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Physical Solutions & the FML method/The Awareness Challenge
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The Awareness Challenge


Hit a plateau? Fallen off the health and wellbeing train? 

Not sure where to start?

Rewire your neural pathways with this multifaceted course where we'll feel, move and live our way through redesigning your movement for optimal health. 
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What's included in this course...

  1. Learn why body awareness is so important and how it can impact the movements you already do.
  2. Seven days that guide you through building awareness in each part of your body.
  3. Self assessment tools to teach you how to check in with your muscle engagement and movement patterns.
  • BONUS: Guidance on how to apply this new found awareness

Table of contents

WHY IS AWARENESS IMPORTANT?


Proprioception is our Ability to Perceive our Body in Space. 

I talk a lot about "feel". Our brains perceive feel from little cells (mechanoreceptors etc) in our skin, muscles and joints. These cells give us information about where our body is and the environment around us. The cells that give the largest amount of information to the brain are from joint capsules. If these cells stop being stimulated (from a lack of full range body movement), it would be like reading this paragraph with every 5th letter missing. You would be able to read it, but it would take a little longer and you might make some mistakes when interpreting some words. The same thing happens with movement and exercise. When you lose mobility in your joints, you'll still get from point A to point B - it won't look pretty, it will be inefficient, and it could lead to overuse problems down the road.

The more you increase your bodies' proprioception (increase the activation of cells in your joint capsules), the more skillfully you can use your body, and activate your muscles with the right amount of tension for the task at hand without creating rigidity in the system. 

So becoming better aware of what your body is doing, and 'feeling' an exercise has everything to do the health of your joints. If you can't feel something, your brain has lost input and forgotten about that area. We need to teach you how to wake it up by stimulating those cells so the brain can start paving that road again for you to use. 

So during your movement and/or exercise...

Focus on what you are doing and awareness and what muscles are actually working, and where you feel the motion happening. Don't just roll around on a ball, or move your arms and legs around and "think" you increased your awareness in the system. Be precise in your goals.


An effort is only as good as you perform it

HOW DO YOU BREATHE?



Most of us make a choice between breathing or stabilizing and struggle with doing both! Which is why you may catch yourself holding your breath while preforming simple or complicated activities that require extra work, stability and breath, from your body.

When you are unable to relax, unaware of your breathing patterns and unable to use your diaphragm to its full potential, many consequences can occur. This looks like: rapid/shallow breathing (living in fight or flight), myofascial restrictions (tension), over worked areas (muscle problems), improperly moving areas (soft tissue and joint problems) and overall stress!

Today you are going to notice how and where you breathe.

Self Assessment
Daily Awareness

HOW SWEET ARE YOUR CHEEKS?



Today I Want You Notice if You Are a Cheek Squeezer?

Glutes activity creates extension at the hip - in other words - makes your leg go backwards. They don’t brace and grip your leg to your pelvis so you can't move! So, if you don’t use your glutes efficiently... just squeezing them, doesn’t bring function, but it does create a whole lot of hip pain, tension, and limitation in movement!

A lot of people think they are using their glutes just fine - but are you really?

Let's Challenge Ourselves to Notice Our GLUTES!
Self Assessment
Daily Awareness

WHERE DO YOUR RIBS SIT?



Movement of the ribs should occur independent of the spine. Having the ability to be aware of what your upper back/rib position is and how to move it independently without losing breath and connection is a key aspect to creating a stable, mobile and strong 'CORE'.

It is common that the upper back loses its ability to move. That then results in over moving in other areas like your low back, pelvis, neck, shoulder blades and arms!  Resulting in tension, pain and/or injury.
Self Assessment
Daily Awareness

HOW CONNECTED ARE YOUR HIPS?



If one Area isn't able to Move then Another Area will Have to Move More to Achieve the Desired Motion.

If you don't have good movement in your joints, doing 'functional exercises' (ie, squats, overhead presses, lunges etc), won't create better movement in the limited joints or weak muscles. Because you body isn't communicating, it'll naturally use the easiest route to accomplish the challenging task. It'll increase muscle tension as you try to put yourself into a position that your body isn't able to obtain, thereby loading structures in a position they are not supposed to be in, which will result in stress, strain, pain, tightness, or injury. 

Tension in our hips can tell us we have a lack of stability in our core!
Self Assessment
Daily awareness

HOW ARE YOUR SHOULDERS CONNECTED TO YOUR POSTURE?



Most people strive to have good posture. But, if you ask them what their definition of "ideal" posture is, they don't have one! 

Can you define ideal posture?  How do you know if you have achieved it if you are unsure of what it is exactly?


Self Assessment
Daily Awareness

FIVE LITTLE PIGGIES


Free Your Little Piggies and the Rest of Your Body will Thank You!  


Your feet give proprioceptive feedback (awareness and balance) to your brain and are meant to move, feel and guide you along the ground. Our body is a finely choreographed machine that communicates from the top of our head all the way down to the tip our little toes!  It is very common to have lost the ability to move freely in your feet. Finding stress here shows that our brain is not getting all the feedback that it needs to use our knee, hips, core and everything that exists above.  

Self Assessment
Daily Awareness

CORE AWARENESS


I want you to reflect on things that you have been told to do to improve your core?


Think of things like: suck your tummy in, draw your belly button up and in, brace before you move. Think about HOW you are sitting up straight? Standing up Straight? What type of efforts are you making in your exercise or daily activity?  

Reflect on your efforts and ask yourself are these efforts actually getting you anywhere? Do they create stress or freedom In movement?  Do you always have to think your core on or does it occur naturally?

It’s like having a bruise on your arm and if you keep poking it will it heal? Are you making efforts with your body with a continual need to make that effort over and over again? 

Self Assessment
Daily Awareness

WHERE TO GO NEXT?


WOOO! You did it! Congratulations on completing this course!...now what?


Well, you may have discovered a few things about your body in this course - limitations, progress, discovery, etc… This challenge was all about recognizing if your efforts are actually doing what you think they are?

You probably noticed that this was a struggle for your brain to become aware of your blindspots, so imagine the challenge it is for you body?

So now what?


Take on a few of my resources to explore more...


4 simple shifts to reconnect with your body
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