In the first video of the Pain-Free Mobility challenge, I encourage you to move at the same time as you breathe.

I’ve been asked why we do that. What does it do? And how is it useful in this particular challenge?

When we take an entire inhale to lift the arms up, for example, and an entire exhale to bring the arms down, we tend to slow both down.
And when we breathe slowly, we are calmer. Our body gets into rest, digest and heal mode. Our muscles relax and the inflammation decreases.

It also makes us focus on what we do, so that we get the timing right. We are less tempted to think about something else because we have a task at hand.

Finally, we can’t expect to gain mobility/flexibility if we’re pushing and pulling ourselves into the poses. The best we can hope for with this attitude is a muscle tear! We need to move slow, investigate, and constantly check-in with our body.

This first class is an invitation to slow down, which may feel very uncomfortable if you’re not used to it! But it is so important if you’re looking to take care of yourself, reduce inflammation in the body as well as anxiety.

Keep going, keep exploring, it’ll only get easier 😊