my permit, my self-permission to not worry about
spelling and grammar. And I just let my feelings out. And I feel ready for the day.
I love that. Yes. I look journaling also. It's like one of my favorite things.
Thank you for sharing everything with us. It was a pleasure having you on. And once again,
I just want to thank you for the work that you're doing in the world and encourage everybody to
go check out your website and learn more about what you do. So thank you. Thank you for having me.
I enjoyed it.
[BLANK_AUDIO]
