Here’s a look at what Jen had to say:

Amy’s flawless combination of Thai massage with Western techniques is incredible. It is NOTHING like the lateral massage you are used to. With Amy’s way of incorporating deep assisted stretching into the massage service as well as her intricate knowledge of acupressure, Amy was able to access injured muscles in a way that I’ve never experienced before.

She treated my injuries in ways that I felt immediate sense of relief after just the first service. This combined with the terrifically relaxing & therapeutic state the massage guided me into…I was on cloud 9.

Deep tissue sports medicine body work that provides a spa-like effect has been something I had never found up until this point…and the combination of the spa-therapy results is simply divine.

Continue on to read the whole recap of her Thai massage experience.

Thanks girl!

To kick off the 2012 holiday season, Lifestyle Republic teamed up with lululemon athletica in Cherry Creek to provide free 15-minute Thai yoga massages to holiday shoppers on Black Friday. And you know what? I noticed something quite specific in my afternoon of working exclusively on athletic Cherry Creek yoginis.

No matter how many yoga classes a girl goes to, if she is an athlete (especially a runner) her hips and lower back are most likely her number one complaint.

Thai Massage at lululemon athletica in Cherry Creek

Yoga girls have tight hips…whattttt?

Yup, exactly. Let’s back up and talk anatomy for a moment (my favorite subject). If you’re a runner, what primary mover muscles get tight and overworked the most?

• Hamstrings
• Glutes
• Quadriceps
• Hip flexors

These are the primary movers to propel us forward while running. They are assisted by other stabilizing muscles like the adductors (inner thigh), IT band and quadratus lomborum on the sides of our lower back.

And what is the common denominator between all these muscles? Bingo! The hips. And like Shakira said, hips don’t lie. When these muscles are tight and unhappy, the hips will follow suit. And tight hips can be a real pain.

So when I asked each client what part of their body they’d wanted me to focus on, the answer for each and every one of them was hips and lower back.

Thai massage is especially effective in relieving pain from tight hips and lower back due to the simultaneous application of stretching and deep tissue work. If these primary running muscles are given an opportunity to open up and relax, that opens up the range of motion of your entire hip movement, which will in turn free up the lower back and release that “stuck” tension so many athletes feel in their backs.

It’s quite a jump from my typical client who works hunched over a computer all day and complains of severe discomfort in the shoulders and upper back. There’s something about the practice of yoga that will help to open these upper-body areas quicker and easier than the tension we hold in the hips. While a 15 minute mini-massage may not have been enough to truly create change, it was a great first step for our athletic yoginis!

Click here for more information on Thai massage with Amy Baglan.

• Relaxation
• Stress reduction
• Injury prevention
• Pain management
• Improved flexibility
• Increased range of motion post-injury

So what type of massage therapy in Denver is right for you? Below are six popular massage modalities to choose from:

Swedish Massage: Swedish Massage is the most common type of massage therapy in North America. Therapists perform the massage on a table and use draping to cover the body. Long, smooth strokes are used to warm up the top layers of muscle tissues, followed by slightly deeper work using kneading and circular movements. Swedish massage therapy can be very gentle and relaxing, great for people whose top goal in massage is relaxation. For those looking for deeper work, Swedish can definitely leave you looking for more.

Hot Stone Massage: Smooth stones are heated and placed on target areas of the body to increase circulation, loosen tight muscles and induce overall relaxation. The massage therapist may choose to apply oil to the skin and use the stones as massage tools, applying pressure in smooth strokes. Hot stone massages are especially helpful in the winter months and for people with tight muscles that have a hard time taking deep pressure.

Thai Massage Hip Stretches

Deep Tissue Massage: Deep tissue massage therapy is intended to go beyond the superficial tissues and reach deeper muscle layers. After warming up the body with Swedish-style techniques, the therapist applies stronger pressure in slow, controlled strokes. While deep tissue massage can be painful, it is especially good for chronic muscle pain, tension and aiding in injury recovery. It is not uncommon to be sore for a couple of days after a deep tissue massage while the muscles recover.

