If you are a Canadian, you are likely familiar with the Grey Cup. It is the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship game that determines who is the best team over the playing season.

Now, don't worry. I won't ask you to define what a three downs per possession means. Nor will I ask you to tell me the difference between the CFL and the National Football League (NFL).

Instead, I want you to think about the crowning moments of your year.

For a CFL player, the Grey Cup is where it is at. They have started in the pre-season in June and played a game almost every week until the playoffs. If the player is lucky to be on a team that makes the play-offs, he needs to continue to keep his endurance and skill up for what might be the championship game. Once the player's season ends, he must hit reset and fall into the off season with a change to his training (both physical and mental) and a decrease in competition and games.

So I ask, when is your Grey Cup?

Are you working on something in your life that has a natural build to an ultimate event or time?

This past week I was invited to meet with a writer who will be sharing my professional expertise and experience in a national publication for farmers.

Farmers (likely CFL fans themselves) know these kinds of physical demands as a CFL player.

The preseason of seeding and getting their crops in the ground.

To the regular season of waiting for crops to grow and ensuring the soil is fertile.

To the build and crescendo of harvest, where they are working tirelessly to get this beautiful crop off for the season. Their Grey Cup of sorts.

If you ever get a chance to drive through the prairies during harvest, look out for the humming of combines as they roll across the fields sometimes together in groups of two or three. It is an amazing sight to see!

Since it is likely neither you nor I are CFL players or farmers, I ask, what are you working towards?

Is your physical activity supporting you today and into the future?

For me, a big thrill of moving my body is for those two hour bike rides in the summer that allow me to be out on the road. It is all about having the strength and endurance to get out in nature and hike when the opportunity arises. And all the hours in the pool provide me the confidence and pleasure to jump off a boat and pick up a line to ride the waves behind a boat.

For you, maybe you are physically active to keep up your physical fitness to travel and enjoy exploring a new place. Maybe you play on a recreational sports team and you too have a season of sorts. Or could you be caring for a parent or child or loved one who needs you to be at your top physical game. Or is it the endurance to get all your Christmas shopping done!

Whatever your Grey Cup is, I suggest you take stock of the influence your day to day physical activity has on your crowning moment of the year!

What I will mention though before I close is that the 2022 Grey Cup is this coming Sunday November 20 in my hometown, Regina Saskatchewan. It will most definitely will be a chilly event outside!

Stay well and happy moving,

Lisa

P.S. Sometimes purpose and Grey Cup moments stem from your WHY. Check out the The Why I Move Project. It's my passion project of curating stories of WHY people are physically active. Care to share? I always love hearing your stories.​

​

Well hello,
​
I'm waist deep in training this week. Eight days of intensive training for my yoga therapy practice. I'd like to share with you one of my key learnings this week.

It is all about biomechanics.
​

This can be very important when we speak of the core. I spent a whole day reviewing and discussing the superficial and deep core.

Now I won't get into the anatomy and biomechanics right now (stay tuned!).

What I will say is consider your own core with the following questions:

1. When you move are you “locking and loading”?

2. Are you gripping in your abdomen?

3. Are you bracing with your breath?

4. Are you using other parts of your body to create stability in your middle?

​
Good core = Ease

​
Our core is the ultimate destination of the forces that enter our body be it from a specific exercise or a pushing a door open.

The core is also the initiator. It is the initiation generator of forces that move us in the world.

Pow! 💥

Yep. The core is pretty darn important. AND understanding the biomechanics of it can be super helpful and getting you to move better and move more often.

Now back to training after my little public service announcement!

Stay well and happy moving,
Lisa

In the last installment of the Physical Activity QuickPlays, we talked about muscles. The amazing tissue that moves bones and so much more!

If you haven't watched Muscle Actions Part I, you can find it here.

In this next video, let's chat about which muscle actions use more energy and demand more of the muscle's force. You might be surprised with what I share!

Who knew so much about muscle actions!? We use our muscles every day and can be very unconscious to the work at play.

Before Part III drops, challenge yourself to think about when concentric, eccentric and isometric muscle actions show up in your day…and in your workouts!

Until then, take a moment to reflect on your upcoming week and how you will focus on moving your body…whatever is the best way for you! I think some raking leaves is on my calendar!

Stay well and happy moving,
Lisa

Pain is not where the problem is.

When you read that sentence, what comes to mind?

You may be thinking that "I have pain" and I've tried everything to make it go away.

I've stretched.

I've strengthened. 💪🏽

I've used heat.

I've used cold. 🥶

I've used creams.

I've used medications. 💊

I've used tens machines.

I've had acupuncture. 💆🏻

All great things. And still the pain remains.

