Jessica Stover (00:07):
Hey, everyone. Welcome to Networks Looks At. This recording is an offering of Networks for Training and Development's Online University.

Rosa McAllister (00:15):
Hello, everyone. This is Rosa McAllister and ...

Tracy Lapreziosa (00:19):
Tracy Lapreziosa.

Rosa McAllister (00:21):
... coming to you again from Networks for Training and Development. And this is yet another episode of Taste of Wellness. And today, we're gonna talk about movement, the body.

(00:33):
And now, I must add right from the start, this is not a soapbox or an everybody must exercise, get out there and pump it up. That's not what this is at all. Just about movement and our beautiful bodies. And regardless of how our bodies are in our mind and how our bodies are in reality, we all can move, at least something. Or we can think about movement, which sometimes is almost as good as the actual movement. And I'll explain a little bit about that a little bit more.

(01:06):
But, but I'll get it started, and, Tracy, you're gonna jump in here and there and tell us more, because Tracy-

Tracy Lapreziosa (01:11):
[inaudible 00:01:12]

Rosa McAllister (01:11):
... is an occupational therapist, so she has lots of experience with the body, all kinds of bodies, all kinds of ages and movement. And I am a dancer from way back, um, who actually had trouble moving as a young child in many ways, large motion and all of that. And I became a dancer, and I also am a yogi and, um, a runner and other things too, much to my amazement. So movement is very much a part of my life.

(01:42):
But let's take it back a little bit. So think of a little, little, cute, little teeny tiny baby that you were and/or that others have been around you. And think of how a baby moves. When a baby needs to burp, what's a baby typically do? It moves its trunk. It moves its body, central body, does all kinds of different things sometimes to work the, the burp or the poop out. Babies even while they sleep move. They stretch kind of like a kitten or a cat will do as well, these luscious, elongated stretches and movements.

(02:20):
Um, and then bring it up a little bit more and think about that baby that is now growing up and starting to maybe walk. It's almost like this imperative. They have to move. It's like the body needs to move more. It reaches ... Or first of all, the hands ... What is it? First, the hands come together, and then the feet come up.

Tracy Lapreziosa (02:40):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (02:40):
And Tracy, help me with those developmental things.

Tracy Lapreziosa (02:42):
Yeah, it does. It comes and, they come together here before they're crossing the midline. But the body just automatically knows the movement patterns that need to happen in whatever sequence. And, you know, for a normally developing child, it just happens automatically. They don't even have to think about it. And it helps with their overall development both physically and mentally.

(03:06):
And then if there's a child who has a motor difference, it's very important that they get involved with therapists and stuff at a very young age, just get those movement patterns going so that everything develops as it should. 'Cause the ... You know, there's a very grand plan in our brain of how things should be developing to help us, you know, mature the best we can. So very important.

Rosa McAllister (03:32):
It's all tied, it's all tied to movement.

Tracy Lapreziosa (03:34):
It's all tied to movement, and it just happens, which is I find so-

Rosa McAllister (03:37):
Right.

Tracy Lapreziosa (03:37):
... amazing working with babies, watching them, and like you see them do all the things in the sequence that they're supposed to do it. Some do it slower than others, and that's okay. I, it-

Rosa McAllister (03:47):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (03:48):
It's not good to force things to happen. Let it happen on its own time, you know. Just let it happen. As long as it's happening in the natural flow of sequence, it doesn't matter. It's gonna-

Rosa McAllister (04:00):
Right.

Tracy Lapreziosa (04:01):
It's gonna come together.

Rosa McAllister (04:03):
And then I want you to think about yourself and/or a little one that you've been around when they're about eight years old. And I don't know about you, but I was like this kinetic energy, this like I had to keep moving. Some of us are real fidgeters in our seats, you know, the squirmy, wormy ones of us out there. Some of us are always tapping or fiddling or playing with something. And I don't know about you, but that was to me to some extent. And even though I had difficulty making some movements, my body still needed to move. And if I didn't move, I would get ornery, you know. And it's ... And so there's emotion that's tied to movement as well. S-, um, just think, when you're really, really happy, a happy dance. Think of, um, Snoopy and Charlie-

Tracy Lapreziosa (04:47):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (04:48):
... Brown and Peanut. When Snoopy is happy, what's he do? He does his happy dance. We can all hear the music and see him dancing and moving his feet and jumping around and all of that.

(04:57):
Um, and as we get a little older, sometimes we start slowing down or stifling our movements to some extent, or making them more socially acceptable, heaven forbid. And sometimes things get bound up within us, like literally stuff gets bounds up. And emotions get bound up too. So this whole emotion's tied to movement is something that's very, very well-known and something that I think we need to explore more.

