Hey there, happy March!  

What a joyous thing to see so much more sun the last few weeks.  I am so excited for the longer, warmer days.  This newsletter comes to you fairly late in the month.  March has been extremely dualistic, from long cold days and a month long pain flare-up of a decades old injury, to a wonderful family vacation, visiting my 49th state and beautiful warm sunny days.  

The deep bone throb in my leg has accompanied (and unfortunately at times dampened) hanging out with my kiddo, spending time with my family and even fully enjoying our instructor trainees completing their Mat modules and diving into the equipment work.  This nagging flare has interrupted my strength training schedule, negatively impacted my running and has even been rude enough to disrupt sleep.  I’ve been cranky beyond belief.  Even this newsletter, one of my favorite admin tasks, is low effort and lacking this month.

Sound familiar?

Like many of you, I came to Pilates through extreme chronic pain and injury.  

In my early 20’s, my body was extremely worn out and ragged from a really terrible relationship with fitness that frequently left my body very damaged.  Limping, bracing, sleeping with heating pads, smelling like Tiger Balm, and taking Ibuprofen on a regular schedule was normal.  I had a standing weekly appointment with the chiropractor and frequently chose shoes based on which pair minimized pain.  At 25, I, along with the 65 year old men in my department, had a prescription for a standing desk and midday walk breaks to help with pain management.  Road trips, flights, concerts, my car, even dinner plans were made around pain.

When my doctor prescribed Pilates, I was skeptical and certain that my lifestyle choices meant just dealing with a life of constant irritation, aches and pains.  

At the time, I just didn’t know any different.

It’s been a long time since that first Mat Pilates class, which left me shaking and unable to perform 75% of the class.

Pilates has been a constant companion for the last 16 years, through injury recovery, pregnancy, postnatal recovery, moving cross country, changing careers twice, surgery, and a whole lot of major life moments.  

With this latest pain flare-up of an extremely old injury that I was certain was managed, I’ve felt betrayed by both my body and by my Pilates practice.  Between feeling angry, frustrated and disappointed, I have managed a few moments of clear reflection.  

And the truth is, that I just haven’t been doing my own work…for months.  

At some point, without reason or me noticing, I just stopped doing any sort of recovery or restoration work.  Stopped warming up or cooling down for runs.  Stopped stretching.  Stopped meditating.  Stopped my Pilates practice.  Stopped managing my food allergies.  Stopped all Stretch Therapy, Chiro, Rolfing and Massage.  At the same time, I maintained my weekly running sessions, tripled my strength training sessions and doubled my dance lessons.  

This, in my professional opinion, has been a recipe for disaster.  

As my low back and left leg will attest, disaster has struck.  

So what now?  After a good long pity party, I’ve spent the last few weeks using aaaallll of the tools I’ve learned over the last 16 years, including tapping into a team of experts to help me recalibrate.  Recovery has looked like:

• Immediately eliminating all food allergens and working with Tina, a trusted friend and nutritionist to get me back to normal.  
• Meditating again, and actively working on recognizing when I am in a mental pain spiral and separating that from an actual physical pain cycle.  The book The Way Out, recommend by a client, has been a invaluable resource this month.
• Unrolling my mat for a weekly movement and soul practice at Urban Sanctuary.  
• Adding the required PT exercises to my strength training routine, backing down to twice a week and getting back on schedule with my trainer, Josh.
• Booking appointments with my friend Britni for PT and my favorite chiro, Britni at Denver Sports Medicine.
• Dusting off the trusty old reformer and rekindling the love affair with Pilates that started 16 years ago.

I’ve always described my Pilates and recovery work as the toothbrushing of my movement practice.  It’s not sexy, or entertaining, or overly exciting.  But man, is it effective.  

If you’ve been experiencing a similar pain cycle or set back, I see you.  It sucks.  But with consistency and intention, we can get back on track.  

See you very soon!

-Rubecca

p.s. if you’d like to book a session with me, you can do that here.