Thai Massage: Thai Yoga Massage—often called “the lazy man’s yoga”—has been practiced for thousands of years. Like shiatsu massage, Thai massage aims to balance the body and increase overall energy. Specific benefits include improved posture, breathing, flexibility, circulation, digestion and more. This ancient healing bodywork combines meditative breathing, deep assisted stretching, acupressure techniques and optional hot herbal compresses to apply aromatherapy heat to tight muscles.

Many Colorado athletes swear by Thai massage because it is the only technique to combine deep tissue work with stretching, two things active bodies need the most. According to client needs, the therapist may combine other massage techniques, particularly deep tissue, Swedish and myofascial release. Thai massage is performed on a large cushioned floor mat with the client wearing loose-fitting clothes.

Myofascial Release Technique: Myofascial release therapy can be effectively combined with one or more other massage techniques to eliminate pain and restore motion in targeted areas that have movement restriction. The theory is based on an in-depth understanding of the body’s fascial system, which is large, connective tissue sheath that covers our entire body underneath our skin.

Shiatsu: Shiatsu massage is a Japanese bodywork modality that uses the acupuncture meridians as a map to apply finger pressure in a controlled, systematic manner. Sustained holds to these acupuncture points are said to improve the body’s energy flow and restore overall balance. The touch is lighter than deep tissue and massage sessions are performed fully clothed on a specialized mat on the floor.

Regardless of which massage method you choose, finding the best Denver massage therapist for you is a personal matter. You may have to try a few different people before you find someone who you want to see regularly. Many therapists combine techniques, so always remember to clearly communicate your needs and goals so they can assess the proper treatment for you.

In the past three years, I’ve planned I-don’t-know-how-many businesses. And I have the domain list to prove it. I’ll be the first to admit my domain-buying addiction. It’s like revisiting photos of past lovers when I look at that list of .coms, each with its own story and happy memories.

There was the national chain of wellness centers based off the Massage Envy empire. I was even prepared to take a part-time admin job there in order to learn the ins and outs of their corporate structure. (I still think this has major legs…someone please make it happen!)

Or the health and wellness website that was going to revolutionize the industry where users could personalize their own eating preferences, recipes and goals, plus setup sessions with virtual health coaches across the world. Here’s the highlight of that idea process: One night, my then-boyfriend dragged me to see Star Wars (or was it Star Trek? Clearly I was dying to see it.) I was so excited about this website that I was having trouble concentrating on the movie and actually walked out of the theater, went five blocks back to our apartment, sat on the couch with my laptop and began brainstorming like a maniac. But not before I sent my man a texting saying “Sorry babe, was too inspired, had to come home and brainstorm.”

Last year, while in India, I went as far as setting up a website and had ongoing dialogue with a list of manufacturers before deciding I didn’t want to pursue selling Indian lamps and lanterns, after all. To this day I still have a massive obsession with Indian lamps. They’re gorgeous!

Fair trade yoga pants. Couples yoga retreats. Daily Asana iPhone app.

I could look back on these plans and feel discouraged for not following through. I could feel embarrassed because I’ve spent a lot of time, money and energy on them and actively voiced these plans to friends and family more times than I can count. But I don’t, not for a second.

Instead, I look at it like this: none of these have been “the one”. And I know this because at some point in the process, I lost interest for one reason or another. But each has taken me closer to my own truth and current successes that are unfolding as we speak.

Yoga workshops, virtual lifestyle lectures, a super exciting dating series and more. There is a lot of amazingness in the works here and as all of the best things do, they each came about quite organically.

Back to mimosas and brunch. I realized then and there that ideas are not just thoughts; they go much deeper than that. They are relationships with our thoughts, a relationship that you develop, nurture, have conversations with, try on for a while. And maybe, just maybe…

if you like their style…

if they excite you…

if they are aligned with your passions and values…

if you think you’ll be really happy with them for years to come…

if you have major respect for them and they challenge you to be better every day…

…then you know you’ve got the right idea.

From there, it’s up to you to nurture a deep, lasting relationship and start taking some serious action.

By the way. These ideas I mentioned above? That’s only about half the list. The other half are still too cool to let go of quite yet, so I’ve got them in my little black book for those lonely nights.

**

Buy a foam roller. Now.

Don’t like resolutions? Fine.

Backache? Stiff neck? Sore shoulders? Tight hamstrings? Tight…ass?

