Page 11 - TA Magazine Winter 2022

W ORD S T O MO VE B Y

part in the ballet, therefore I do not know how to move as well We are programmed to move to music in a balanced way. Our “YOUR SPIRITUAL SELF
as I thought.” It could be a sport you don’t make, it could be emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual, and primal selves
someone making fun of the way you run. It could be you look- benefit from it. We get you into that flow-state of moving, SOARS THE HIGHEST WHEN
ing at the celebrated “beautiful” people of the world, and not where it’s not just improvisational: You have the woman who
being able to see it in yourself. conceived the method and designed its strategy-based practices
crafting new content each week. You match that energy the YOU ARE ONE WITH YOUR BODY.”
In the world of physical fitness training, there was not any stra- way a musician absorbs the tempo from the conductor’s phys-
tegic language built in wellness to take any person from any ical gestures. This is when the brain enters a highly restorative
genetic background and make them into their most balanced and creative space—where your entire being is processing and The small lies you tell yourself are the tiny things that stagnate radically honest look at how much value should be placed on
self. Until I dedicated my focus to making progress in the fit- moving—and builds resilience. us, and keep us from really being all that we desire. that feeling. Your health can handle the hard truth but it can not
ness space, it simply didn’t exist. During my first study, I real- handle lies.
ized that just like our self-esteem was being unfairly hijacked, Retraining your brain and managing breaking the emotional This is where I like to play out how these conversations with
our brains were experiencing the same with verbal instruction. habits of having someone talk you through your workouts clients go. It’s all about simplifying your being into four parts: I grew up with a mother who was a professional ballerina and
takes time, focus, and discipline. But once you break that habit your physical self, your emotional self, your intellectual self, a career dance studio owner with her own methodology of
Why is verbal instruction counterproductive in fitness? Inter- and see firsthand the benefits of free play, you will never want and your spiritual self. teaching children the gifts and techniques of dance through their
estingly, our bodies actually need minimal to no distraction to anyone disrupting your fitness space again. unique processing channels which forever deepen their connec-
connect to the incredible systems we have in our primal being. The conversation goes like this: You get set up to try a class, and tion to themselves. I truly believe that experiential gift my moth-
If you look at toddlers, you notice they try everything imagin- When you start a new fitness program, it’s usually because your intellectual self has totally bought into the fact that you er believed in is why I was poised to break down the barriers
able physically, without anyone telling them what to do. They somewhere in you, you either feel uncomfortable in your body, should be working out. Your emotional self is half in, half out— between the scientific, medical, wellness, and fitness domains. I
are driven by adrenaline and curiosity. Two ingredients that I disappointed in how you view your body, or worried you ar- part of it craves the experience of being physically confident, but excelled as a dancer, but once I got into college on a scholarship,
have found most powerful in weight loss are weight manage- en’t showing up for your health. the other doesn’t like anything that is challenging, so it waits in and found myself in New York City after growing up in a small
22 ment, and being magnetically connected to your physical body. ven if it’s challenging to get moving, the truth the wings to start sending bodily signals that you shouldn’t be do- town in Indiana, my body drastically changed. I am just shy of 22
Y ANDERSON WINTER 20 runs on the idea that you don’t know how to move in your own Ephysical results from exercise, most programs to commit. Your physical self only shows resistance right before and then cast me as the star of Giselle at Lincoln Center. In fact Y ANDERSON WINTER 20
Young children aren’t told the mechanics of how to throw, but
5 feet tall, and I gained 40 lbs at school for dance. New York, in
ing this workout. It will also do it for any workout that requires
all its glory, is not a city that lies to you. It is one of those places
too much mental effort to stay in the game. The reality is your
is that any movement you do with your own
they will throw. No one is cheering them on to roll over, walk,
can also show reluctance at first. It wants to move, but it needs
movement, yet there is an entire industry that has benefited off
was that no one anywhere was going to coddle my natural talent
gift we can give to our mental and physical
8 climb, stretch, or bounce. It is in us to crave independence in body should feel good. Exercise is the greatest health needs you to overcome that challenge. Your physical self that reveals the hard truth of who you are, and that hard truth 9
and make me make weight in some miraculously healthy way
health, as it’s both preventative and healing.
