One of the reasons why I am so into the alignment course is that the material fascinates me and I'm never bored with it. Another reason is that it gives me an awesome opportunity to help people in a really accessible way (no drugs, no surgery). The final reason (keep in mind, these are all equal reasons) is that it gives me a lot of ways to make some moola so I don't end up living in a box covered in a tarpaulin when I'm older (mine would be the one with the bright blue tarp, btw, cause that's how I roll.) I'm discovering that EVERYONE can benefit from some adjustments and some muscle strengthening. I'm also discovering that not everyone is as passionate about the human machine as I am.
I'm starting to think about a seminar I want to offer to women in offices. I think it's a good place to start, and a great way to open people up to the concepts we talk about at the Restorative Exercise Institute. My greatest challenge is figuring out what to talk about. Sitting too much, pelvic floor health (hamstrings), shoe choice and foot direction are the obvious ones that need to be covered. But that could take me all day if I'm not careful. There's always so much to say on each topic! Then I think "oh, well people who sit too much tend to have hyper kyphosis. That should be covered. But I can't talk about that without talking about disk degeneration, which would bring me into bone formation and osteoporosis...which brings me back to sitting to much b/c of the effect on the hips...but I can't forget to tell everyone about the effects of osteoporosis drugs and how bad it is to drink soda. And I should definitely "mention"(ramble for an hour about) the exercise paradigm and how really it should be replaced by all day movement...OH YEA! weight loss and metabolism, middle aged women want to know about that too..." Yea. Right. Everyone wants a 3 hour lecture about stuff they don't understand or particularly care about understanding.
The idea behind my seminar idea is to talk for 45 minutes or less on a few key issues (like the first ones mentioned) and then have a 30 - 45 minute exercise session teaching a few exercises that can be done at the office all the time. Stuff like the double calf stretch, single calf stretch on a towel, the pelvic list, and perhaps a demo on stacking your weight over the heels. I want to leave everyone with a handout on key points, the exercises that I show them, and some tips and tricks to get more movement into their day (like parking at the back of the parking lot when you go out, using a small glass for your water so you constantly have to get up to refill it, and making all your phone calls while standing).
It's my first time designing something like this but I'm really excited to see how it's received. I want to see if I can give people the "magic" amount of information. Enough to get them intrigued and to communicate the importance of the issues (like hamstring length), but not so much that they feel overwhelmed by what I'm saying, like they'll never accomplish it all so there's no point in trying. I love alignment and want to make my life about it, and even I feel overwhelmed at times. I can only imagine what the average sedentary person would feel like if they had all this info dumped on them. I'd love to have some input from those of you who have led seminars and classes before. Anyone have any tips and tricks for me?
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