Motion is Lotion: The Key to Healing and Recovery
Motion is Lotion
As a yoga teacher for the past 27 years, I have had the privilege of working with students of all shapes, sizes, and abilities. On this journey, I have witnessed many injuries and hardships, both in myself and my students. I have had the honor to walk down the path of recovery and healing, with many, learning and growing along the way.
This path however, is not an easy one. It requires patience, discipline, determination and a steady mind to stay the course. Sometimes complete recovery is possible, over time. Sometimes, it is a matter of learning to accept the card you were dealt and find a way to manage as best you can and keep moving forward one step at a time, or perhaps just one breath at a time.
I always tell my students—and especially the yoga teachers I train —that if you haven’t yet encountered injury in your own practice or teaching, you simply haven’t been doing it long enough. Injury is part of the journey; in truth, it’s part of being alive.
Here are a few key lessons that I have learned along the way to help you navigate the path to recovery.
Many years ago, one of our osteopaths coined a phrase during an anatomy presentation to my teachers. He said, “Motion is Lotion.” This saying has stuck with me over the years, and I often repeat it to my clients and students. Here are the top 5 reasons why this saying is so important and true.
Improves Circulation & Speeds Up Healing – Getting the blood pumping through you body is the key to healing faster. Increased circulation is the ultimate way to pump out oxygen and nutrients to injured areas, which can help you heal faster. Think of a clean flowing river, full of life versus a stagnant pond. Movement provides the opportunity to flush out and filter, to revive your body from the inside out.
Prevents Stiffness & Improves Mobility – If you don’t use it, you will lose it! There natural tendency is to want to stop moving when we are hurt. No one likes pain. However, if you do this, like a machine that is not being used, your body will “rust” over time. You will get stiff and it will be so much harder to come back. Instead find a way to keep moving! Adapt, modify, but keep up with gentle movement, so you don’t get stuck!
Reduces Pain & Inflammation – Motion helps your body produce synovial fluid (a natural joint lubricant), which can reduce pain and inflammation over time. Sometimes you just need to kick start the engine to get it to feel better. Ever feel stiff in the morning when you get out of bed, but once you get walking around you feel better? It is the same thing! You just need to get started. Unfortunately, getting started, may be your biggest hurdle.
Maintains Strength and Alignment – Maintaining proper alignment and postural awareness around the affected area can help reduce pain and encourage the muscles to stay active, rather than allowing weight to “dump into” the body, resulting in compression and pain. Regular strength training and weight-bearing exercises are essential for preserving muscle mass and preventing atrophy, which could lead to setbacks in recovery. Proper muscle tone and strength creates the “structure” that literally holds you up. If there is a weakness in one area, our muscles are able to help by getting stronger, reinforcing the area around the weakness. Strength is so important!
Boosts Your Mood & Mental Health – Movement releases feel-good chemicals in your brain, helping you stay positive and motivated as you heal. Moving feels like progress and provides a sense of empowerment—going with the flow—while staying still can create a feeling of being out of control, overwhelmed, and hopeless. The key is to focus on what you can do, no matter how big or small the movement. Every step and every breath counts!
Do you need help getting on the path to recovery?
Check in with us at Energie EnCorps. We have a dedicated team of manual therapists, yoga instructors, and fitness instructors ready to support you. Perhaps all you need is a little motivation and a supportive community to keep showing up. Maybe you need some guidance from a teacher to adapt things to what feels right for you right now. Or, you may need a professional assessment from an osteopath to identify the root cause or the help of a massage therapist to relieve tension. Whatever it is, we are here to help you every step of the way.
Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions!
Rozel Gonzales
Rozel Gonzales is the owner of the Energie EnCorps Health and Wellness Centre, a platform she created to promote balanced living in body and mind. As a body movement specialist and teacher of the Ashtanga yoga tradition, Rozel is dedicated to helping others achieve wellness through movement. She is a forever student, passionate about sharing her knowledge to empower others.
A yoga and fitness teacher, massage therapist, entrepreneur, and mother of three, Rozel left a successful corporate career in 2014 to pursue her dream and open Energie EnCorps.
Teaching since 1997 and Ashtanga-trained, Rozel is the lead trainer for Energie EnCorps’ Yoga Teacher Training program.