(05:26):
So one of the things, uh, you know, this need to move regardless of who we are or what our bodies are like or the life stages or whatever, we still have a need to move. I remember my mom as she got quite elderly and movement was quite hard for her or more difficult, just standing up, moving about, etc. She would oftentimes say to me, "I'm just so stiff 'cause I never move anymore." And so getting her to even just move her feet or her fingers or a little bit of movement ... Or as I mentioned before, thinking about movement. By mother had been a jitterbugger when she was a teenager and young adult. So I used to get her telling me stories about jitterbugging and dancing. And she would actually start moving her feet and her hands and her torso a little bit as she was telling me about the movement, and actually start in her reminiscing almost jitterbugging in her seat just a little bit as she thought about it.

(06:28):
So movement can be the actual movement. It can be very small. It can be whatever, but we still need to do it.

Tracy Lapreziosa (06:34):
Yeah. It's interesting you talk about that, about the thinking about the movement. I attended a workshop once, uh, at a rehab. And, you know, a lotta people come into rehab, and now they can't move 'cause they've had an injury, and now they can't move. And so how do you get stronger if you can't move? How, how do you build those muscles? How do you get those ... How do you get those messages to the muscles? How do you get 'em going?

(06:57):
And we went through a series of exercises where we were on the floor and we were visualizing certain movements. And there's research out there that shows that just visualizing doing something, they can detect muscle activity in the muscles that you think that you're using-

Rosa McAllister (07:18):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (07:18):
... and you're not ... They're not ... You're not really moving. So you can actually strengthen and move and, and get the benefit by just visualizing the activity. And it was weird. Like after we after we were done ... Well, they had us do a certain movement before we lay down and did all the visualization. And then we did it afterwards. And afterwards, the movement was so much easier-

Rosa McAllister (07:44):
Hm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (07:45):
... so ... You know, it w-, it was, it was amazing 'cause you would think you have to practice a movement's sequence to get it your brain. But we just visualized the movement sequence over and over and over again. And then once we came out of it, boom, you remembered it. It wa-, it was amazing. So it's, it's really cool that you can ... your brain can help your muscles exercise without them actually moving if you can't move.

Rosa McAllister (08:11):
That's fascinating. And it reminds me with my mom again how I would go to her place, and sometimes I would be with her for a whole day or a couple of days, and I would have to move 'cause I, I am a fidgeter. I need to move. I'm sitting on my yoga ball here at my desk. It's one of my movement things. You can't see me, but I'm bouncing up and down on my yoga ball. I use that as a chair to help me stay focused and to get rid of some of my energy as I'm working.

(08:40):
Sometimes I would be with my mom for a long period of time, and I would just have to get up and move. And I'd say, "Come on, mom. Let's do some yoga." And she would sit in her chair, and I would do yoga on the floor in front of her. And she would watch me, and she would say afterwards, "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

Tracy Lapreziosa (08:57):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (08:58):
And it's exactly what you're talking about. It's that visualizing, and still it's activating the sequence. It's activating the muscles. It's activating the energy. It's so cool.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:10):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (09:10):
So cool.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:11):
It's funny you say that. [inaudible 00:09:12] when you're like watching Dancing with the Stars-

Rosa McAllister (09:14):
Yes!

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:16):
... and you're [inaudible 00:09:15] do all those movements, and then they get done. And you're like, your body feels like it wants to do those things. (laughs) So-

Rosa McAllister (09:20):
Exactly.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:21):
... I can't. Well, I can't, but it feels like it wants to do something. Yeah, so it's-

Rosa McAllister (09:23):
Exactly.

Tracy Lapreziosa (09:26):
... cool, pretty cool how it works.

Rosa McAllister (09:28):
And so I mentioned before about emotions. So one of things we know is that movement oftentimes brings up emotions. And sometimes ... I mean, I've had example with myself and with others when I'm leading a class or something. I sometimes work with women who have been through a lotta trauma and, and abuse, and things like that, and we do a lotta dancing. And at first, they are very hesitant. It's like their whole body is a block of wood. It barely ... You know, they don't have hips. They don't have a pelvis. They don't move nothing. That whole central core doesn't move.

(10:00):
And after a while, we get them wiggling and moving and stuff. And oftentimes, they start giggling or crying or-

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:09):
Right.

Rosa McAllister (10:09):
... burping or farting or other things as emotions are coming up while they are moving, because of the movement.

