Winter is such a fine time for a good book, a new personal challenge, or for practicing a new skill. I’ve been blessed with all three this last winter. As a committed yogi, I cannot avoid practice because of the weather. I just go to my basement studio. No excuses. Thanks to getting older, there is always a new body-challenge manifesting. I often think of yoga as a game I play with myself: awareness and skill set versus ageing. That experiment will last a lifetime! I’m interested in sharing notes with any person taking the challenge of a new day as a new beginning. There’s always something to be discovered or refined. For example, my weekly headstand–shoulder stand–handstand practice has made strides this winter. Would you believe how much can be learned from inversions alone? Yogis have advocated this for centuries, and only now I’m really learning why. It’s complicated! “The benefits of yoga come not to those who just talk about it, but only to those who practice”. And so I spent my winter.
Another personal challenge this winter involved my dear hubby. His 76 year old bicyclist body is having many complaints now. So we’ve chosen an alternative to hearing those daily complaints of pain as breakfast conversation. We took a practitioner certification in Rossiter Method in early December, at my insistence. Rossiter Method is a partnered derivative of Rolf’s Structural Integration treatment model. So Ed and I have been trading time for time since December, practicing and applying these techniques on one another. It’s been a good investment. We all know the risks of pain relief meds. So rather than use a shotgun approach and dampen the immune system, we are using “muscle energy bodywork.” That means that the receiver is actively engaged in order to balance muscle use patterns. Rossiter advocates, as I do, that we must all learn our way out of our pains. There are gifts of awareness, self-correction, and spiritual growth in this process. Of course people, by nature, do not come to this conclusion willingly or because it’s inherently attractive. They will, however, stay with it when the results prove themselves to be effective. Learn more at www.therossitersystem.com
If you are curious or want to experience the Rossiter Method, call me at 865-384-4239.
Wishing you safety, wellness, & joy—
Val Whiting, MS, OT, LMT