What if I told you that the pain is a signal that something isn't moving well?

You may think "no kidding, Lisa, I know that!"

What if the part of your body that isn't moving well is actually not in the place of your pain?

Ponder that.

Let me give you two examples.

Example 1️⃣ :

I had a client this week that came to see me with neck and shoulder pain. She has had surgery on both shoulders and said nothing seems to work that resolves the pain.

I had her move her arms in various ranges of motion with great success. Then I glanced at her lower body and saw an interesting position of her thighs. I asked her to start doing some leg movements and what became clear was that her leg bone loves to move one way and not the other. When she moves, she also compensates by moving her pelvis when its not the pelvis' job to move.
​
As you can imagine, I had to explain that I saw excellent movement in her shoulders. Nothing that I flagged to be moving poorly and what I did see was compensation patterns in her lower body. Although two ends of her body, there are muscular connections between the parts that can influence each other.

She has started directing her attention to her lower body movements to notice what is moving. To use her breath to move with ease AND to feel when pain shows up with movement. If it does, she's gone too far.

I'm looking forward to meeting again to see what shifts and changes in her body when making slight modifications to how she is moving…even in her lower body instead of her upper body.

Example 2️⃣ :

I've been having persistent fiery nerve pain in my left middle toe for years. 🔥

Yes - years!

I've had various treatments to help resolve this on going pain.

Rolling out my feet with a ball. Stretching my calf. Having massage and acupuncture on my feet. It all feels good at the time. Yet nothing sticks.

Then one day, I'm in a training where I do some side bending. On break, I go for a walk outside and low and behold the pain has completely vanished!

Not only has it vanished, my left foot feels spacious, active and move alive than ever before. I keep walking and the pain stays away.

Fast forward to now, the pain returns but not as frequently. When it does, I go back to my side bending to help relieve my pain.

Not obvious on the surface that my foot pain can resolve by bending to the side.

However, I know that my left side (hip, pelvis, low back) doesn’t always work well. I am diligent (most weeks!) doing my exercises.

The pain in my left toe tells me that my left side of my body is not moving well. And funny enough, sometimes my left knee joins the pain party and then I really know my mechanics have been poor!

It is a work in progress. If I do the work, my pain decreases and even goes away. I know that I have the tools to resolve my pain.

By teaching my body to move with ease and within its ideal range of motion, I've trained my neuromuscular system to a new pattern of movement. Movement that will keep me moving mostly pain-free.

Pain is not where the problem is.

So, what do you think of the statement now? Do you have pain that persists?

Maybe there is somewhere in your body that isn't moving well that contributes to your pain.

I can help.

My trained eye can see what is moving that should be moving, what is moving that ought not to be moving and what isn't moving that should be.

I've got two spots open on Friday mornings starting mid November if you'd like to join me for some one-on-one support. Let's explore your movement patterns to see where you can move better to reduce your pain. Send me an email directly to info@lisaworkman.com and let's chat!

Stay well and happy moving,
Lisa

👋🏼 P.S., Before you go - do you have any physical activity/exercise/movement/yoga/behaviour change questions for me? Hit reply to this email and let me know what you want to learn about. I am happy to do the research if I don't know the answer and share the details in a future newsletter! Think of it as a Q&A with Lisa!

On this Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, I'm sending my thanks to you for being here and supporting me in my life's work. It is my pleasure writing you every week and sharing all things physical activity.

This week I've got a small gift of gratitude for you.

A home-based program (or program anywhere you have a wall) that you can challenge your musculoskeletal system.

Remember a couple week's back I shared a video about muscle actions. If not, here is the replay. In that video I talked about three types of muscle actions. One of the three is isometric.

Well, today's program is all at the wall AND all isometric muscle actions!

Woot Woot!

Join me for an isometric workout in the video here:

​I've also put together a handout of the exercises that include pictures and descriptions. You can grab it here.​
​

​Give the workout a whirl this lovely Fall weekend! Maybe even outdoors against the side of your house or fence.

Again, thank you for being here. You have no idea how much I appreciate our weekly connection.

Stay well and happy moving,
Lisa

P.S. I made this video a few years back around Thanksgiving. 🦃 It is a reminder of what physical activity means to me and maybe you too!

It is hard to believe it is already the last weekend in September!

The month seemed to fly by!

Do you identify September as a studious month? I was always excited to get back into class in anticipation of learning new content. Starting a new school year always meant new pencils, binders and back to school clothes!

Yes!

Now as an adult learner, likely just like me, take this opportunity to up your knowledge on your own anatomy and biomechanics with this next installment of Physical Activity QuickPlays.

