I was thinking about “showing up as myself” last week when I attended a speed coaching session for women running their own businesses. The topic I brought to the table was finding  accessible and true words to describe and market the movement work I do. 

I find it really hard to speak to the one problem I help people with because I subscribe more to the notion that our bodies are an interwoven whole, rather than a patched together collection of disparate problems (ahem, parts). Yes, the “pain points” I tend to focus on are core and pelvis related issues, but honestly, the essential reason I personally do this work is so I can live in my body with ever more ease and trust, rather than submit to the going narrative that “it all just gets worse as we get older” and *shrug* we just have to accept it. For that reason, when I work with clients my favorite things to focus on are core/pelvic function, foot health(!) and physical autonomy/independence as we age. 

Or if I were to hashtag that last one: #initforthelongevity.

So I made up a fun title for myself that partially hits this moving-well-as-we-age point and trotted over to the panel of mentors to talk over the idea of calling myself a Movement Teacher/Longevity Coach. 

Mostly I got a lot of “Girl, no.”

Appaaaarentlyyyy…. no one would know what the heck to do with “Longevity Coach” or understand what they’re getting when we work together. And also, aging has such a bad reputation in our culture, it’s best not to remind people that that’s what we’re all actually doing.

All fair points. But I’d love to just take a moment and chat a bit about what I mean by being “in it for the longevity” and what we do indeed get when we don’t ignore the fact that we’re getting older and instead get wise about how we can move well through those stages. 

Let’s be clear that when I talk about creating longevity I’m not talking about fighting aging or denying it or trying to reverse time and magically look like you’re 32 or move like you’re 25** for your whole life. I’m talking about getting down on the floor to play with your grandkids when you’re 68, being able to tie your own shoes and cut your own toenails when you’re 77, going on a hike with your friends when you’re 81, and being able to get out of a chair on your own and perhaps even dance when you’re 95. 

(**Side note: I have actually rid myself of back and foot pain that I had in my 20s and do move better in my 40s than I did back then…so many things are possible.)

This.All.Starts.Now. Whenever “now” is for you.

How though? By paying attention to our physical and emotional body; learning how to listen to its messages and then how to heed them; discovering what parts of us move well and where we can move better; learning what our bodies are capable of, where our personal limitations are and how we can gently, wisely push through them.  

Part of our journey together is to shift the narrative to one that’s more empowering. One in which we are in relationship with our bodies and trust them to see us through it all, not set them up as a kind of nemesis to be suspected, corralled and controlled. Where we seek advice and aid from outside but also know how to check in deeply with our own selves and make our own decisions. 

I’m going to leave you with some words from a quartet of octogenarians who followed the work of one of my most influential teachers, Katy Bowman. Because it’s all well and good for me at age 47 to get all romantic about how conscious movement can improve how we age, but it’s more real to hear it from women who are actually in their later decades. These four began learning with Katy in their early 70s and found that as a result they were able to do MORE as they aged rather than less. They wrote a book with her called, “Dynamic Aging” and their stories are candles lit with the possibility of how we can rely on and enjoy our bodies for the long-haul. 

This is the work I do with my own body and mind, and with everyone who comes into my orbit. It’s what I mean when I say in addition to a Movement Teacher, I’m also a Longevity Coach. Efficient marketing strategy be damned. I’m #initforthelongevity.

“We thought our health issues were the result of aging. For example, in our book, Lora talks about her restless leg syndrome completely disappearing and a knee replacement surgery that was avoided. Joyce shares that she was facing knee and neck surgery – neither of which has been necessary. Shelah talks about her choice to stop driving and walk everywhere and how she was able to cope with an injury as a result of learning [this] work and practicing it. My chronic constipation of more than 50 years disappeared and I was able to do away with my orthotics and walk barefoot again after 20 years. And so much more.

What we learned was that our pain and lack of mobility were not due to our age. They were due to our habits. As our book asks ‘What if changing how you move can change how you feel no matter your age?’”

(Isn’t that an exciting rhetorical question? Want to work with me and see if we can actually come up with some answers??)

If you want to read more about these gals:

From the blog: https://dynamicaging4life.com/dynamic-aging/