(10:17):
So one of my adages ... We always heard people say, you know, "No gain, no pain," and that we should work through the pain of, you know, exercise. I disagree 100%, so ... Especially with the folks that I work with in my own body, my beliefs is that if you feel pain or discomfort while moving, you need to back off. Maybe not stop, but back off a little bit.

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:42):
Body's trying to s-

Rosa McAllister (10:42):
[inaudible 00:10:43]

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:42):
(laughs) It's tell you something-

Rosa McAllister (10:42):
Absolutely.

Tracy Lapreziosa (10:46):
... and you better listen.

Rosa McAllister (10:47):
Absolutely. But if it's emotions that are coming up, most of us wanna stop immediately. And I say, "No, let's work through it. Let's try to breathe through it. Maybe pause a little bit, but let's acknowledge it because it's your body. It's your way of releasing and bringing forth some of these emotions." And that is a good thing. So keep the dancing or keep the walking or keep the moving, whatever you're doing that's helping to bring these emotions up. Maybe take a pause, be gentle with yourself. But don't numb yourself. Don't shy away from it. Instead, lean into it. It helps.

Tracy Lapreziosa (11:24):
And sometimes it's, it's very subtle movements that bring out the emotions, very subtle. Because the motions are trapped deep within the tissue. And it's typically when you're doing a motion that you wouldn't do in daily life 'cause you're tapping into some other muscles that you wouldn't normally use. And some ... If anyone's ever practiced somatics, when you do somatics, it's very, very minute movements that you do that are really deep in your pelvis, in your arms, in your chest.

Rosa McAllister (11:54):
Hm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (11:55):
And those are the places where you really carry a lot of that emotion. And that's why dancing is such a release 'cause you're getting down deep, you're wiggling those hips-

Rosa McAllister (12:05):
Mm-hmm.

Tracy Lapreziosa (12:05):
... you're stretching out the chest, and those things are opening up. The everyday movement doesn't necessarily release that for you. You have to get a little deeper.

Rosa McAllister (12:16):
Yeah, yeah. And doing it with someone else, rather than doing it alone, doing it in a group, it-

Tracy Lapreziosa (12:23):
Hm.

Rosa McAllister (12:23):
... activates ... It's back to that seeing and feeling, you know, with others, um, it brings it even more to the forefront. So that's why group dance and group therapies, if you will, or group exercise classes, group things like that oftentimes bring forth so much more, so much more emotions, feelings, and health.

Tracy Lapreziosa (12:49):
Definitely. I mean, there's so many mental health benefits to movement, to any type of movement. You know, just you- We walk to clear our head, to clear our mind. It helps us to sleep better. It helps us to just boost our health, and makes our mo- mo-, our mood better, releases stress. You know, decreases anxiety, all of those things. Movement is always a good thing to do, not just for our physical body and our bones and our muscles and our heart and our brain and all that, but for our own mental health. Even if we're not getting to the point of, of emotional release, we are getting to the point of being able to res-, some, some of that tension and stress and, that's held up in our body from our day-to-day lives and dealing with all the things that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Rosa McAllister (13:36):
Right. And just like a little burst of movement isn't gonna really do it.

Tracy Lapreziosa (13:40):
Mm-hmm.

Rosa McAllister (13:40):
You need to do it with some regularity and enough of a length of time. I know it used to be said, "You gotta break a sweat." And I'm not sure that breaking a sweat is really it, but it's something that the pattern is and the motion is enough where things are coming up and you're releasing it. And maybe you're breathing a little bit heavier, or you find yourself laughing, or some kind of emotion is happening. And if you do this with regularity, your body really can release it. So I always suggest to people, if they can, three times a week at least for a half hour if possible.

Tracy Lapreziosa (14:18):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (14:18):
What do you say?

Tracy Lapreziosa (14:21):
Something con- Yeah, something conscious. But I think that almost yo- you have to think about on a day-to-day basis to fit in ... Even if it's not you have to set aside 30 minutes to go to the gym or to take a walk, wo- work in the ac-, the movement into your day, as much as you can into your day. I, I don't always have a lotta time to exercise, so I ha- I am, I do things in my house where I'm upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs. So I'm constantly going up and down steps, and I ju-, I plan my day that way. Not I'm gonna do this upstairs until I'm finished. No, I'm gonna do a little bit here, I'm gonna do a little bit there, so I'm constantly up and down and trying to build the movement into my daily routines.

(15:03):
And then the most important thing is you have to find some movement activities that are fun, that are motivating, whether it's-

Rosa McAllister (15:10):
Absolutely.