I'll take you back to the classroom this week and share a little basic science with you. Pull up a desk chair and let's dive in!

Now after watching the video, you'll never think about movement the same again.

No need to know all the muscle names - piriformis anyone?! Instead, you are more aware of how your body moves during exercise and day to day life!

If you are looking to dabble in some extra movement this coming week, please join me next Saturday in person at Yoga Within Edmonton. The workshop, Feeling Your Yoga, is a merge between a group yoga class and a yoga therapy session. It will give you a chance to sample what it is like to use yoga in more of a therapeutic way. Hooray! I'd love to work with you in a small group setting!

You can learn more here and register here.

With that, keep your week focused on moving your body…whatever is the best way for you!

Stay well and happy moving,
Lisa

P.S. If you have missed my other Physical Activity QuickPlays videos, here is a link to the playlist.​

​

What if I asked you to swim across a lake?

What if I asked you to ride your bike across the country?

What if I asked you to walk to the next major city?

What if I asked you to [INSERT a physical activity that requires a tremendous amount of physical and/or mental rigour]?

By simply reading these questions, you may already start to feel in you body the physical or mental or emotional responses that may come as you bump up to a challenge.

This is normal.

Our exceptional home, our bodies, have many built in automatic responses that protect us from harms way.

As you think about each question, maybe one seems interesting or intriguing. Or maybe all of them result in some fearful self talk. Something like, "I can't do that!"

Now imagine the questions if the context changed.

What if I asked you to swim one length of a pool?

What if I asked you to ride your bike to the corner store and back?

What if I asked you to walk to your local park?

What if I asked you to [INSERT a physical activity that requires a reasonable amount of physical and/or mental rigour]?

Did that feel better?

It is easy to forget that context matters.

Case in point….

A couple weekends ago my family visited the local aerial park. It has threes levels of obstacles to maneuver while being anchored into a harness and clicked onto a guide wire.

We've gone a couple times before and this time both of my boys reached the height requirements to do the entire course. My oldest, Liam said, "Mom, let's go to the top to start."

Not thinking much of it, we trekked to the top and clicked on the top wire. We took time to check all the obstacles and found one that seemed like a good place to start.

Liam clicked over to the obstacle (a stepping stone like walk across to a cargo net climb) and he breezed across with no concern.

I moved over my clamps and stood at the edge, ready to go.

All of a sudden my feet would not move. As if two cinder blocks were attached to the bottom of my feet.

My legs began to wobble as my feet stuck in place.

My heart rate jumped and I could feel my chest start to rapidly vibrate.

My hands became sweaty and my hold on the clamps felt moist.

I was 15 metres up in the air and my body would not let me move!

I stood there for what seemed like an hour and finally my son made his way back to me and we decided to go down to the second floor.

The trepidation slowly seeped out of my body and I was ready to try an obstacle (on the lower level!)

As my obstacle practice grew, my confidence grew (that I wouldn't fall off the structure). I no longer had the fearful thoughts or physical responses.

Fast forward to the end of our time, Liam and I went back up to the highest level. Low and behold, my feet moved and I traversed over multiple obstacles.

​So what happened?

I allowed myself and my brain to first acclimate at the lower levels (i.e., a different context). I practiced and increased my confidence before I could try a higher obstacle.

Nothing like a real life scenario to remind us to start small and build on success!

Insight to Action:
Take a few moments to think or write down the answers to these questions.

​Feeling, whether it be a physical sensation or an emotional response can provide SO much information about our context. Want to dive deeper? Join me on October 1 at Yoga Within for the Feeling Your Yoga Workshop. This two hour workshop helps tune your awareness and deepen your practice by witnessing what signals your body shares with you. Register here!​

Want an individualized experience? Reach out to me directly - info@lisaworkman.com - to chat about a tailored one-on-one approach.

Stay well and happy moving,
Lisa

Today I want to share the story of Regan (named changed for confidentiality) and how she is experiencing the unexpected.

Regan is a 40 something desk jockey who plays recreational soccer twice per week, resistance training once per week and runs in the river valley once per week. She initially came to me to help with her right knee that she had surgery on about 5 years ago. At the end of January, we started a concerted effort to work on posture and neck/shoulder pain as her knee pain was resolved.

Her desk isn't properly set up for work due to it being a make-shift set-up while working remotely. She complains of lots of chest tightness, shoulder and neck stiffness and poor posture.

We have been doing a lot with her breathing. Back in the Spring, she only started breathing through her nose for the first time and finds it to be very calming at bedtime to focus on nostril breathing. Her awareness to her own breath has increased and has noticed a distinct limit in her ability to breath with her right side of her body (e.g., the right ribcage and lung).

