Go Down to Come Up
A reflection on pausing on the ground.
Hi to friends old and new, clients, patients, yogis, and seekers of happy bodies! I am joyful to write this welcome note, so eager to embark on this journey as I open Pelvic Health & Rehabilitation, so thrilled to share my 24 years of practice experience.
While planning this opening, I reflected on my training and uncovered the link that connected my 3 worlds: dance, physical therapy, and yoga. I then felt compelled to share this connection in writing. For me, it explains my teaching and healing style and explains how my experiences nurtured my instincts. I will try to be brief, but once I start spilling out the contents of my heart, I have trouble stopping.
I am a professional dancer turned physical therapist, generously splashed with yoga teacher. Six years ago, at the end of my 200-hour yoga teacher training, I realized that everything I have been doing since age 16 has contributed to my style and success as a physical therapist. That sounds simple, I know, but the self-discovery was so profound that I first felt stunned, then deeply grateful that I followed my intuition and pursued my natural path. The path has been overwhelming, frustrating, humbling, and sometimes heartbreaking, but always natural to me.
In my mind, I organize my three guiding pathways in a Venn diagram. In the center of the Venn is the word GROUND. The first time I was drawn to the earth and grounded was in the early 1980s when I was 16. I was attending a summer ballet program run by the New York City Ballet at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. The teachers of NYCB taught our classes, and every night we were treated to NYCB performances at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. It was a dream program for young ballerinas. One morning in ballet class, teacher Ricky Weiss started plies at the barre, and he said, “Go down to come up.” That’s it, that’s all. That was the start for me. Hold that thought and read on.
Flash ahead to 1994, roughly 10 years later, and I am starting my Master of Physical Therapy program in Brooklyn, NY at Long Island University. Professor Dr. Sandra Kaplan stood in the front of the room on the first day of neuroscience (the scary class about the brain) and lifted her arm to the side. She asked, “What is the first thing that happens when I lift my arm?” After several incorrect answers about the anterior and lateral deltoids and upper shoulder muscles, I raised my hand and said, “Press down through the feet to raise the arm. Go down to come up”. I don’t even know how I remembered that or where it came from, but I blurted it out. I hadn’t thought about those words for a decade, not once. But here I was regurgitating Ricky Weiss’ casual instructions from a summer morning ballet class. Hold that thought and read on for the final Venn circle.
Jumping to 2014, 20 years hence, I was in yoga teacher training class with Yoganand Michael Carroll and Tra Kirkpatrick from the Pranakriya School of Yoga Healing Arts. We were learning pranayama - or yoga - breathing techniques. We started with the basics of dirga breath by first learning how to sit to best support the pelvis, ribcage, and shoulders for pranayama and meditation. Yoganand said, “Press your hands gently into your thighs and press your tailbone to the ground in order to lengthen up the spine, ribs, and the crown.” Boom. “Go down to come up.” There it is again.
The third time’s the charm. The intersection of my three worlds was evident: the ground and its connection through the body, up to the sky. Go down to come up: the pressing into the earth to reach to the sky. The ground is the happy convergence of my three passions, which are now my lifelong profession.
2021 brings me to a place where I can merge my 3 worlds professionally and create a warm, welcoming, healing space. From the core, from the spine, from the ‘meat on the bones,’ from the base chakra, from the deep abdominals, from the pelvic bones, internal organs, muscles, and fascia, from the soles of the feet touching the ground, we pause, center, breathe, acknowledge, accept, and allow. We go down to come up. We look inside to discover our ground and heal from deep within.
My three worlds belong together, fit perfectly, and provide a graceful venue toward your healing. My space is called Pelvic Health & Rehabilitation. Those of you who know me as a yoga teacher or physical therapist know how I love to approach your unique situation by listening to your needs and synthesizing a program specifically for you, with you.
Your contribution is to allow me to lead you towards a happier, more grounded body.