I repeat. Buy a foam roller. Now.

I swear, this thing has done more for me in the past week than anything else. As you might remember, my body has been testing me in all sorts of ways in the past few months. First a back injury, then a broken foot, then major muscle and joint pain. The back was by far the most debilitating though. A few days before Christmas I was at a theater and actually had to leave because it hurt so badly to sit in the seat. The back doctor I saw basically told me to “avoid forward bending for 8 weeks.” Um…ok. YOU TRY THAT.

I know that things are getting tighter these days since I’ve had to pretty much avoid all traditional yoga poses (broken foot = big clunky boot). So about a week ago I decided I was going to try anything and everything I knew I could do on my mat. Starting with kneeling sun salutations. I’m going to post a video of this little ditty soon, but it goes like this:

• Child’s pose
• Inhale to knees, arms to sky
• Exhale hands down in front to you, slide forward as you bring chest and chin to the floor (hips up, back arched)
• Finish exhale with entire body on mat, hands underneath shoulders
• Inhale into cobra, draw shoulders back, collarbone wide
• Exhale push back into child’s pose
• Repeat 8-10x

My teacher Marco taught this in his Slow Flow and I just fell in love with the practice. Opens hips, chest, shoulders, side body and gets spinal fluids going. Score!

But wait, this is about foam rolling. Yes. Meet your new best friend:

Foam rollers feel really hard and I’m not gonna lie, they hurt. But it’s that GOOD HURT – the one that makes you beg for the male massage therapist with the big hands. That’s how you know you’re hitting the good spots!

So what should you use it for, you ask? Everything.

I intuitively knew the tightness in my back was stemming from a lot of places: glutes, hamstrings, IT band, quads and the muscles from the neck down to the sacrum. Yes – that’s a lot. Yet it’s all the same. Remember the conversation about fascia? Everything is connected, so are you really surprised?

My favorite is workin’ the piriformis and the glutes (ie. your booty!):

Click through for some other tips from Runner’s World.

For those of you with pain and tightness in the shoulders, try rolling along your mid- to upper-back with your hands laced behind the nape of your neck. Every time I do this, I literally hear cracking along my spine and it feels like an instant chiropractic adjustment. It got rid of this nagging pain in my right shoulder literally in one day.

The coolest thing about foam rolling is that you are basically getting free myofascial release therapy and you control everything: the pressure, how long you spend on one area, what gets more attention. So here’s what you can do.

• Use the foam roller every day after you stretch. (You are stretching, right?)
• Roll slowly and evenly. Imagine a massage: how slow do you like it?
• If you’ve got serious IT band tightness from running, cycling, etc. be sure to give the outside of your thighs extra attention
• When you hit a spot that is really talking to you – and believe me, you will – stay there for at least 30 seconds
• It’s going to hurt at times. If an area is too tender, adjust your body weight accordingly
• Breathe through the pain and mentally soften the spots you’re working
• Remember: You can’t release muscles when you’re tightening them!

You can buy these for very little money and in different sizes. I opt for the shorter one because it’s easier to maneuver and I can travel with it. In fact, I took this home for Christmas and after all the gifts were opened, guess what my 4 nieces and nephews were fighting over to play with??

Cheers to rolling into 2012 tension-free!

I met an awesome girl last year around this time in India named Cole. She was such a breath of fresh air; a cool, grounded chick from Australia who ran her own creative consulting biz. We’d talk for hours about how we both value entrepreneurship, goals and self-reliance, and we had a fabulous time wherever we went. I’m not sure she knew it at the time, but she inspired me in more ways than one. She had started working for herself a few years prior, and the year of 2010 had been huge for her in many ways. She attributed it to a constant driving force behind her everyday decisions and thought processes: Her Yearly Theme.

[Enter unexpected turn of events where this post takes its own direction]

…As I’m writing this I’m searching through notes to see if I can remember what her theme was for 2010 that was so helpful. Instead, I stumbled upon a year-old post in which I stated my own theme for the upcoming 2011: Cheers To Following Your Heart.

Funny, because looking back on this year, I did just that. Even better – everything is so aligned – I made a gratitude list this morning for 2011 (thanks to the inspiration of Jenny Sansouci) and wrote verbatim: “Following my heart all the way out to Denver.”