As the months have past, she began to note that her shoulders and neck felt good and the work with the diaphragm has her thinking about the role her breathing has on how her upper body feels.

Unbeknownst to her, the breathing work was able to bring awareness to what is and is not feeling good in her body particularly when trying to force herself to push through movements.

We have also discovered that when we support her lower body, she is able to breath with more ease. How cool is that?! She was shocked the impact a yoga block and yoga strap helped her breathe better.

​
Who knew that the breath was SO powerful?!

It is always with us every moment of our day but how much do we really pay attention to it?

​
Regan is keen to continue to work on her breathing as she is finding benefit in so many aspects of her life.

​One of the books I read over the summer was Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor. In his book he dives into his own personal experience and the historical background to breathing. Nestor presents a variety of ways to breathing and the rationale for why one would try the techniques. What fascinated me the most was the relationship to our tissues and how they change when we alter how we breath.

We can change our breathing.

Let's not forget our breath.

If you want to have some fun exploring, I would be honoured to support you. It doesn't have to be only breathing as our bodies are so connected every which way. I've got private virtual sessions open for the Fall on Friday mornings. We can start with one session to explore and I even have five and ten session packages available. ​


Let's experience the unexpected gift of our breath!

Stay well and happy moving,
Lisa

​P.S. If you want a visual, here I am talking about the three part breath, one way to start working with your breathing. 

Hi Lisa,

I know, I know. I said I'd be away in August.

I couldn't resist giving YOU the heads up for what's coming up in the Fall and how you can work with me! These are all in person opportunities which is SO MUCH FUN!

Here is a quick view of my offerings. And if you are like me - a planner - these dates will give you time to pencil them into your calendar!

As you can guess, they are all in Edmonton, Alberta (sorry my friends outside of Edmonton) and a great chance to work together in person.

Of course, I am available for one one one appointments virtually if you are not in Edmonton and/or if you would like customized attention to address your specific needs.

This is going to be an exciting Fall! Feel free to reply to this email to let me know which class or workshop sounds the most appealing to you. And as always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Ok - back to the sunny days of August. ☀️

Stay well and happy moving,

Lisa

The word that stuck with me this week was hope. It was used in the context of no longer having it.

Hope.

When I hear clients reflect on their experience with pain, the word - hope - is an indictor. Usually an indicator that is bright red and blinking that needs some attention.

Losing hope draws out many strong emotions and this call was emotional.

A client came to me with pain. Persistent pain that has grown in intensity over the last year and a half.

Her back pain is so great that she struggles with activities of daily living, be it standing in her kitchen to prep food for dinner to the inability to bend over to put dishes away in her dishwasher after a meal.

Through a broken sentence full of emotion she said to me, 'all I want to do is go walking with my dog and my kids'.

Through more sniffles and broken sentences she shared that she was questioning her ability to have hope.

Every medical/specialist appointment was the same. Statements like "lose weight", "increase your exercise" and "take this medication or have this injection".

All advice that was trying to help. And yet, she did not feel that it did. It wasn't tangible nor something she felt was actionable. Almost too broad to apply.

Being present to her story, what do you think I said?

It is probably one of the most crucial questions of my work.

A questions that I don't necessarily have the answer to myself.

It is something that can be forgotten time and time again. I, even personally, forget to ask myself this question at times too.

It is…

What CAN you do?

Once you know where you are, you can more forward from there.

We paused the solving of her pain on the call and switched it to what is actual possible.

I always come back to this concept. I've shared it before and will share it again.

​Part of staring with the present moment allows us to ask the question…

What CAN I do?

From there we started building a list of what she could do. It brought the power back to her. She had control of something that was tangible and actionable. The best part was she had the answers for herself. I gave my two sense of course and she built out what she could do to start increasing her physical activity.

I love this quote from the book The Choice. I recently read it and although an emotional memoir of survival, Dr. Eger shares her experience of what CAN I do to survive. I highly recommend it!

As the summer days continue to shine, I myself am taking a summer break. While I'm away this August, I invite you to ponder…

What CAN I do for physical activity?

If you need some extra support, check out my free mini online course, Assess: One savvy step to accelerate your physical activity behaviour change. It can help you find your answers. You can also book a 1:1 appointment with me too to explore what you CAN do.​

Do expect to see me in your inbox on the first of August and September with my monthly article round up. And then consistently into September. I've got lots in the works in the Fall with in person workshops and classes in Edmonton and openings in my virtual 1:1 yoga therapy and kinesiology practice open to anyone in Canada! Keep your eyes out for me into September where I will share all the details!

Have a great time exploring what you CAN do this August!

Stay well and happy moving,

Lisa