I have not written a newsletter/blog in a very long time but I thought you might like to quickly hear about some of the amazing things that happened in 2018, and what is coming in 2019.
My aim is to help you with your health and fitness goals, even if you are not a client, by giving you some useful information in the newsletter and from inside our website.
One of the main principals I use for myself and my clients are: Stay Curious, curious about finding the best ways to stay fit and healthy and quickly overcome obstacles and setbacks. Everything is a learning experience that can shed new light on how we are being.
Now let me briefly tell you about some of the more recent classes, workshops, and retreats that I have attended and the way they have shaped the way we do things at Mystic Bodyworks.
In the summer of 2017, I went to the Integral Yoga Ashram in Buckingham VA for a 3-week advanced Hatha Yoga teacher training. I had completed my first Integral Yoga teacher training in NYC back in 1999. The retreat in Virginia not only did amazing things for me and within me but it also reaffirmed the importance of having an integrated practice that envelops all sides and aspects of life. One of the ways to be more integrated is to use both a focused mindset and also a diffuse/open mindset so we can focus on particular obstacles and goals and then also apply and integrate them back to the whole.
In March of 2018, I went to Santa Cruz CA to attend a week-long seminar called Finding Center, Anatomy In Motion with Gary Ward. I felt compelled to attend this course after reading Gary’s book titled: “What The Foot? A Game Changing Philosophy Of Human Movement Eliminating Pain And Maximizing Human Potential”. The course was indeed a game changer. The goal was to understand Gary’s “flow motion model”, how every joint in the human body moves in the three dimensions during the six phases of gait and how it applies to all static and dynamic movement. Needless to say, this is still an ongoing study for me but it has greatly expanded my own philosophy about how the body moves, overcomes obstacles, resolves pain and imbalances and can achieve optimal fitness without strain. The human foot has 26 bones and so does the spine. The foot needs to be free to mobilize and communicate with the spine. So much to explore and utilize to integrate and free the body!
In May of 2018, I attended a workshop in NYC about Auricular Chromotherapy. This week in NY with Dr. Daniel Asis was a revelation of how the brain and unconscious interfaces with the body, especially on the ways we deal with trauma, anxiety and past memories.
In September of 2018, I attended a certification course for Neurokinetic Therapy. Neurokinetic Therapy is an amazing modern approach to manual muscle testing developed by David Weinstock. NeuroKinetic Therapy is based on the premise that when an injury has occurred, certain muscles shut down or become inhibited, forcing other muscles to become overworked. This compensation pattern can create pain or tightness. By applying light pressure that the client then resists, the practitioner can evaluate the strength or weakness of each muscle, revealing the sources of injury and retraining the client’s body to remove the compensation patterns—reprogramming the body at the neural level.
In October I went to Berne NY to attend a course on Herbs and Roots for boosting Immunity and healing with herbalist Susana Ravaen. This great course which included learning all about plants in the field and making our own tinctures and elixirs taught us how the healing powers of plants can support our lungs, strengthen our immune system and help us to stay healthy through the winter months.
In November I attended a certification course called Animal Flow developed by Mike Fitch. In general Animal Flow is an innovative fitness program that combines quadrupedal and ground-based movement with elements from various bodyweight-training disciplines to create a fun, challenging workout emphasizing multi-planar, fluid movement. But it also goes far beyond in merging many disciplines into challenging yet scaleable 3-dimensional movements that instantly take the body and mind out of the box.
My mind was totally blown in every one of these trainings. When I look at all of these experiences together, like one big sugar lump, I see how it has evolved my own philosophy and way of working, it made it a whole lot sweeter because it puts movement front and center. The body and mind live within movement, if movement stops or gets stuck a downward spiral sets in.
Like John Mayer said, “your body is a wonderland”. No matter how much I study, practice and investigate it opens up new doors, new ways of seeing how the whole actually comes together and functions in the moment within gravity while flowing in the motion of our joints and perception.
Integrative fitness, training, and health are not about “just do it,” it’s about uncovering the innate perfect fitness that already exists within us. If we stop learning and being curious we get stuck in a box.
I’m sorry if this just all sounded like me talking about me but my intention was to share some of the recent things that I have experienced that I can now translate to all of my clients and allow me to better serve in a complete and holistic way. My hope is to help you understand your body in a way that empowers and uncovers the natural wonder that is already within you.
All the best in 2019!
Be well and stay curious!
Rodolfo Mari