Listening to my gut – to my heart center – is exactly what has driven pretty much every decision, every move I made since this journey began. Not the selfish, activity-driven voice that your mind sometimes mistakes for your heart. I’m talking that undeniable feeling when you know something is the right move, even though you can find plenty of people who wouldn’t agree. That feeling of complete flow, complete surrender.

I’ve been reading the Tao Te Ching recently and the most impacting messages are the ones about non-doing. Giving up trying to make things happen. That doesn’t mean we sit around all day, every day. My take on this is deeper than that – it’s an act of surrender to that which is actually happening. And if you’re in the flow, aligned with your center, then we naturally make and create that which is an extension of our Self.

At least that’s how I choose to interpret it starting now, as we move into 2012.

It’s funny how many different “futures” I’ve dreamed up for myself over these two years. None of them happened exactly, but they all stem from the same Root, the same purpose, just different forms.

There are a lot of things brewing here now, all very exciting. By abandoning trying to “figure out” what is the best move, I gave up. And something so inspiring has grown from that surrender. I can’t wait to announce more details soon.

So, here we are. December 31st, 2011.

I know we’ve all got some big visions ahead.

So what’s your Theme this year?

I’ll start. Just as it did one year ago, the answer came quickly:

Presence, Passion, Productivity.

Winter Solstice Ceremony, 2010.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy entry into 2012!

Cheers to following your heart,

Amy Carole

Tip #25 from 30 Things To Stop Doing To Yourself:

Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. - It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well. You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.

I’m glad someone is saying this. Because I’ve never been so broken in my life.

Let me explain. Mentally and emotionally, I’ve never been so inspired, centered, and ready to take on this next chapter with everything I’ve got. In the past three weeks since moving to Denver, things have been happening, and quickly. Connections are being made, friendships are forming. I’ve got my first weekly yoga class at a new studio and a very humbling volunteer position teaching yoga at a juvenile rehab center. And new business opportunities abound! All this in the busiest month of the year. I just know that January will bring even greater things my way. But this post isn’t about why moving to Denver was an awesome decision. It’s about how – and why – I went from being the most physically active person I know to being stuck in an AirCast boot with an ice pack on my back and a host of medicines keeping me at bay.

Hello Denver! View from Red Rocks Amphitheater

After returning from Asia this summer, I started noticing my skin breaking out more than normal. At first, I attributed it to being in a new environment, coming off birth control, eating sugar, whatever else I could think of. But as I settled into a super-holistic, active lifestyle living in the woods of Northern Michigan, I knew something deeper was up. My skin – which had always been flawless, so much so that strangers would comment on it daily – went from perfect to rock bottom-bad in a matter of two months. Nothing I tried would help, and believe me, I tried it all. Holistic, ayurvedic, meditation, topicals, etc. Towards the middle of the summer, I began jetting around the country, boarding a plane at least ten times in the following two months. By this point, I was silently (and sometimes not-so-silently) freaking out. I finally caved in and went Western – making an appointment with a dermatologist. Long story short, their recommended treatments only further exacerbated the problems. Fast-forward, I returned to my parent’s home for the first time in ten years, broken-hearted (that’s another story), exhausted and at a complete loss in so many ways.

I recovered from everything else pretty quickly, but the skin issues persisted. So after weeks of tears, Googling and more tears, I finally agreed to go on the dreaded Accutane, as recommended by a dermatologist in St. Louis whom my family highly respects. I never thought in a million years that I would be going through this. Me – the girl who hates to take Tylenol – agreeing to go on this incredibly intense, horror-story-ridden medication for 4 months. It was a shocker, indeed. But so was the loss of confidence and constant worry that comes from severe acne. (Note: Two months into treatment, I couldn’t be happier with the decision.)

To help get through those rough first couple of weeks home, I dove headfirst into my yoga practice. Every day was an intense asana practice, balanced out with a couple of yin classes each week. One day, I noticed a pain in the right side of my lower back. It persisted over the new few days, then I flew out to NYC for the weekend, and headed up to Kripalu for two weeks of yoga trainings. I’d never felt back pain, and it scared the crap out of me. I wondered what caused it in the first place. I wondered what exactly was going on anatomically. I started to worry about this turning into a chronic issue. Back pain at the age of 28?? It just didn’t seem fair. The pain was kept at bay my first week at Kripalu, but by the second week came back with full force, causing painful spasms that were only controlled by Positional Release Therapy.

