What is Restorative Exercise?
Restorative Exercise is the work of Katy Bowman, biomechanist and director of Nutritious Movement™ and author of several, books including the groundbreaking “Move your DNA, Restore your Health Through Natural Movement”
Restorative exercise is an alignment based protocol that uses objective measures, known as alignment points to asses how we move.
It offers a series of corrective exercises designed to be used alongside lifestyle changes and habit modifications to encourage a more movement rich life.
Katy draws an analogy between movement and nutrition and proposes that we are all under-nourished in terms of movement.
“movement, like food, is not optional; ailments you may be experiencing are simply (and complexly) symptoms of movement hunger in response to a movement diet that is dangerously low in terms of quantity and poor in terms of quality—meaning you aren’t getting the full spectrum of movement nutrition necessary for a baseline human function” Katy Bowman
Restorative exercise teaches a series of corrective exercises, otherwise known as “small moves” which are practised with the aim of restoring larger whole body movements. Classes are relaxed and informative and will help you to identify some of the common immobilities brought about by our adaptations to modern day living. They will help you to correct your alignment, and also strengthen and balance your body.
Classes are suitable for most people. The exercises are easily adapted and you are encouraged to work at your own pace and ability. Restorative Exercise is unique in its approach. It will challenge your perceptions of exercise and movement and hopefully inspire you to move more!
In a nutshell…
When you move, you are not just rearranging the larger structures of the body, arms, legs, torso, head etc. but you are also rearranging the smaller, cellular structures.
By applying different loads and pressures, this movement is actually feeding your cells.
To use the analogy of nutrition, when you are under moved you are essentially starving your cells!
Inactivity and repetitive positioning can put a strain on the joints and muscles and also on the cardiovascular system.
In order to stay healthy, not only do we need to move our whole bodies more; we also need to move our individual body parts more. “move more and move more of you”.
This is easier to do, if you ‘stack your life’ and make simple choices that require movement to be an essential and integral part of your daily routine.
Stretch, strengthen, learn and restore your whole body movement and health!
To learn a little bit more about the principles of nutritious movement, take a look at the video below.