Tracy Trowbridge Remedial Massage and Yoga

I am in love with, and completely inspired by this fox.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-derbyshire-64165953

"Don't live the same year 75 times and call it a life"

As we step out of the shadows of 2022 and into the light of 2023, I offer you this quote from Robin Sharma with the invitation to make a small change in the New Year. Small changes snowball and one day you look around and realise that things, life, is very different.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2023. Happy New Year x

#2023

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

My heart is full of love for my family and friends, the wonderful students that have come to class, the people that I help with massage and all of the people, the friends that I haven't met yet.

I hope you all move through today with presence and grace. That you can do something to feel good in your body so that you can feel content and happy.

Here's to creating many happy memories.

I finished off self care week by teaching Goga on behalf of the awesome .

30 wonderful yogis scheduled time into their weekend to come and practice with me and some gorgeous pygmy goats.

They made the booking, put it in their diary. And commited to being there.

Self care lasts longer than self care week.

Schedule that time into your diary. Make a commitment to yourself.

It's grotty outside. The urge to cosy on the sofa is strong.

The urge to cosy on the sofa at this time of year is quite legitimate. We miss the sunlight! (there's a blog on my website about seasonal affective disorder)

But what happens if we sit at our desk all day, then sit on the sofa all night?

Our bodies miss movement. So before you snuggle down, please move your body. It doesn't have to be a big workout, but some simple movements through all 3 planes - forward and backward, side to side & rotation. Put some music on.

Maybe you won't feel like sitting on the sofa after all.

This week 14-20 November is Self Care Week. A UK wide annual awareness week focussing on embedding support for self care across communities, families and generations.

Sometimes I feel like I am a walking platitude of self care metaphors but there are 2 that I come back to again and again.

"You can't pour from an empty cup"

"Even healthy plants need water"

I understand that self care can feel like just another thing to go on your to do list but it really doesn't have to be overly time consuming, costly or even Instagram worthy.

One suggestion I have found myself making is to pause before getting out of your car at the end of the day and going into the house. Use that time for a simple breathwork practice. Just 5 minutes. The brilliant resonant breathing app would help if you don't know where to start. Please see link below.

https://www.google.com/search?q=resonant+breathing+app&oq=reson&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0i67j69i59j0i67l3j0i67i131i433l3.1739j0j9&client=ms-android-oneplus-rvo3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#

Another practice that I have truly found to change everything, is the practice of gratitude.

Get your kids to tell you 3 good things about their day every night before bed. & tell them 3 good things about yours. As I write this, the sun has finally come out. I am grateful for that.

'tpourfromanemptycup

It doesn't matter how slow you progress,

It doesn't matter how many mistakes you make,

What matters is that you turn up,

You turn up consistently.

That's where the magic happens, the snowball effect of little steps taken regularly.

Then in 6 months time you look back at your progress.

Progress, not perfection.

20 years ago I was the cliche, I went to India. Did I go to find myself, not necessarily but to a massive extent that is what happened.

But can you really find yourself? Are you a £10 note in a winter coat pocket? I suppose the thing is, in order to be found, you have to first be lost.

And so the question is, are you lost? Or is your true self still there? Is your true self maybe just buried?

Buried under social conditioning. Buried under other people's opinions. Buried under inaccurate conclusions you came to about who you are.

When I went to India I stepped out of my life and had time and space to figure out a little of who I really was.

I have wanted to go back ever since but have never made it. But fortunately it turns out you don't need to be in India to do it. In fact you don't have to be in Cyprus where this pic was taken either.

Finding yourself is really just a returning to yourself. An unlearning, an excavation, a remembering of who you were before the world got it's hands on you.

You can take time to come home to yourself everyday. Breathwork, yoga, a walk in nature.

Who were you?
Who are you?
Who do you want to be?

Have you booked yoga for tomorrow?

Start your weekend right.

It doesn't have to be yoga!!

I am so grateful that menopause is now much more widely talked about.

Hopefully making this transition will become less difficult for women now that information is more readily available and communication can be opened somewhat easier. International Menopause Day is another opportunity to start that dialogue.

The drop in estrogen that comes with the menopause can mean that more bone is absorbed than is formed, resulting in osteoporosis.

Menopause is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Yoga is a helpful intervention for both of these scenarios as well as the other psychological and physiological symptoms.

Menopause can be stressful. Making time to exercise can help with that. & of course, it doesn't have to be yoga.

#menopause #internationalmenoppauseday #maketimetoexercise #osteoperosis #cardiovasculardisease #estrogen #yoga #yogaalldayyogaallnight
#yogaallday #yogasavedmylife #yogasouthampton #southamptonyoga

I am so grateful that menopause is now much more widely talked about. Hopefully making this transition will become less difficult for women now that information is more readily available and communication can be opened somewhat easier. International Menopause Day is another opportunity to start that dialogue. The drop in estrogen that comes with the menopause can mean that more bone is absorbed than is formed, resulting in osteoporosis. Menopause is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Yoga is a helpful intervention for both of these scenarios as well as the other psychological and physiological symptoms. Menopause can be stressful. Making time to exercise can help with that. & of course, it doesn't have to be yoga. #menopause #internationalmenoppauseday #maketimetoexercise #osteoperosis #cardiovasculardisease #estrogen #yoga #yogaalldayyogaallnight #yogaallday #yogasavedmylife #yogasouthampton #southamptonyoga

Friday thoughts.

Not all happy people are grateful,
But all grateful people are happy.

It is World Rheumatoid Arthritis Day.

