Mornings begin with movement
Every morning starts the same way, before therapy and before anything is asked of you. Tai chi, walking, hiking, slow movement. Seven days a week, led by people trained in it.
What a morning can include
Breathwork and meditation run alongside the movement. It is gentle, and it asks only that you be in your body for a while.
- Tai chi
- Slow, flowing movements and postures, done with controlled breathing and a quiet, meditative focus. It began as a martial art in China and is practiced today mostly for health.
- Walking and hiking
- Out from the house and into the pines, with staff alongside.
- Slow movement
- Gentle stretching and mobility, for waking the body up rather than working it hard.
- Breathwork
- Slow, deliberate breathing. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health groups it with relaxation techniques, which aim to bring on the body’s own relaxation response.
- Meditation
- Practices that rest attention on a sensation, a word, or the present moment. They are generally considered low-risk, though a small share of people find them unsettling; if that is you, say so.
Why movement comes first
Somatic and movement practice is a way of paying attention to how stress and emotion show up in the body, not only in your thoughts. It is the same ground individual therapy works on here, approached from the other direction.
Putting it first in the day says something about what the day is built on. You begin with something gentle, at your own pace, before the harder work starts.
No experience needed
You do not need to be fit, flexible or familiar with any of it. Nobody is being assessed, and the practices are led by people trained in them.
At around 5,400 feet the air is thinner than at the coast, so the first few mornings may leave you a little more out of breath than you expect. That is normal.
If you have an injury, a health condition or anything that limits how you move, tell staff before the first morning, so you can talk through what that means for you.
Something you can take home
Tai chi is gentle enough that research has found its side effects similar to other light activity, and generally minor, such as some muscle soreness.
Slow, deep breathing, sometimes called diaphragmatic breathing, is the most portable part of the morning: it needs no equipment and no space. NCCIH notes that it may modestly lower blood pressure and levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. It is something to keep doing on the ordinary mornings after you leave.
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