What is Purity Body Movement™?
“How do I describe what we do to other people?” my clients ask me. Oh no, that question that I dread! I decided to really give this some thought. Ever since my first movement class in 2000 of children with autism, I have taught movement as an expression of the soul. When the body is in pain or some form of dis-ease there is a complex web of relationships occurring. A body that moves aligned to the soul creates an easier space for it’s expression to flow through and welcome grace into one’s life.
What is Purity Body Movement™?
The name “Purity Body Movement™” arose from this intention that I hold for all my clients - to let their soul shine through their body in its purest expression. This means that the body as it moves through all ranges is gracious and expansive.
Trained in various movement and body-working forms from contemporary release dance, yoga, Pilates, fitness, fascia, Japanese meridian yoga, holistic healing massage, Reiki healing and fitness (aerobics, boxing, free weights), I bring a passion for integrity to the individual’s path. Movements allow emotions to move through the body and out in the appropriate energetic state that expands the person more into their fullest self.
Principles for Purity Body Movement™
Breath - Initiates movement (or not) and controls the quality of all action that values the entire body, mind and emotional state in that present moment. Movements are truthful with integrity to this pure essence of life.
Starfish - All movements originate from the core, this is not the spine or abdominals, but the nervous system. The nervous system is the closest state to the energy body and clarity of the soul. If this is balanced then all action is purposeful to the Soul’s calling.
Yield - To explore the relationship to Earth and how she supports the body. When the body pushes into the Earth she pushes back up to give strength, stability, steadiness and ease.
Balance - is founded upon proprioception which is a key body sense for balance. This invisible web of space requires a calm, steady and soft focus of being in an active state. It reveals to us that we can release control and hold just what we need for an easy flow of movement.
Grace - Where there is space there can be grace, so a spacious moving body will let in more healing and deeper power. An attitude of kindness, gratitude and self-nurturing as the body moves opens it more to a deeper quality of a delightful angel flying through life.
Foundations
Often clients come to me after failed trips to physiotherapists, physical exercise therapists and specialists. Frustrated that their bad back pain isn’t shifting or that the exercises are too hard for them to do safely. This isn’t everyone, I also get some amazing aerial acrobats and yogis determined to take their work to the next level of high physical performance.
I take all clients back to key basic functional movements and breathing. My eagerly trained eyes from Pilates and dance, combined with energy reading gifts track the subtle flow of movement, with a real interest in the transitions in and out of the movement. In biomechanics, it is the first 15 degrees of a movement that deep core stabilisers are to function and if there is a lack of integrity this is where it will show up.
Movements will often be hip rolls, bridges, movement of the thigh in the pelvis, situps, standing and weight bearing on the feet, quadruped balance, squats, side bends and rotations.
As I track the movements through the fascia lines, meridian lines of Japanese yoga, Raynor massage holistic body lines, Reiki and yogic energy Chakras and Light Body energies the body reveals emotional states, energetic holds and biomechanical blocks to retrain. Vital to expressing the soul fully is the integrity of the joint and the quality of muscle tone as it activates and moves the body. Work with me is slow, steady, calm and repetitive to lay these foundations.
We return to the breath. Each person suits a different breath pattern to support what is moving (or not) through the body. Mostly, I notice that people respond well when deploying a softly sighing exhale with an inhale that takes care of itself.
An example, please!
Client stories help, so here is a late 50s client of mine who loves her workouts but struggles with apparent ‘random’ physical pains in her body. I know that these are emotional holding patterns, and so does she, but her body needs to process them so that it can be ‘free’.
Initially, her training was focused on plantar fasciitis which had settled. Enjoying months of stronger workouts she was excited about her progress and weight loss, until one day she brought up a ‘random’ sore base of the hand palm that prevented weight-bearing exercises and asked “Nid, what is this pain? You always know what these things are about.” I had noticed her shoulders tightening and an emotional tightness in her chest and arms. The hand pain was a meridian point for the heart - there is a deep sadness in the client.
I created a Japanese yoga-Pilates infused sequence to release the hand, wrist, arms and upper chest repeated over a couple of weeks interspersed with other movements to balance the body and keep her grounded. In passing, I casually referenced these emotional aspects of this hand-and-heart connection. The client later texted me - the pain began after a mix-up at the pharmacy and no antidepressants had been available for some weeks. Her mood was lifting and so was the pain.
Releasing Old Habits
Release is important to clear old movement habits (they say it takes 50,000 hours to retrain a poorly trained muscle), emotional beliefs stored in the tissues and energetic holds expressed as tonal function. Otherwise, the body perpetuates the same stories and the mind finds it harder to shift into new possibilities and physical steps are harder to make.
If there is a lot of pain or dis-ease present in the body, then release needs to be done. I may teach them the Purity Body Release technique as part of a session so that they can practice more in between.
Discover more about the Purity Body Release sessions in this blog.
However, other forms of release can support the movement. For example, somatic movement, Alexander Technique or Bowen Therapy.
Getting Strong, Stable and Dynamic
Clients become very strong deep to the core of their bones. It is so exciting to witness the shifts and how they achieve things that they never would believe that they could do! My clients have an intention for their work with me e.g. “a healthier back and less pain to feel strong and more able bodied”. My strategy is not to tell clients my movement goals for them, because either their core limiting beliefs can creep in or they become too fixated on a certain outcome and do not take time to really engage with full integrity for the journey of discovery in their body.
Steadily working step by step, not in a linear approach but holistically around the joints and biomechanics of the body in space with relationship to gravity they achieve amazing balance, strength and flexibility.
Another client story was a long-term back pain sufferer over 60 years of age, who had never resolved it with physiotherapy and wanted to feel confident in yoga classes on retreats to participate with the ‘younger ones’. Steady work of bridges, small cobras and core strengthening to create a resilient and healthy spine, my secret goal had been a full Ashtanga Sun Salutation A (Surya Namaskar A) - now it is complete and so strong that dolphin push ups have been added in!
What is the ongoing journey of the Purity Body Movement™?
Here are some simple aspects of what my clients experience:
Deeper muscle tone close to the bone provides stability of all movements with a powerful presence of great posture.
Awareness of the body moving through internal and external space that is smooth, calm, open and buoyant.
Emotional release of muscle holding patterns lifts unnecessary weight and the body feels lighter.
A body that is adaptable, flexible and versatile to many movement forms with longevity to weather all of life’s shifting dynamics and terrains.
Relaxed tonal muscle activation leads to less delayed onset muscle soreness - what? Limited muscle soreness after exercise? Yes!
Sometimes a six pack and awesome muscle definition.
A vibrant and healthy thirtysomething client wanted to leave her corporate job but could not find the courage, discipline and focus to reduce her hours to look for another role. We agreed that she needed to release her frustrations of the current role and open her body to new possibilities with movement. She moved from frustrated, with sore shoulders and stiff hips to an open heart, steady and stable with open hips that have navigated a change of career into her true passion - tailoring.
The body speaks very clearly. The feedback loop of the mind and body is an important relationship to balance - to know when the soul calls for movement and how, or when we move in a way that limits the soul’s expression. The soul speaks through the body to drive our actions which can fulfil our life’s purpose. “Purity” is because this movement form is about the purest expression of the soul to be free and delight in the experience of a body.
Discover more testimonials about movement with me
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