I returned to St. Louis with a list of suggestions to help my back but no definitive answer. My visit to a physical therapist there wasn’t much help either. I was told to basically take it easy. And honestly, after all the asana, all the running around the world, all the franticness…I happily accepted the prescription for rest.

Bird, trees, blue sky...like falling asleep under the stars.

A couple of weeks later, I headed to Denver to find an apartment. On my last day there, I decided my back felt good enough to try out a restorative yoga class and headed out the door in my Tom’s shoes, down the steps of my friend’s apartment, and tripped on my right foot. Thanks to the complete lack of support of the shoes, my foot folded under itself. It hurt like hell, but I was determined to go to this class, so I hobbled there and iced the foot as I lay there on the mat. I iced, elevated, and made it to the airport that night, took a flight with my foot elevated on the 1st row wall, and hoped for the best.

The next day’s x-ray showed no broken bones, so I treated it like a bad sprain. I rested for 4 days straight. After earlier weeks of resting the back, I was getting a little antsy. So the moment the foot started feeling better, I jumped into my cycling shoes and went back onto the yoga mat. Within a few days, my foot flared up worse than before. I moved here to Denver and started physical therapy, only to find out that wasn’t helping. So a month after the initial injury, I see doctor #2 to find out I have a fracture, after all. Enter the AirCast. For one month I’m confined to this massive boot, except for driving, showering and sleeping.

It’s not all that bad, really. I can get around just fine, I can dance and spin to my heart’s content, and it makes for good conversation. But now, the back pain has returned. And to add fuel to the fire, the Accutane causes severe muscle and joint pain. Meloxicam helps, so does a nightly aromatherapy epsom salt bath.

Best. Ritual. Ever.

I’m not sure what this post is about. It’s not a rant – I am actually super thankful for each of these lessons. Being confined to the house most of the day has been pretty nice, actually. Here’s a little gratitude list:

• I’ve been able to spend the time fixing up and decorating my new apartment, which I love
• I have tons of time to read, study, write, and work on some projects I’ve been meaning to do
• I have a wonderful chair to sit in for morning and evening meditations (since sitting on the floor is pretty difficult right now)
• My spiritual practice has grown more powerful than ever
• The aches and pains are bringing me even more in touch with my body and every single sensation that arises
• The coolest thing is that this gives me the time to work on my next steps. I’m launching a new website within the month, a super-exciting Lifestyle Coaching program, and planning two awesome workshops for January/February.

If I was running around Denver, going to yoga classes daily, hiking in the mountains, learning to ski, and socializing every night, would I really have time to dedicate to these things? I’d like to think that I would budget my time wisely, but I know how I tend to get distracted by being active.

You know the cliché ”everything happens for a reason”? Well, that’s exactly how I choose to look at what’s going on. While I’m patching myself back together physically, I am learning so much about healing and that will ultimately translate to helping others. And based on what I’m going through now, it can only get better from here.

So this is my personal take on Tip #25 – it is ok to fall apart, it’s even better to admit it to others. My hope is that by reading this, someone else will find hope in their own situation.

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” – Randy Pausch

PS. As “broken” as I feel right now, I NEVER forget how lucky I am to have my health. I express my gratitude for this daily, as we all should.

My father standing in the dining room, and this on the table…

The conversation went like this:

Me: Dad, what’s that?

Dad [looking hesitant]: A container.

Me: Mmm hmm. Where’d you get it?

Dad [gives up the act]: I had to go there and get a fruit cup because I didn’t have time to make breakfast this morning before I left.

Me [smiling, so proud]: Oh, ok. I guess that’s acceptable.

Dad: Yeah, I also got a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit and as I walked over to sit down, I dropped it and the whole thing spilled out onto the floor.

[At this point I start to get really excited because of course, I think this story is turning into a big sign from the Universe]

Dad continues [laughing]: So I walked back to the counter and the girl gave me a new one!

[Ok. Maybe not a sign.]

