Living in Alignment
“We don't have to be creating conflict to make positive change...Healing movement is about restoring our natural movement patterns.”
The way we move in our body is the way we move in the world.
Every time I hear pilates pioneer Erika Bloom frame movement this way it makes me pause. It reminds me that a flexible mind comes as a result of a flexible body, whatever that feels like to us. Stiffness permeates. Still, I often find myself exercising my mind and body in a way that causes it.
I was curious how Erika resolves this disconnect…
“We don't have to be creating conflict to make positive change, in any part of our life and certainly not with our bodies and exercise.
People look at therapeutic movement as an opposition to working hard and getting stronger. Healing movement is about restoring our natural movement patterns. We’re our strongest and most functional when we have our natural movement patterns.”
We’re already leading demanding lives. When we break down our muscles, she shares, we’re not only adding stress. We’re actually putting our body out of balance.
How do we nurture flexibility instead?
By understanding what contributes to our unique sense of alignment.
“I call it adding to our library of possibilities. It's information that lets your body make good choices for what it wants.
We have to take all those ‘shoulds’ out and be present in…‘I did this. How did that make me feel?’”
Alignment is a goal where it’s tempting to focus on the destination rather than the journey. Whether it's in her movement practice, life, or business, Erika shares how she cultivates it by living in integrity and asking — What is true? — before making decisions.
What activity most contributes to your sense of alignment? How might you prioritize it this week?
Wishing you peace,
Jenna