about me
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Hello! My name is Natalie Forrest.
There are two sides to yoga that I really love:
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One side is that love working with the physical aches, pains, and tension, and getting people back to moving well.
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The other side is the psychology side of yoga. I adore helping people improve their connection with nature and inner space and peace. You'll see both of those things reflected in my work and on this website
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To me, yoga isn’t something that is taught. I truly dislike the word teacher. And I often wonder, just how much of what is done in a class is actually yoga. I think of classes more of a way to work on techniques and gain insight to take home and incorporate into a personal experience…where the realization of yoga arises.
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Yoga is an intimate practice of unfolding awareness, one that can’t be lead by someone else and only experienced by the individual.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ME
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I’m active too…and Therapeutic Movement helps me keep doing what I love. I play hockey (not well, but that’s not the point), hike, bike, walk, garden, bellydance, and more. I also work as a gardener, website designer, and more...
Which means that’s a lot of movement and if I’m not moving well, it hurts. I’ve had soccer, climbing, hockey, dance, and – gasp – even yoga asana injuries.
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Yes, one can get an injury from repetitive motion movements in yoga postures, too.
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These injuries are insidious, not always apparent in the moment, but feel more like an achiness the day after in joints (knees, SI, shoulders, neck, back, ankles). It’s true, your stretching may be taking the integrity out of balance in your body.
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I used to (as in NO MORE) have a really achy SI Joint and hips for over 10 years – not so much anymore (unless I do something stupid). Turns out what I needed was to learn to move better.
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I’ve been teaching Yoga in the Valley since 2000, right here in Invermere. I’ve taught at retreats in Lake Louise, had regular classes for years, teach Nature Connect Yoga online, and have moved in the past two years into doing mainly privates.
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Why, you might ask? Because that’s where I see the real changes that actually make a difference – there’s a deeper understanding of what works for your body in a private session. Yoga was originally – thousands of years ago – taught in private one-on-one scenarios.
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The reality is that two people in a class may have what seems to be the same aches and pains but their bodies will have a different reason or way that they need to move to untangle those tension places. In Therapeutic Movement, we work to unravel or unkink in the most organic way possible aka: MORE EASE.
I have a variety of training and experience. Here’s my CV – current as of December 2018 – ,if you really want to know more.
about you
Yes, this is an about YOU section!
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Not everyone is a fit, all the time, or forever.
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So here’s where you need to be:
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You see movement as more than just a physical thing. Perhaps you’re well experienced in how breathing, thoughts and emotions play into your well being or you want to learn more.
Either way – if you have the understanding that you’re more than a meat suit, we’ll most likely be a good fit. Whether it’s asana, dance, hockey, martial arts – movement matters. All of those movements have benefits – BUT if you’re in pain or tension, then maybe it’s time to try some different mindfulness.
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You’ve got a good sense of humour. If you can’t laugh at yourself, or life – then you’ll most likely be offended by me. At certain points in life and it’s oddities, all we can do is shake our heads and laugh and do our best.
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You have time and initiative to do the work. It’s not going to work if you don’t engage. I don’t have any magic wands to put you back together with. You have to do the work yourself, but you don’t have to do it alone. If you honestly want someone to fix you, then save us both the time, you won’t be happy with this work. HOWEVER, if you experience anxiety and that’s something you are working with – then let’s connect before you are put off by this. I work differently with anxiety.
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You’re ready for a change, and to try something different. In order for something to change, you have to change something!
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You’re not into rainbows and unicorns – or rather, you’re willing to see the storm clouds and hard stuff, too. Sometimes trying to skip over the storm is what causes the imbalances. Life isn’t about easy or fair, all the time. If it needs to be seen, it will become apparent, and I will bring it up. So if you want techniques on how to move with and through whatever life expresses, then we’ll be a great fit.
If you’ve read that are thinking – totally, that’s me! – then let’s work together.
If you’ve read that and are unsure, contact me, and I’ll be happy to clarify and help discern whether we’ll be a fit.
If you’ve read that and are offended, then maybe we aren’t a fit right now. And I wish you well in finding what your next piece is.
about yoga & therapeutic movement
Sooo…you’re experiencing some pain, tension or lack of movement – and it’s stopping you from doing what you love or want to do.