I surprised myself by taking a deep breath, and laughed along with him. Everything in moderation, right?

Since coming back into my parents’ house in October, I have been doing a lot of the cooking and subtly trying to help them make healthier eating choices. (Ok, maybe not that subtly.) I’ve been through my own journey in and out of veganism, but still maintain a vegan diet about 98% of the time. I do it for many reasons, but when it comes to my family, my #1 concern is their health.

Now is a good time to give a little bit of background here. I come from a family of doctors, scientists and generally left-brained thinkers. I’ve always been the more creative, free-spirited one, and ever since my journey into holistic health and yoga, to say I’m the odd one out is an understatement.

DISCLAIMER: I love my family dearly and they have been nothing but supportive in my decision to follow this path. But when it came to influencing healthier change in their own lifestyle habits, I never seemed to make much headway.

Not that my parents are “unhealthy” in the standard sense. Quite the contrary. For the most part they always ate well-balanced meals and keep very active. But I know first-hand how good it feels to go from your standard “well-balanced American diet” to a mostly plant-based diet rich in whole foods. Better digestion, immunity, energy levels, clearer thinking…the list goes on! And that’s just what we see and feel. There is a whole host of other things happening (or not happening) at a cellular level that we don’t even notice. Disease prevention being benefit numero uno!

What better way to approach my logic-based parents with health information than with the results from a big, widely respected study? Enter The China Study.

The take-home message of the study is that by eating a plant food/vegan diet, you minimize or even reverse the development of chronic diseases. One of the most memorable findings from the book is that a diet consisting of 5% or more animal protein activates pre-cancerous cells in the body, leading to higher cancer rates, and therefore death rates.

While traveling last year, I emailed my Dad to check out this book. He wrote me back an email a few days later that said “You’ve got me convinced. I’m going vegan.” I was so proud, but this was short-lived, as my Mom was the one doing the cooking. He did, however, change his breakfast habits and started eating tons of fruit. Baby steps, right?!

Actually, there have been a lot of baby steps. This past summer in Michigan, both my parents came to my weekly Yin Yoga class. At first I thought they were just being supportive, until I realized how helpful the practice was for each of them. (Of course it was! Yin is so powerful.)

Sometimes, though, the most influential people are your peers. My mother found out their life-long friends – also in their late-60s – recently went vegan and have never felt better. They’d made the decision after reading The China Study. Hmm…sounds familiar!

My mother promptly bought the book and her chemist-brain was instantly hooked. The book, dog-eared and marked up, finally made its impact. So now, with my help, my parents are slowly transitioning to a mostly-vegan diet and I couldn’t be more proud. To see them making changes like this at their age shows that people can always make positive changes, no matter their situation. And as my mother sends emails to family members about the undeniable findings presented in this ground-breaking book, I’m already seeing a ripple effect. My sister is the latest one on-board, which means both her young children are following suit.

I’m reminded of the mission statement of my school, The Institute For Integrative Nutrition:

“Our mission is to play a crucial role in improving health and happiness, and through that process, create a ripple effect that transforms the world.”

Cheers!

Ok, that’s a little dramatic. But I am, after over a year of wanderlusting around the world, settling down moving into an apartment of my own and staying in one place…for a while.

Destination: Denver!

About a year and a half ago, as the urge to leave New York City grew stronger and stronger, I had an intense cross-country romance with an awesome guy in Denver, who I oh-so-creatively nicknamed “Denver”. After one visit, I was hooked on Denver (the city), but not the guy (sorry G!). With the notion of leave NYC becoming more and more real, I realized that I needed a bigger change and started dreaming up a serious plan, starting with India. I had no idea where I’d end up, and I didn’t really care. There was a part of me that still loved the idea of moving to Denver, but I was open to anything and everything that could happen in the next year or two. So off I went to India, armed with one bag and a heart full of adventure.

Those seven months around Asia were beyond amazing. Setting foot in India, Thailand and Bali, I knew I’d be coming back. Along the way I met incredible people, many of whom were perpetual travelers. These people, these professional wanderers, intrigued me to no end. They live their life differently. Why not?

