The piece de resistance?

I have exactly one week before eight Riverdale (my high school) students and two teachers (one former teacher of mine) arrive in Kunming. I am calling this the piece de resistance because since last summer this was the main focus of my China plan. While working for Minds Abroad, I pitched a Riverdale trip to China. After only a handful of meetings, it was a done deal. In summer 2011, I would be working with Minds Abroad to lead Riverdale students on a three week trip living in Kunming and traveling around Yunnan. I am now counting down the days.

Wellness Group

I have started a Wellness group here in Kunming with my Israeli friend Talia. (I know I come to China to find a friend also named Talia?) Most people immediately ask, "What the heck is that?" Well, it's a gathering of friends who want to talk about what maintaining health means to them. Each week an individual leads a lesson in a practice or a discussion about something of her or his interest.

This Wellness group is inspired by a class I took at Oberlin called Somatic Studies. "Soma" is Greek for body in its wholeness. This class gave us the opportunity to press pause on our busy lives and look at the way we operate: our posture, our stress habits, our sleeping patterns etc. Sometimes we move on autopilot and don't stop to think about the lifestyle habits we have created for ourselves. This class offered a forum to reassess, ask questions, learn from each other's experiences, and hopefully make positive changes. My professor, Deborah Vogel was an inspiration to us all. She gave us the tools and ideas to think about making healthy changes, but really she said prioritize your personal well being and the rest of your life will follow.

Two nights ago at the Wellness meeting, I was the facilitator. I shared a practice called MELT, created by Sue Hitzmann, who teaches at the Upper West Side JCC and is gradually starting a movement. MELT stands for Myofascial Energetic Length Technique. I interpret this as a formal self-assessment, realignment, and release technique. It targets the fascia, the connective tissue that covers our muscles, bones, organs, and nerves. In our daily lives we acquire tension in our bodies. Many times we are not aware of where and how these emotions and activities affect the body. One effect can be seen in our connective tissue; it becomes dry and inhibits full range of motion. We can't stretch fascia we can only MELT it (Sue would give me a lot of brownie points for saying that). MELT uses different sized rubber balls and foam rollers to rehydrate this "stuck tissue"

Sue's process involves assessing the body's capabilities by paying attention to the imbalances and just becoming self aware. "Be Curious" is what Deb used to say when we'd explore our emotional and physical capabilities. We ask ourselves the questions: Which leg feels tighter? What hand has more rotation? We must understand ourselves first before we can re-balance our bodies and dare I say our lives.

So I bought everyone rubber balls off the Chinese online shopping website and taught the practice to rehydrate the fascia in our hands and feet. Targeting the hands and feet helps to release tension in those specific areas but also brings more ease of movement into our lower backs, necks, and shoulders. People loved it, as did I.