I eliminated one item for two weeks for no other reason than to give my system a break during the transition from Winter to Spring. I wanted to bring fresh, new life, energy and enthusiasm to my movements, my teaching and my living.
I made lots of colorful juices; using pomegranate, aloe, lime – the pink juice – and continued my favorite green juice mix of spinach, kale, apple, ginger and lime. Ate lots of soups packed with spices and warming flavors. I also added the consistent use of a new concoction to my morning breakfast or snack – vanilla-coconut-chia pudding (of course with fresh fruits and granola).
I liked the ease of it all. I liked the ease with which my body embraced it all. The best thing I noticed was the additional time it gave me to actually spend 1-2 hours on my physical practice (instead of cooking, as I eliminated chicken from my diet) and the open thoughts and creative energy I let flow in and through me.
Or at least that’s how I felt. That’s what I told myself I was doing. I employed this “internal cleansing” simultaneously with the lunar moon cycle transitioning from a Full Moon at mid-month to the New Moon at the end of the month.
My intention with my own body was to slow down, scoop deeper, hug tighter, breathe wider and continue to open up the stuck and stiff places. In the process of bringing that mindfulness to myself, I know I coached my students and clients for the same change of rhythm, flow and focus in their own movements. Thus a win-win all the way around.
#TruthSpeak
This very personal, internal release was happening simultaneously as I admonished the consistent need for external resistance to all outside forces. Many of my posts, thoughts and imagry during the past month have been with respect to #Resist as I felt the need to fight back, push back and agonize against the politics of the moment. It has been consuming and exhausting. So much so that at times, I just wanted to curl up and back off, back down and runaway from everything.
I admit I am still in observation mode. Seeking to create a substantive balance of my ying and yang as I continue to try to free my mind and body of the heaviness of winter – moving to the lightness of spring.
I believe going inside to clear and free my body helps me to free my mind which gives me energy to free my movements and thus my actions.
After all, I am a movement teacher. Being stuck is not an option I can or will embrace.
Gina Jackson, is a classically trained Pilates Teacher and has been teaching along the Gold Coast of Hudson and Bergen County, NJ for the past fifteen+ years.
Certified by Power Pilates of New York, Gina has trained with Master Teachers Bob Liekens, Susan Moran and Brett Howard; loved workshop training with Cary Regan and Blossom Leilani-Crawford and has particularly enjoyed listening to the personal stories as told by Pilates Elders, Kathy Grant and Lolita San Miguel.
An active teacher and blogger, Gina manages a private personal training business supporting a myriad of clients, teaching all to honor their health, strength and life with the principles of Pilates at its core.