(Image description: a large tree on green grass with white writing saying, “Stability for Hypermobility”)
Thursdays 5pm PST via Zoom
Access Info:
- Can provide Closed Captioning with 72 hour prior request
- Please also message me at least 72 hours in advance
- If you have other access needs that you do not feel I could support day of
Join Jess of Access-Centered Movement® in a workshop designed for those of us with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and hypermobility spectrum disorder (HSD). If you are not sure if you are hypermobile, these are some signs:
- joints that pop frequently
- natural flexibility (although many times muscles tighten to protect joints and become stiff, joints can also become stiff because of injury)
- sensitive nervous system
- insomnia
- gastrointestinal distress
- inexplicable neuromuscular issues
- bruising
- proprioceptive difficulty (challenges in perception or awareness of the position and movement of the body)
While this is designed for people with hyper mobility, many people can benefit from deep core stabilizing and anyone is invited to join this class.
We will offer integrative and functional Pilates-based exercises, adjusted for your needs, to help maintain joint stability and reduce pain. We will teach therapeutic techniques for developing muscle and reducing scar tissue, activating deep core stabilizers, retraining neuromuscular patterning, proprioception awareness, relearning breathing techniques, and strategies for regulating our nervous systems. We will invite you into regular therapeutic movement within your capacity, in hopes that you may slowly learn the tools you need to maintain as much stability as possible for your body and mind.
Things that we suggest you have access to (we will give different options hoping that this is accessible for as many people as possible):
- Please access place where you can lie down as comfortably as possible. The best option is a mat on a firmer surface like the floor (it might feel supportive to layer the mat with blankets or towels to create more cushioning). If it is not possible for you to access a mat or to get on the floor, lying on a couch or bed is an option if it’s not so soft that your spine rounds when you lie on your back. If you are not able to lie down please let us know.
- A chair that you do not sink into (please let us know if you cannot sit)
- Something to support your neck like a rolled-up towel, scarf, or pillow intended for lying on your back.
- Resistance or therapy band.
- One pound weights or canned food.
- Something to place in between your thighs like a Pilates ball, pillow, or towel.
- Something for self-myofascial release like a foam roller, stick roller, or Theracane.
We will be using the “Access-Centered Framework”, which is trauma-informed, intersectional (we work to dismantle oppression and hierarchies at all times), consent-based, and will never expect you to “adapt” to the exercises we offer—we will change the exercise to meet your needs. While we will be offering suggestions to keep your practice as safe as possible, everything we offer is invitational as we believe that you know your bodymind best. We will offer you space to advocate for your needs, and we encourage you and invite you to take up that space.
This ongoing class series will be sliding scale with scholarship options. We humbly ask that you offer as much as you can sustainably, knowing that Jess is a very low-income disabled teacher and that this is her life’s work.
Due to the class-size being small and the one on one support I am offering I have increased the sliding scale. Sliding scale $20-$40+. (NOTAFLOF) We highly encourage people who have financial access to pay as much as they can (perhaps more than $30) to help fund folks who do not have access.
The only way that this model works successfully is when people give what they authentically can, remembering that we are all conditioned in a model of scarcity and that it is often uncomfortable to give in this framework. For people who cannot afford the sliding scale: we will are offering scholarships to low income folks. Priority for BIPOC.
Please contact Jess via email (accesscenteredmovement@gmail.com) to request a scholarship briefly explaining your situation.
You MUST register:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc50pP7G3_o9mT_QCN2rpDprzp3FZzvA4sOhriYdHfBpivoYQ/viewform
Please submit your pre-payments to jess.schles@gmail.com via paypal or @Jess-Dene via Venmo. FB message us or email us at the email below if you need to pay another way. No refunds except for health/disability related reasons. Please email us if you have any issues, regarding access needs, or scholarships – accesscenteredmovement@gmail.com
