I’ll admit to being too tough for my own good at times, and despite my 15-year love affair with running and it's amazing benefits, this fall I finally admitted it was reeking havoc on my body, and I stopped. Due to chronic SI, hip, hamstring, IT-band injuries resulting from breaking my ankle at 19, and walking on it for two-weeks before casting it - my body isn't exactly designed for the track. Or the treadmill, hills, roads etc. I’d taken weeks off at a time in the past few years – and in the months leading up to Everest base camp, I was getting ultra sound and electro current therapy a few times a week, but nothing short of stopping actually did much for the pain. Finally, last fall it got so bad I was waking up in the night in pain, and couldn’t sit in the car or at my desk for more than half hour without being near tears. So I stopped, and I started intense physiotherapy. After a few months the pain subsided, and we started working on rehabilitation. I missed running, and I still do – but thankfully I’ve fallen in love with a new workout. GST®.
Being Canadian, to me GST used to mean Goods and Services Tax – but in my LA life it stands for “Grace Somatomorphic Technique”. Created by my instructor, body-awareness-guru and fitness extraordinaire Anna Rahe, I generally describe GST® as a combination between pilates, dance and intense stretching. The best of what’s best for your body. It’s revolutionary and transformational because in Anna's words... "it teaches you how to change the musculoskeletal relationships that make your body look and feel the way it does". I started GST® in January. I discovered it when my PT suggested pilates as part of my rehab – I tried a few classes, but didn’t love it – or my body’s reaction to it. Thankfully at the same time I came across GST® and Anna… and fell into arm and leg springs, ballet bars, straps and more. The classes vary from an intense stretch to faster paced dance-type classes, but it’s always a great workout. For anyone that's ever tried Cardio Barre, Tracy Anderson's technique or power yoga, it's basically a better version of what those classes are trying to achieve. The focus is on your core – which GST® methodology divides into four “quartiles” - but it goes beyond, so you really feel the movements and understand how to create change in your body. You REALLY focus on the actions, and eventually your body starts responding and looking how you’ve always wanted. Genius!
So even though I’ll always try to run at least once every few weeks (even if it’s just for my body to remind me why I’ve stopped…(GST® and Anna's body work help my body tolerate the pavement) - I've grown to LOVE my new routine of GST® classes, hiking and uh – walking – who knew?!
I’ll finish with a quote from one of my favorite people and mentor in MANY ways – GS.
“Sometimes you have to slow down to become efficient.”
k
No comments:
Post a Comment