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Maybe it’s walking the golf course, or even just walking. Perhaps it’s being able to bend over to pick something up or play with your kids or grandkids. Maybe it’s to feel overall stronger or sit comfortably at your desk. Maybe it’s taking your hockey game to the next level (or biking, or hiking, or asana, or, or, or….. I’m not a sports snob).
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Whatever your reason is is great! The reality is is there’s pain or tension or something that is just not easeful about moving.
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Here’s how I view pain: it’s there to tell us something. Pain and tension are the result of something…a natural, intelligent, organic response to something.
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…we just have to figure out what that something is. Your something is not the same as someone else’s something.
We get to piece that together specifically for you. Because we each have our own ways that our pain language.
We can get mad and frustrated with it (and believe me I’ve been there) or we can choose to tap in and dig a little deeper to see what it’s really showing you. That wisdom can be highlighting something that is not moving well, sitting for too long, an old story your mom told you about rolling our shoulders back or sucking in the gut, getting so excited about something that you bend forward at your desk to see the screen better (or you need glasses, or it’s a habit).
Like a string of lights thrown into a container, pulled out once a year and get all tangled up. The pain patterns and tension habits get kinked in their own specific way, no two strings can be untangled in the same way. But there are some consistencies to unravelling – seeing where the knots are, creating space to help get the lights back in alignment and working properly and turning the light on so we can what bulbs are working.
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That’s as far as I’m taking that metaphor – don’t hang onto that too tightly. It’s get confusing quickly because we are not strings of lights!
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THERAPEUTIC MOVEMENT
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Forget what you see in magazines – there will be no headstands or legs wrapping around your head, or other stylized fancy pants yoga poses (unless you truly want to work towards that, in which case, let’s do it!). Rest assured though, No flexibility is required for therapeutic movement.
We use breath, stillness, and movement to create ease, stability and function, so that you have less pain and have a higher quality of life. This work gets down to your core to build more natural resilience in your body, we do small steps that offer big results…but IT TAKES TIME.
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Progress in Therapeutic Movement is not the same as what many of us are used to. It takes awhile to understand how it works – but don’t worry, it still works even if you can’t explain it yet. That’s why I suggest five sessions for your first time with therapeutic movement.
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Your body is a web of relationships, often where your pain is is not where the problem is.
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Here’s a case study from one of my clients (name has been changed for privacy):
Sharon came to me wanting to be able to walk long distances without pain in her shoulder. She had had several injuries from a major accident.
Her pain was making her stop walking as much as she would like. Walking was one of the things she loved the most, it brought her peace and helped release the stress of the day.
When we went to work on her shoulder, it was obvious that there was going to be no movement from all the tension there, so the first thing Sharon learned to do, was to breathe differently. As we worked on quieting her ribs and getting more movement back in her hips, her shoulders began to relax enough to allow for movement again.
It took 7 sessions and a series of small baby steps but Sharon is now able to walk 3 hours without pain in her shoulder. We’re now working on getting Sharon to slow down so that she can see the yellow lights that lead to tension in her daily life, and how to breathe more fully.
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HOW TO KNOW IF THIS IS A FIT:
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The best way is read this list below and if you still aren’t sure, call me and we’ll talk.
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Who this is for:
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people who are serious about decreasing their pain – serious enough to do the programs at home,
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people who are not looking for a quick fix. We do small moves, they have big results, but they take time. Most people see a foundational shift and decrease in pain within one or two sessions, although I highly recommend at least five sessions so that you can understand how this works,
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people who have a sense of humour/positive outlook, life happens – let’s make the most of it,
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people who are active in their healing process.
about EcoYogaTherapy
(Re)uniting Inner Nature and Nature.
EcoYogaTherapy arose organically when the parallels between Yoga and Applied EcoPsychology became apparent to me. I was helping yoga practitioners understand and language their eco-psychology, and in doing so, we found that their practices deepened and rooted in a way that was delightfully unexpected.
What arose was a deeper sense of connection, peace, and what dissolved was a desire to overcome the body but rather to listen to the communications and whispers. I believe the word used most often was a sense of relief and of coming HOME.
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To register for an e-course, learn more about EcoYogaTherapy or even to learn more about what the heck Applied EcoPsychology is please visit my other site: www.ecoyogatherapy.com