In this era, when all our routines are up-ended and even some of our livelihoods are in question, what do we do to maintain our wellbeing? Do we deal with stress and uncertainty by binging on food, substances, netflix, sleep? When are those things appropriate for “letting go” and relieving stress or when are those things distractions and/or even self-abuse?
I wanted to provide a space to offer self-care rituals, tips, and routines for our well-being. I was curious what I could offer and what others do to keep centered, their energy balanced, and spirits high. I wanted to bring to the conversation how fitness is only a small part of our self-care (just like “exercise” is only a small part of movement).
Here’s what I explored, learned, left out, and my 5 tips for developing a self-care routine

If we can first see that the set-up of society may itself be sick, I think that’s a profound first step toward finding true solutions?

But what then?

I’m writing at the time of social distancing during the Corona Virus epidemic, and like many, I’m finding myself at home, without my regular work schedule, and at first I started to scramble to recreate my usual schedule with even extra appointments and classes online. The process of that felt overwhelming and brought up lots of anxiety.

Then I remembered a line from a poem by David Whyte: “This world was made to be free in…”

I’d like to discuss my particular purpose for teaching alignment and movement skills instead of leading an exercise routine whose purpose is to get you sweaty and sore.

I’d like to be part of the movement to change the paradigm of our purpose for going to classes.

Some argue to “just get people moving” rather than focus on alignment because life doesn’t happen in a controlled environment, and if you only teach fixed positions and practice moving in a static way, then it doesn’t apply to the needs of the real world.
And here is where the definition and use of the term alignment may have gotten confused…

Sometimes, the principles of alignment seem somewhat unacknowledged and reserved for exercise specialists.

I understand that if the choice is move and enjoy moving, or get bogged down in academic discussions of movement but end up not moving at all, well, any kind of movement is better than no movement for our health.

However, here (and in the next few posts) is my attempt to argue in favor of including alignment teaching for every-body…

So, I’ve been leading classes and coaching for a while now.
I figure it would be helpful to introduce myself and my journey up to now, for those who may not know me that well:

Hello. I am Patrick Hogan…

I study and teach movement which may veer away from strict poses, Natural Human Movement which is the study of the physical skills for which humans developed, and alignment which is the study of the relationship of all our parts for optimal functioning. How should I define what I aspire to do …

One day it occurred to me that the simplest name was also the most whole and profound: In Aligned Movement or I AM for short…