Body Wisdom
Kayak Classes…
From Dancing with the Sea kayak teacher Paulo Ouellet:
I wish I had known about this 20 years ago!
After a short time doing Carie’s movements, I am edging my kayak with more ease, and it feels more stable. This means better maneuverability, and more pleasure.
I can see the difference it makes with my clients, and it has become an integral part of how I teach sea kayaking.
Body wisdom class for
A more elegant, efficient and enjoyable stroke
Graceful, easy edging, balance brace, and roll
More flexibility: shoulder, neck, wrists, hands, hips…
“The classes have improved my balance when paddling by engaging parts of my body that can help, and disengaging parts that were actively sabotaging.”
Along with practical tips:
Revitalize your energy when it starts to flag
Maintain balance without tiring
Vastly improve your balance and reaction time
“Carie offers a very interesting process: easy on the body, engaging to the mind and very relaxing. ”
What are the Body Wisdom Classes like?
60-75 minutes by zoom:
An hour or so of movement lessons and a 15-minute discussion relating the lesson to your kayaking
Small class size
Carie will talk you through a movement lesson… You’ll get some exercise and some stretching, but this is much more of a lesson between you and your body—how do you organize yourself to your satisfaction? How might you? How might you help this be easier?
Each lesson has at least four levels:
Most obviously and pleasurably, addressing a particular movement pattern (maybe developing a more powerful stroke)
Noticing how you notice yourself and how you make adaptations (as a result you don’t just improve your stroke but also mysteriously find that your edging has gotten easier—because now you are listening to what is going on in a different way…)
Inviting your mind and body to develop a wider repertoire of movement. (The habits you have now are useful—but wouldn’t it be nice to have more you can draw on and a better sense of what works best for you when and why? Oh yeah.)
Learning certain tricks that you can apply to all sorts of strokes and all sorts of activities.
For instance, there is the trick of de-synchronizing with your breath and then re-synchronizing it (when it comes back together it is more ‘silky’ according to past students) or
The trick of leading with your eyes (or not) or
When you are confused about a new skill that requires you to lift here, think instead about where you press. (Or vice-versa.)
Learn the habit of picking where in your spine you want to get your twist or
Gain the very advantageous habit of using big muscles for big jobs and little muscles for fine jobs, or, perhaps Carie’s favorite…
Get your extensors and flexors to move in coordination so that it is almost like an antigravity suit!
How are the classes organized—what’s the zoomiquette?
The kayak classes are on Sunday mornings, 8 a.m. Pacific Time.
A four-class series is $100 and includes access to the audiotape.*
Attend in real time and/or listen to the audiotape. (But the real-time zoom class has a lot of advantages, including a really nice community of kayakers who bring great questions and insights to the discussion at the end.)
Wear loose drapey clothes—preferably not black—have good lighting and ideally angle your camera at about 45º from the length of your body as you lie on the floor (not straight down the length and not directly perpendicular, somewhere in-between).
*Why audio and not video? In this method, teachers don’t demonstrate. We want you to do the movement your way and then refine it your way, not copy (as in yoga). And you’ll be busy with your own focus—there’s no point in looking at the screen. And, of course, we think it is nice for you as a student to know that your image isn’t being distributed.
The themes for Fall-Winter-Spring 23-24 can be found here.
This baby is ready to roll!
I did go out early and paddle after our last session and didn't have to go through the usual uncomfortable first 5-10 minutes until my body warmed up and got into a flow state. Paddling was just so easy and my torso rotation was much improved. So thank you very much for a wonderful session 2 Wednesdays ago. I can't recall how many sessions I signed up for but I've already gotten my money's worth and you've turned me into a believer.
Susan Thomson, NASM Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist
Carie Fox loves to kayak.
She loves it even more if it doesn’t hurt.
And it shouldn’t hurt.
So what’s the answer?
Habits are useful. But over time, what is most habitual isn’t necessarily still the most comfortable. Maybe the habits you built after you dislocated your shoulder aren’t what you most need now, twenty years later. Maybe the body-maps in your brain have experienced a bit of ‘drift’ and need to recalibrate. Maybe you have changed. In these movement classes, learn how to refresh your old habits and add new, more efficient and sustainable possibilities to your repertoire.
In the class, you’ll give some TLC to your most achy joints and muscles, such as hands and wrists, hips, lower back, shoulders, neck… The movement sequences will also help with balance and edging, for instance by fostering more coordination between your pelvis and your big heavy head, or encouraging you to arc into your edging using your whole spine. This increased elegance will come about because… well, because it feels good. What your body finds it likes, it does more.
You already have body wisdom: this class will teach you to access it more clearly. Body wisdom includes slow, attentive exploration so that you can more easily find ease of movement for yourself when you are out on the water.
In each class, along with that greater access to your own body wisdom, you’ll learn a few tricks you can apply on the water. You’ll learn ways to give yourself a second or third wind, to relieve strain and to get more out of your stroke.
To have fun.
And of course, you’ll find yourself applying this body wisdom in other parts of your life!
But wait! If that isn’t enough, these kayak classes are developing a lovely sense of community, sharing of tips and insights, encouragement and camraderie.