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:10):
... dance or, or walking with a friend or swimming or s-, whatever. Surfing if you're in Maui, whatever it is that yo- (laughs)

Rosa McAllister (15:20):
(laughs)

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:21):
... that's fun for you, um, do it. And, you know, it, it, it helps you mentally, helps you socially, you know, get into groups where movement is the, is the thing that you do at the group. You know, so many of us (laughs) tend to like when you get together with folks, it's like, oh, we're gonna go down and we're gonna have dinner. (laughs) Or you know, you know, instead of we're gonna go down, we're gonna be, go dancing or we're-

Rosa McAllister (15:43):
Right.

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:43):
... gonna take a walk on the beach or we're gonna do ... Those are the kinds of things that we need to really be looking at, things that are fun, and things that are-

Rosa McAllister (15:50):
Absolutely.

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:51):
... integrated, integrated into our day.

Rosa McAllister (15:53):
And things that are easy.

Tracy Lapreziosa (15:55):
Yes.

Rosa McAllister (15:55):
Things that are easy. When we build in ... At least for me, when I try to build in something that's a complicated new whatever that has many steps to it or it's gonna cause me to drive an hour or whatever, the likelihood of me building them in regularly is pretty low. But if I can start my day with certain movements ... Which I'm a ritual girl, so I have a whole set of movements I do before I even get outta bed to wake up my back, to wake up my innards, to wake up my feet and legs that have plagued me, frankly, with issues throughout most of my life. If I do that, I literally start my day on the right foot-

Tracy Lapreziosa (16:34):
Yeah.

Rosa McAllister (16:34):
... so to speak.

Tracy Lapreziosa (16:34):
Yeah. I have a seb-, a whole routine too that I do before my feet even hit the floor.

Rosa McAllister (16:39):
Absolutely. Some people have things they do while they're cooking. I have a very good friend who dances her tush off while she's cooking.

Tracy Lapreziosa (16:49):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (16:50):
And she, kind of like you with the upstairs, downstairs, she purposely has things that, in her kitchen in such a way so that she has to kinda dance between the kitchen sink and the stove top and all that other-

Tracy Lapreziosa (17:01):
(laughs)

Rosa McAllister (17:02):
... kinda stuff. You know?

Tracy Lapreziosa (17:03):
And that bend and stretch-

Rosa McAllister (17:03):
[inaudible 00:17:04]

Tracy Lapreziosa (17:04):
... and bend and stretch.

Rosa McAllister (17:05):
Exactly.

Tracy Lapreziosa (17:05):
[inaudible 00:17:06]

Rosa McAllister (17:05):
Exactly.

Tracy Lapreziosa (17:05):
... to get the things you can-

Rosa McAllister (17:08):
For me, it's my yoga ball because I'm on my computer a lot of the day. But I also put things out that are not right within arm's reach, kind of like your upstairs, downstairs thing, so that I have to go over. You know, a bowl of nuts or a bowl of dried fruits or grapes or things like that, a big pitcher of cucumber water or something that I make if I know I'm gonna have a day writing a report or something like that, I'm gonna be seated a lot. I have that stuff, and I'm looking over at my calendar because I have it right within my eyesight. I don't have it near my desk. I have it over there, so at least I have to get up and go in order to get to it. So-

Tracy Lapreziosa (17:43):
And it reminds you that it's there and that you need it. (laughs)

Rosa McAllister (17:47):
Absolutely.

(17:48):
So I think we've given a couple of cool ideas and fun ideas about movement. Again, this is not a, you need to exercise. You need to break a sweat. You need to feel pain before you gain and ... No, no, no, no, no. Tracy and I are saying, build in just simple, fun movement in whatever it means for you. And build it in with some regularity and see how it changes things up for you.

Tracy Lapreziosa (18:13):
[inaudible 00:18:14]

Rosa McAllister (18:14):
So any last-

Tracy Lapreziosa (18:15):
[inaudible 00:18:16]

Rosa McAllister (18:16):
... pearls of wisdom?

Tracy Lapreziosa (18:17):
Just move and have fun. (laughs) You know?

Rosa McAllister (18:21):
There you go.

Tracy Lapreziosa (18:21):
Just move and have fun.

Rosa McAllister (18:23):
There you go. So thanks, Tracy, for yet another fun and exciting Taste of Wellness. And to all you listening out there, check in all our other Taste of Wellness and other great things that we have parked for you in our online university at networksfortraining.org. Help yourself, feel free, get moving, and let us know how it's going, and come back for more. Bye.

Tracy Lapreziosa (18:47):
Bye.

Jessica Stover (18:48):
Thank you for listening. We hope the information provided was helpful. Don't forget to stop by our website and take advantage of all we have to offer.