Back in the US in June, I was not ready to make any long-term decisions. I setup shop in my family’s summer cabin in the woods of Northern Michigan. Three inspiring months of teaching yoga, doing Thai Massage, cycling and spending time with family. It was perfect.

Come end of July, I started hopping around again with Michigan as my base. First stop: Wanderlust Festival in Lake Tahoe. Wow. This yoga/music festival was pretty much life-changing in more ways than one. Most notably, I fell madly in love with someone I thought was my soulmate. All of the sudden, all bets were off and we wanted nothing more than to be together. Which would require me to shift some big plans I’d made and move to Salt Lake City. Suddenly, the idea of settling down and growing some roots was very attractive. But not yet. I had another two months of traveling ahead of me.

In short, those months went like this: Tahoe –> Michigan –> Salt Lake City –> Michigan –> New York City –> Upstate NY –> New York City –> Michigan –> St. Louis –> Salt Lake City –> St. Louis –> Chicago –> St. Louis.

I know, it’s exhausting to even think about. I was done. In more ways than one.

In the course of that whirlwind, my heart was broken, my health was slipping and I had no clue where to go. I ended up back in my parent’s house in St. Louis, Missouri. For the first time in ten years I was back in the comfort of my childhood home, enjoying the freedom of doing nothing. So naturally, two weeks of sleeping ensued.

I am a big believer of the Universe sending us lessons. All the time. It’s up to us to learn from them.

Sometimes we are fortunate enough to experience and learn a valuable lesson in a considerably short time frame. Other times, we are not so lucky, drawing out wrong relationships and situations for years, even decades.

I somehow managed to fall madly in love, experience a bliss I never knew existed, proceeded to lose myself in that love, experience heartbreak, and go through the grieving process…all in ten weeks. Holy lessons learned!

[Enter Denver. Again.]

In the course of that beautiful love affair, I decided not to move forward with plans to go to massage school in Costa Rica. I was done with traveling to foreign countries for 4 months at a time. Plus, I wasn’t convinced a traditional massage school was the right path for me. I do Thai Yoga Massage and want to continue learning that craft, but I also want to study Western therapeutics and get my massage license. Well, it just so happens that the only school in the country (to my knowledge) that offers an integrative approach to massage – Thai Yoga Massage practicum + Western therapeutics training – is located in Denver. And classes start January 2012. I found all this out the day it was clear Salt Lake City was no longer happening. As usual, the timing is impeccable.

So here we are. I just returned from a quick Denver trip, visiting the school and securing an apartment. The place is perfect, the school exactly what I’m looking for. And the Denver yoga community is so inviting. I couldn’t be more excited. Finally, setting down roots, teaching long-term and starting my practice: exactly what I’ve been yearning for these past few months.

A kitchen. A studio space. A backyard with planter boxes. A hammock. Even a storage shed.

I’m trying not to be attached to these things, but, my goodness! After living out of a suitcase for over a year, they sure make things so very comfortable.

As my teacher told me, all this moving around from place to place creates a feverishness inside. It is true. Being physically grounded naturally lends itself to being mentally and emotionally grounded, as well.

Although, today I just finished reading Tales Of A Female Nomad. And find myself dreaming of my next chance to get away, take off with one bag and immerse myself in something totally new and foreign…

Namaste brave souls.

Why?

Well, that’s easy. WE ARE SO FASCINATING!

Although in recent months I have taken this interest to new heights, it all started about five years ago. I had moved to New York City and my body seemed to be falling apart. Every day I pounded the pavement in cute shoes, commuting to work, walking to meetings, dancing the night away. Relatively quickly a pain developed in my feet, and in a few short months that nagging pain became excruciating, shooting up my leg and affecting my body in all sorts of ways. My hips hurt, my back complained daily. Was I really feeling the signs of aging at 23? Impossible. One night, while standing at a Jamie Cullum concert in my new cheetah-print Steve Madden flats, I looked down and saw the sides of both feet were flaming red. It was time to see a doctor.

I ended up finding Dr. Ethan Ciment – aka the best podiatrist ever - who became a wonderful friend over the years. He explained my problem: collapsable arches (flat feet) which was causing my bones to splay each step I took. While that in itself is not inherently bad, the shoes I wore crowded my feet so badly that bunions had formed and were super inflamed. (Note: Bunions are caused by an extra-angular position of the bones in your toe joints…they are NOT a crazy skin growth like some people think.) It was time to say goodbye to the unsupportive-yet-adorable shoes I owned and get orthotics. And honestly, I was willing to do anything. I love fashion, but not at the expense of my comfort.

