Last week, I attended a 2-day Essentrics teacher training workshop here in Vancouver and as always, it was very enlightening. But more than that, it was super duper inspiring and reinforced why I love this workout SO much, and why it's quickly becoming very popular out here in the west.
I listened to a lot of personal stories from 20+ attendees - how they found Essentrics, how it changed their lives, and why they share it with others - and immediately felt empowered. It's not only the practice, but the growing community within that drives me to teach this program. The women and men who teach and take classes all have a story and all are uplifting.
Of course I learned, too. The workshop reinforced what I knew, built upon the tools I already had, and corrected some errors I was making that will improve my practice and my ability as a teacher. It also humbled me by blowing my mind yet again by building upon what I already knew with new information and teaching techniques I get to use and pass on to you.
As I was typing out the notes I took during the workshop, I was further inspired to share more about how Essentrics helps relieve pain and changes your body in ways you never thought possible. That's what this week's blog is all about, because, I once thought I had all the answers behind the Essentrics technique, but if I can be blown away by how much more awesomeness there is to learn about this workout, then it's worth sharing.
Read on to explore some of the more hidden ways Essentrics can benefit your body.
It's a Gentle Practice that Refines the Way You Move
No joke. Essentrics will change everything from your posture to the way you walk and everything in between, including how you reach for items on a shelf, pick up boxes off the floor, and get in and out of the car.
Essentrics routines range from slow and simple, to quick and advanced, but all are gentle. As you get used to the smooth, methodical movements led in class, you slowly become more gentle in your daily movements, as well. Quelle surprise! You'll step lighter, walk stronger & taller, and, maybe most importantly, protect your body through more drastic movements.
It demonstrates Precision in movement that protects your body
Alignment is the first focus of Essentrics. Proper alignment of your feet, knees, hips, shoulders and head allow for you to move through exercises with ease and work through your full muscle chains while being structurally supported. This strengthens your bones and joints, and, most essentially, rebalances your body, making way for pain relief.
Beyond proper alignment, precision is also practiced by engaging the abdominal muscles correctly, moving multi-directionally, and finding the stretch by working within and by completing your movements. Each exercise, transition, and stretch has a purpose as they work through your entire body. They're specific and purposeful, properly stretching and strengthening full-body muscle chains, again, rebalancing your body, giving you a heightened level of body awareness and protecting you when you have to move suddenly and unexpectedly.
it's a therapeutic practice
Essentrics is a functional, real-life, relatable practice. Even more than that, it has many beneficial side effects. Most notably, it's age-reversing, heart protective, and therapeutic for the body. It works on the body as a whole (as a holistic nutritionist, you gotta know I love that!) instead of on individual parts, allowing for your entire body to benefit as a unit, because it needs to.
Think about it: our circulatory system benefits from the blood-pumping and arterial wall strengthening movements of Essentrics. Where do you find your circulatory system? Only throughout the entire body! It's therapeutic effect not only effects the physical body (see above), but it helps flush out the brain from stagnancy. You can't exactly stretch the brain, it needs the rest of the body to help out. And without these effects you wouldn't see a refreshed, more agile body that literally reverses in age!
Essentrics is a whole body practice that provides whole body results and positive effects. It gives each corner of your muscular body a little massage, leaving you relaxed and energized at the same time. Now that's personalized therapy!Pretty cool, right?
These are just some of the benefits obtained by practicing Essentrics on a regular basis. You can read my first Essentrics post, Essentrics 101, for more.
If you're still curious about the practice, or have been doing the routines at home but would like more assistance or clarification, don't hesitate to reach out to me. I'd love to help!
See you on your mat :)