Week 27 — “Fight or Flight”
"Fight or Flight? If I had wings, there'd be no choice. But since I don't have wings, I have to rely on my cape and a long running start."
Jarod Kintz
Happy Sunday friends,
Writing to you at 8:30am, on Saturday, surrounded by coffee, still not awake, feeling like I got hit by a truck.
Yesterday was a tough one for a lot of reasons, but I want to take a moment to say thank you to a woman who stood up for the rest of us and acknowledge the work she did. Yes, we all already feel her absence, but I want to make sure we don't lose her, what she stood for, and everything she accomplished in the moment.
So, thank you RBG. We need more humans like you in this world and were so lucky to have you as an example while we could. Let's make her proud.
Which leads me into my next point...
I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the truly wonderful things that have come out of this time. Pilates People will be 6 months old this Wednesday and that feels incredibly wild to me but also - WOW! Look at what we've done! THANK YOU! Again and again and again.
We're not the only people starting something cool, you know? We've been bringing in friends who are doing something similar in their own ways here and there and I want to take a moment to highlight them and what they're working on:
Remember Emily Jo? Our chakra guru? She's got another workshop with us tonight from 4-6pm! Click hereto sign up and here to check out her website! She's offering private and duet sessions as a way to go deeper into her work!
And Lucy Wild? Our friend for all things nutrition? She's got a workshop coming up too on October 4th from 1-3pm! Sign up here
Last, but certainly not least, I'd love to introduce you to Danielle Hausknecht - she has been my rock over the past 12 years and I am so excited to announce that she can be a part of your life now too! Danielle recently launched her website and health coach membership program - she has been working SO HARD on it through quarantine and I am so excited to have signed up! Please check her out here (first month is FREE, meaning you won't be charged until November! Sign ups open NOW and the program begins on October 4th - so go SIGN UP!)
Thank you all for being my friends, for being so strong and smart and open and kind and fierce, and for doing some really important and amazing work in such a challenging moment. I am so happy to be able to share space with you all, draw connections and support such a beautiful community of humans. Could not have done any of this without all of you.
*wipes tears from cheek*
Okay...let's get into it.
We've all heard the phrase "fight or flight," right? It's a basic animal instinct - in the face of danger and conflict you have two options - to stand your ground and confront whatever's threatening you or to flee in the hopes of escaping to see another day.
But did you know that there is a muscle in charge of that response?
You've heard of your psoas, right? What do you know about it? Take a moment to think on it - create your own list so that maybe by the end of this week you can look back and see if you have anything to add to it.
I'm guessing there's something about releasing or stretching your psoas on that list, right?
Good! You're not wrong. That's important.
But let's go a little further, shall we?
Your psoas is one of the connector muscles between your spine, pelvis and femurs. In fact...it's the only one that covers all three. It attaches from T12 to L1-L4, travels over your pelvis and inserts at your lesser trochanter.
What did I just say?
It's important. It controls how you do or don't find hip flexion, which is necessary for standing, sitting, walking and running.
All essential actions when it comes to fight or flight mode, right?
Now, just for a moment, I want you to picture yourself in a fight or flight scenario.
How are you feeling?
Alert?
Intense?
Angry?
Scared?
Stressed.
This muscle is also a super important one for our emotional well-being because, guess what, it's triggered by emotions.
Holy Hundreds isn't the human body a beautiful mess?
So let's talk about it this week friends, because it's necessary. We need to be able to do both -
Fight
and
Fly.
Which means, yes, we need to be able to release and stretch our psoas. If we don't, things get blocked up and cranky because they're always stressed, engaged and ready for action. I don't know about you but that doesn't sound like a healthy state of existence to me - please see above about how I'm feeling today.
But we do also need to be able to engage and work our psoas so that it is strong and ready to support us. Because we are going to need it at some point and we need to make sure it's ready.
Might I suggest that we need it now? Yesterday? 6 months ago? 4 years ago? 244 years ago?
Who did the math? Did you get it?
Let's take the time to make sure we're staying healthy, open, engaged and prepared this week. For this moment and whatever comes next.
Love you all to pieces. Thank you for being here.
All our love,
Cassandra + Pilates People
(9/20/20)