Armed with new shoes and knowledge, the pain quickly subsided and I could enjoy moving around again. A few months down the line I had surgery on my right foot to correct the bunions and went through physical therapy to regain proper use of my foot. I was so interested in how something as seemingly-unimportant as shoes could cause so much damage to the entire body, and how these things could be corrected. Thus, the obsession began.

Workin' the surgery boot

Over the years, I endured different pains in my knee, hip, ankle…always on the right side. I don’t need a degree to know how these things are related. Each time, the weeks in physical therapy helped me to understand the root of the problem and how to alleviate the pain. Without fail, every injury stemmed from tight muscles (often caused by a repetitive movement I’d been doing).

So why do our muscles get tight? And how can we fix them? This is what I paid the professionals to tell me.

As I got deeper into my yoga practice, things started shifting. My teacher had a strong Iyengar background and would talk about moving the body in ways I’d never thought of before. It clicked immediately. Armed with this new knowledge, I trained for a triathlon and not only avoided injury, but came out much more flexible than before. During my 200-hour yoga training, the anatomy portion just wasn’t long enough. I found myself craving more, asking question after question, connecting the dots. The fact that we are so unique in our composition and yet, everything works the same is so friggin’ cool.

Hands on learning: Playing with "fascia"

The more you know about your own body, the better you can use it. Especially when it comes to a yoga asana practice, where we move our bodies into all sorts of different positions. We’ve all been struggling in a pose and look around the room at that one person who seems effortless in her actions. The initial thought is often “She’s so good, she’s so flexible” and while this may seem to be the case, she also is probably anatomically built to go deep in certain positions. Because let’s face it: certain bone structures will naturally give a “head start” in a yoga practice. However, there is SO MUCH we can do to help open things up and keep our bodies limber. And I know this firsthand, because I am not one of those anatomically gifted people.

Earlier today, I watched this video about fascia and stretching. WARNING: There are images of a real human cadaver, so if that sort of thing makes you cringe, don’t press play.

Funny thing is, this sort of thing used to gross me out, too. Now, I just want more, more more.

I’ve been practicing Thai Yoga Massage for the past 5 months or so, and while the training I received in Thailand was wonderful, I found myself craving a much more in-depth discussion of anatomy. We are handling human bodies, after all. So this January I am starting a 6-month integrative massage program which will thoroughly cover anatomy and therapeutic massage techniques using both Western and Eastern methodologies.

My most recent injury is three weeks old. As I mentioned, I tend to have an injury on the right side of my body about once per year. This time, it traveled up to the right side of my back. After a month of intense yoga practice – including many new postures and practices – I woke up with a strong pain in my lower back. Uh oh, I thought. Back pain is not good. Especially a few days before I embark on two weeks of intense yoga trainings at Kripalu.  In my second week there, during the most painful muscle spasm I’d ever experienced in my life, I discovered a form of therapy called Positional Release to help release the exaggerated contractions of my quads and psoas muscles, which were causing an unnatural anterior tilt in my pelvis thus leading to the painful back spasms. The theory, based on strain-counterstrain techniques, took everything I knew about stretching and turned it upside down. And the coolest thing is that is WORKED.

Like anything else, I took this as a lesson to get to know my body better and practice some patience. And as a teacher, it is a huge blessing to experience common injuries to better relate to and help students with their own issues.

I’m not going to say that one method is better than the other. There are so many techniques out there to help us find the cause of physical ailments and heal them. But what I will say is this: Don’t just accept what you are told. To truly help heal your body – and others – you must understand the root cause yourself. To do this, no matter how little or much you know about anatomy, ask questions. Lots of them. Ask to see pictures, skeletons, whatever it takes.

Above all, as the saying goes: You are your best teacher. Learn to listen to your own body and movement. Understanding your own body and movement tendencies will not only help you heal injuries, but it will help you move and live to your greatest physical potential. We truly are fascinating beings; treat yourself as such!