More is Not Always Better

“More is not always better.” 

 

Those are the words that adorned the screen in the session Feldenkrais® for Performance: Building Awareness, presented by Stacy Barrows, PT. More is not always better. I stare at the PowerPoint slide while Barrows leads the class through an awareness exercise on the Smartroller®. My mind wanders. I gaze absently at the attendees and notice how different everyone is. Their body shapes are all so different. They’re holding patterns of movement differently. Everyone has a story. Everyone is holding on to something in their bodies.

 

More is not always better.

 

Fitness professionals are married to movement. Like all relationships, we have good days and bad days with our bodies, but we’re in for the long haul. Some fitness professionals come to Pilates and yoga via injury, seeking refuge from pain and a path back to the vital flow of joint integrity. Others feel the mind-body approach is a natural transition from more high-energy, “yang” approaches to fitness. And yet, there are still many walking warriors among us.

 

More is not always better. 

 

Eden Goldman, DC, led a group of yoga teachers through an adjustment clinic today. His approach as a chiropractor is practical and no-nonsense, and yet his personal history is steeped in yoga philosophy. Here again the thread of more is not always better needled its way through the teaching. “Yoga is not about showing off,” Goldman said, “it’s about tuning in.”

 

The Inner IDEA Conference is a gorgeous excuse to take a quantum leap forward and two quantum leaps backward if necessary. Your life happens seemingly on its own. You commit to your routine, your relationships and your responsibilities. Meanwhile, you’re oblivious to the out-of-control treadmill beneath your feet that threatens to propel you through the proverbial drywall. Are you happy? Are you whole? No, really.

 

More is not always better.