Motion is Lotion

In our Friday morning class, we started talking about pain experiences and our deeply embedded culture of not moving when in pain. I find pain science fascinating. The week before our class had been focused all on neck movements per a client’s request and she was amazed at how what she thought was her old age arthritic pain improved! I’ve experienced this myself over the years with my neck, back and hip pains. I saw this all the time with spine patients and many other injuries in the clinic. 

It used to be that bed rest was actually prescribed for many musculoskeletal injuries but we now know just how important safe, gentle moving is for recovery. When I have a good idea of what’s going on, I generally recommend moving to your end range of pain or just before it and seeing if you can increase that range or tolerance in time. Pain does not always equal damage. Many arthritic patients will tell you that their joints stiffen up with rest and loosen up once they get moving. 

Movement is Medicine.

Our joints were designed to move! Our body was too! Motion is Lotion. Movement is Medicine. The more we can move our body in safe and appropriate ways, we reap so many benefits. What I love about Pilates is that it focuses on literally everything from your head to toes. We work proper patterning of every joint and incorporate breath work. We leave nothing out!

When we move, our joints become lubricated and gain essential nutrients and oxygen to heal, hydrate and stay healthy. Our flexibility and mobility improves. We sleep better. We walk more connected. We improve our bone density. We lower our stress levels and can see improved energy and moods. We even gain gastrointestinal benefits to moving. We improve our body’s ability to digest food and can decrease gut inflammation. We can help medical conditions improve such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even insulin sensitivity. 

Exercise may look different for everyone but daily, healthy movement is good for us all!