Hi :-)
Have you ever
- started crying for apparently no reason?
- had ''sudden'' and inexplicable injuries or illnesses hit you hard, seemingly out of nowhere?
- gone from 60mph every day to complete burnout and exhaustion, very quickly?
Here's the thing. None of these things actually happen suddenly, or out of nowhere.
Our bodies are constantly giving us information. Constantly asking us to listen. Giving us hints that we need to slow down, or sleep more, or go to the doctor, or breathe more deeply, or tend to our nervous systems, or tend to that niggling little pain in that one area.
But we just don't listen.
We don't listen for many reasons
- We're too busy
- We've believed the messaging that we're not worth listening to
- We've been programmed to believe that rest is lazy
...and so many more. (Think about why you don't listen - it's a good exercise!)
Here's the other thing.
At some point, our bodies just won't tolerate not being listened to anymore.
Believe me, I know.
When I was half way through college, I woke up one day and simply couldn't move. I was 19 years old. My room mates had to carry me to the medical center. I went from dancing and working out almost every day to spending over a year unable to move for more than 10 minutes a day. I needed help walking everywhere. Lifting a fork felt like lifting a 20 lb weight. For a year.
I believe, now, that my body had been screaming it's exhaustion at me for months. I just hadn't stopped to listen.
I had to drop out of college for a year, was told I may never dance again, and was offered anti-depressants from my doctors, because that's all they could offer me for what I had been diagnosed with: M.E., or Post-Viral Fatigue Syndrome.
My body had literally forced me to rest. Forced me to listen to it.
I had to unlearn how I was approaching everything in my life.
And I had to start really fucking listening from then on.
I finally healed, finished my degree in dance and theatre, trained in NYC and began my journey developing expandance, and became a professional choreographer.
I was lucky; my body gave me a second chance. I used it to develop this practice.
I hope you'll join me for this special and important expandance class.
Slow The F@%! Down
Wednesday August 30th 2023
12pm - 1:30pm Pacific time
Eastern time: 3pm
Ireland and UK: 8pm
Online
$25
Free for BIPOC and the trans community - e-mail me for coupon to use at checkout
Replay will be available if you can't make it. Just sign up and if you don't make it to class I'll send you the replay.
Listening to our bodies is not just ''self care''. It's fundamentally important.
SIGN UP HERE for this workshop
xo Rachel
p.s. You can also sign up for the
expandance membership and have a whole vault of my classes to help you listen to your body (each of which incorporate REST!) available at ANY TIME to you. Check it out here.
