Maya Christopherson Deftly Using the F-Word
I generally feel pretty good in my body thanks to yoga and staying active with running, the gym, and walking as much as possible. That said, one period of feeling particularly en form was when I was also regularly practicing Pilates.
When I lived in Salt Lake City, I had a sweet trade going with a friend, yoga student, and very gifted Pilates instructor, Maya Christopherson, now the founder and owner of Uplift Pilates. Maya helped me experience a greater feeling of freedom in my body; repetitive motions of yoga and running made me tight, bunched up, and kinda janky (technical term).
During our Pilates sessions, Maya led me through myriad routines and exercises but one of the greatest things that Maya did for me was help me learn to embrace the f-word … yes, the dreaded foam roller.
If you’re not familiar with a foam roller, they are foam cylinders with varying degrees of density designed for you to roll on to loosen up tight muscles, loosen bunched-up fascia, and help to realign your skeleton. I love to regularly roll my legs, spine, and neck.
Many people who have experienced foam rollers bristle at the mere mention of the f-word. I’ll admit, at first when Maya would pull out the foam roller in our sessions, often I’d mutter a different f-word under my breath and continue to do so through clenched teeth as my exceedingly tight muscles were kneaded mercilessly pliant by the less-than-forgiving foam roller.
But, it wasn’t long, really after only a few sessions, that I began to actually look forward to the foam roller. Soon, it actually started to feel amazing. Now, I ask my private clients to invest in one so we can incorporate it in their yoga sessions because I think they are so useful.
I love the foam roller because it can do so much benefit my body in such a small amount of time. When my body is free, my heart and mind follow suit.
Maya would always tell me that it was the cheapest deep-tissue massage you can get.
Our foam roller lives on the floor in the living room so that whenever I see it, I can drop down and do a few passes over my legs or spine and emerge feeling great.
Seriously, I get a huge hit of energy when I’m done. In fact, I love the foam roller so much that I even travel with mine. Ours is small and light enough to fit easily into a suitcase. Plus, it’s hollow so I stuff the center with socks to economize space.
Here’s a little video I put together (with the help of my 6-year-old) of a few foam roller things you can do to ease tension in legs, back, neck, calves, and hips.
If you'd like to explore this a little deeper, TODAY (February 8, 2022), I’m going to incorporate the f-word (the foam roller) into some of my weekly online yoga asana class via Zoom at 12 pm MST. Please join me to feel the magic of the foam roller!
You can join me every week for my online Zoom asana class, though we don’t always use the foam roller. My good friend and fellow teacher, Kim Dastrup and I share a Tuesday/Thursday 12 pm class on Zoom—I usually teach Tuesdays and Kim usually teaches Thursdays. Suggested donation is only $10 and you can click here to see the details of joining class.
Also, you can check out Maya’s site where she has a downloadable video using the foam roller as well. Her videos are much more professional than mine, despite the fact that she doesn't have a 6-year-old climbing all over her like I did.
Have a great day and I hope you’ll join me as we all embrace the f-word for greater wellness in body, mind, and spirit.