the full support of the emotional and intellectual parts of you
of your willingness to resign your autonomy. An industry that
That being said, not all movements are de-
body without step-by-step instructions, or a verbal cheerleader
achieving something real. In my opinion, your spiritual self soars
signed to create balance. When we start to see
it was quite the opposite. It was “make weight or go.” Did that
hurt? Absolutely. But it was the hard truth, and I recognized that
the highest when you are one with your body, honoring all of its
massaging your ego enough to keep you going. You could have
itual self, there may be times of fasting or significant days where
you decide to start a fitness plan, it’s usually because you have
deeply research-based for the whole body. I sought to create
commentary altogether. Why? Because you shut off the part of
not eating in a balanced way or moving in a balanced way are
your brain that doesn’t just ride shotgun during your workout,
bold solutions to achieve physical connection and balance, and
a strong desire to change your body fast, and you can’t get
C burned hundreds of calories more if you turned off the verbal do not have the data nor the expertise to go the distance. When graceful abilities. Depending on how you observe your own spir- there’s this giant hole in wellness where no one crafted anything C
TRA but is the actual driver. anywhere fast with your body without harming your mental appropriate for those days, and that’s okay. Those are meaning- to help people see the continuous results they deserve. TRA
and physical health. So let’s just pause and take a moment to ful times that create balance in your life as a whole.
Studies show that orchestra conductors live longer than most, check in with ourselves. Being able to tell yourself the truth I dedicated a focused eight years of research and development,
and there’s a reason for that: They let the music enter their about where you’ve been—and where you are—is very import- he first step is being honest about how over- including a five-year study on 150 women of all ages and back-
body and guide their movement. This natural response to mu- ant. Yes, all the way back to the first moment you quit that powering those parts of you can end up sab- grounds. I brought together skillful academics, and dug into my
sic is what gets our hearts pumping, our circulation going, and sport, stopped that online class, left the gym, skipped the runs. otaging you. It’s why so many people start intellectual and creative forces to try and help people feel empow-
our organs functioning. It’s something of which we are all ca- Ask yourself: What happened, and why? You have to look things they never finish, and year after year ered by their own bodies instead of disappointed, disconnected,
pable. It’s amazing to me how people will react when they feel very honestly about everything you consume, how you manage they don’t get healthier. When you get honest or disenchanted by them. There wasn’t any research in fitness
like their choices are being limited, and yet people who were your stress, and how well you actually know yourself. These with yourself about where you’ve been and that had studied the totality of balance in oneself, and the mech-
all born with a primal right to move will be the first to say they things matter, because even when the truth is hard to swallow, Twhy certain parts of your inner dialogue may anisms by which the body becomes unbalanced. I spent many
don’t know how to move or even how to get started moving. it liberates you. The truth creates the space you need to grow. need nurturing, you really start to grow. When excuses start to years dissecting the science and circumstances before I even began
come up, first ask yourself: Who’s the voice inside your head, and to incorporate my findings into choreography. I knew my style of
movement was not going to be anything like dance choreogra-
“THE TRUTH in the way of most people being able to have an empathetic con- phy, because the intended outcomes are completely different. It
why are they saying what they are saying? After all, ego stands
took years to design a method that allows for active communi-
versation with anyone they might disagree with. That battle with
CREATES THE SPACE ego resides inside you, and persists in your inner conversations cation with the muscles, which is more meticulous than working
muscles to become stronger in mass. It’s also about the joints,
as well. When you are seeking to improve your life in any way,
the metabolism, and the way movement impacts your hormones.
pause, and an exterior or interior conflict, road block, or distrac-
YOU NEED TO GROW.” tion will come up. Pause. Breathe to the count of five. Hold for Today, the Tracy Anderson Method is a dynamic, holistic ap-
proach that leads to sustained balance and harmony, designed in
one and exhale for five. Ask yourself who is responding to this
circumstance in this moment and how can we take a quick and
function of our ever-evolving minds and bodies. TA