It feels like there are lots of "days" at the moment!

I also feel like no matter what someone talks to me about, I say "have you tried yoga?". Like yoga is some magic fix for everything!

A systematic review and meta analysis to investigate yoga for treating rheumatoid arthritis was published November 2020 and its findings were that whilst yoga may be beneficial for improving physical function - say grip strength - yoga had no significant effect on improving pain, swollen or tender joints.

That said, yoga was found to improve physical and mental health, depression, fatigue and sleep in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

So, no, yoga is not a magic wand but it can help to bring about improvement to quality of life, to take the edge off - whatever challenges you may face.

So if I ever ask you, "have you tried yoga?", Please don't slap me. It's just that I am a big believer in the magic that happens when you stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system.

I first went to yoga as I used to run and thought I probably needed to stretch a bit.

Fast forward 15 years and yes, I am reasonably flexible, have good range of motion through my joints and decent rotation, but that's not what kept me going back.

I kept going back to yoga because of what it did for my mind.

I guess in those early days I had to stop thinking about my problems to concentrate on all of the new stuff I was learning, my body placement, my breath, my gaze point.

But with more practice, I became aware of my thoughts. I was able to observe my thoughts instead of getting tangled up in them.

Today I am so much happier, calmer, measured. Peaceful and serene.

Do I always get it right, no. But are things so much improved, yes.

So on World Mental Health Day, thank you Yoga. I am so very, very, grateful. You really did save my life.

It's the final day of back care awareness week.

It might surprise some of you to hear me say that the single best thing that you can do for your back is.... Walk.

Studies have shown that regular walkers have stronger backs than non-walkers.

Clearly my walks also involve climbing on top of the hay bale for a bit of yoga. Not necessarily recommended.

Will you be walking today?

Sun salutations warm the whole back and then the limbs. The sequence lengthens and strengthens all of the muscles that can affect your back, the hamstrings, abs and hip flexors.

3 rounds of sun salutations plus a twist makes a complete yoga practice.

The back, loves to move. How have you moved your back on day 4 of back care awareness week?

Cat and cow. The yoga pairing for your back!

Moving between these 2 poses is such a great way to bring some movement and fluidity into your spine. An opportunity for you to check in with your back and see what's going on for you. That's why cat and cow feature so much in yoga classes, particularly the warm up.

These 2 are not just for yoga though, they are a great way to bring movement into your spine, wherever you are.

It's day 3 of back care awareness week. What have you done to care for your back today?

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I have realised that when I massage it talk about the different planes of movement a lot. Sagittal, transverse and frontal.

We have a tendency to get stuck in the sagittal plane - propelling ourselves forward as we walk, run, cycle.

But the body can also move side to side and rotate. And, many combinations of all 3. Think of the toy slinky!

So on this 2nd day of Back Care Awareness Week, ask yourself, when was the last time you rotated your spine?

It's National Back Care Awareness week, this week 3rd to 7th Oct.

The skies were certainly grey in this house when my son didn't get out of bed, so much as fall out. Complaining he couldn't stand or walk.

A trip to the walk in centre gave him a diagnosis of a tired lateral collateral ligament and an irritated sciatic nerve.

Yes, he played football yesterday but for once did actually warm-up. Nothing unusual happened during the game. Which left us wondering what had happened.

Picking it apart, it deems to be a case of overcooking it. Overtime in his manual job, picking up our elderly neighbour who had fallen out of bed, extra football, lots of time at the gym, not warming up and cooling down fully.

It really was a case of the straw that broke the camel's back.

So as we kick start Back Care Awareness Week, I ask you, are you giving yourself enough time to recover?

Scheduling recovery time is so very, very important.

I have finally joined the smart watch community. It is a great source of amusement to me that now I know I am relaxed as my watch told me!

Pic is from my bd weekend in Bath. Paddling at the Dundas Aquaduct on the River Avon.

Love my paddle board for relaxing. & as someone on the pathway remarked, it's a great form of exercise - good for strength and balance. Like yoga but different!

Quite tickled as I looked around what was once my dining room.

All of my favourite things to do represented here. Lifting weights, paddle boarding, listening to dnb, and yoga. In my dining room - I let's not forget I love to eat!

& I did them all on this Bank Holiday weekend. Feeling rested and rejuvenated after doing all of what makes my heart sing.

When you have sunk deep into your practice. But slowly the squeaks start to fall into your brain. The cat has a mouse. Could there be a less yogic start to the day?! 🐁

Today is National Relaxation Day.

I loved my holiday to Cyprus. The food, the people, the cats!

But I don't think I have ever been so relaxed as I was when I got onto that paddle board.

It was the first yoga I had done all week. As much as I had done some breathwork, connecting my breath with my movement, in the glorious sunshine, in that water, was something else. I dropped straight in. I was so deeply, deeply, relaxed.

Possibly a feeling only rivalled when I attended my first lockdown yoga class.

But we can't always be on a paddle board in Cyprus - although the recent UK weather and plenty of bikini wearing does take the sting out....

So what can we do to cultivate that same feeling? It all starts with our intention. Like setting your destination on the sat nav.

So how was National Relaxation Day for you? Maybe not so relaxing. Let's change that now.

Let's set the intention to relax.

Think to yourself,

I am relaxed.

Really try to feel it.

I am relaxed.

Lengthen your exhale.

I am relaxed.

Cast your mind back to that time on a paddle board, or something else.

I am relaxed.

Really cultivate the feeling.

I am relaxed.