Moving Into Harmony

MOVEMENT & BREATHING: HEALTH / PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS

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Got pain? Want to be at your best? Get back out on the trail with the right help.

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Recently a prolific content producer on backpacking had a series of incidents that led to, in my observation, a cascade of the body’s inability to adapt well and heal itself. A myriad of symptoms have presented themselves that in his video published as a health update, he stated he is receiving medical care, they are not related symptoms, and most concerning were his comments he makes about his age, his body’s capacities and what he must now do in the face of his struggles.

To me this is a bad case of the blues, false belief and despair.

To me this is a case of not getting the right guidance or help, in looking wholesomely at him instead of the symptoms he is suffering with. It’s a different way of getting back on the trail with sound guidance from those who understand the inter-related body and the body-mind complex that loves to hike and backpack!

I’d like to breakdown what I saw in the video and where you might find better answers and individual solutions to meet your need and desire, instead of falling trap to false beliefs and into despair.

First major whammy: Trauma, Survival, Rescue & Breakdown

The inability of the body to handle the demands, pressure and lack of attention often leads to the body saying NO WAY in some way. Recovery from a survival situation requires proper down-time, proper guidance and follow through with the right help. The right help is not managing symptoms. The right help goes beyond just getting over an body shutting down event.

Also facing the unexpected breakdown of one’s own body is a challenge physically, mentally and emotionally. It’s even more difficult when you work with a trainer, or coach, and trust the program to be “fit” for the adventure. Being “fit” for an adventure has specific measures and require an individualized program, just like having the right gear for the adventure. If a program focuses mainly on strengthening your legs, core and “cardio” you are in for a huge disadvantage. This is because being capable and confident in the wilderness requires other variables that typical trainer styled programs don’t address. These include functional mobility and movement standards, physiological parameters of how your body adapts to stressors (and yes exercise is a stressor), your recovery and resilience capacities, your daily routine and habits, and the condition you bring yourself to train and to the trail. Let’s break these down a little bit to know what to look for in a skilled trainer or coach (or in my experience, someone with some therapeutic and wilderness experience).

Functional mobility and movement is about how the entire body collaborates for your time on the trails. This includes more than the legs. For example, it is well known in functional movement assessments that the shoulders and neck can limit the mobility in the hips, knees and ankles. May I add, flexibility is not functional when one joint is measured for a range of motion. Also the challenges of carrying a pack, and your spinal health, are more about diaphragm function than your core muscles of the abdomen. Also the diaphragm plays a key role in force transfer and lower leg fluid motion. In addition, I would hope the person you hire to help you get further well, at a minimum assesses your body behavior with the loaded pack you will be carrying.

Physiological parameters that are important for your confidence and enjoyment on the trail include the traditional – heart rate and intensity ranges, and also measures many do not test for (and don’t understand how to interpret the assessment). These include measuring gas exchange potential – without drawing your blood, circulation dynamics (why most rely on hot and stinky compression socks is because of this factor many long distance backpackers and hikers suffer from), adaptations to environmental stressors – cold and altitude, recovery and resilience, nutritional states (oral and gut health), sleep respiratory function, and nasal breathing optimization.

Recovery and Resilience do not happen by chance. The body needs to be trained and supported for the day in, day out rigors of multi-day adventures on the trail. Understanding your body’s signaling language, importance of sleep states, morning felt-sense measures, and mental resilience are essential to your adventure.

Daily routines and habits are essential to know before you get on the trail. For example if you sleep in, or eat late, you can not expect your body and mind (and your physiology) to just switch to a different pattern. I hope you know eating late and sleeping in are dangerous for your overall health and well-being, and even more so on the trails. Other routines include a flexibility, or warm up, prime before the trail day begins, and sometimes a warm-down, work out the kinks, evening routine goes a long ways to being on those long trail adventures.

And lastly, your current state of health, fitness and other performance based capacities as you enter a training program are critical to the right program for you. Having an understanding of what you are working with with your body and mind will make for a successful training program and time on the trail. This includes disclosing history – injuries (if you have injured an ankle there is more of a chance you will injure it again unless it is addressed functionally, not just the symptoms go away), health status (this includes any known conditions that may impact your training and your time on the trail – heart, lung, circulation, digestion, immune, joints and other tissues, sleep, mental/emotional). And knowing who you want to be when you hit the trail is also incredibly important, as getting the right help can include if a stress or strain shows up once your on the trail, you know what you can do to keep you on the trail.

Being capable in the back-country wilderness in challenging environmental conditions that force the body to adapt for function is not about a “suffer-fest.” Thrive over Survive any time out there! Surviving something does not make for a special-ness, or some superhuman capacity. Survival is actually a weakened, sub-optimal state often leaving a person not accessible to many factors related to rest, recover, restore and regain capacities that make one ready and “fit” for their next adventure.

Article by Shawn M Flot, MPT – Masters in Physical Therapy (1994). He is an experienced Certified Oxygen Advantage® Instructor, and Functional Movement Systems specialist. Combined with his 35 years of experience in Exercise Physiology, Physical Therapist for health and performance, and a dedicated Hatha Yoga practitioner, is making for a power-house to help many people succeed in re-discovering their own health and healing, being fit and living well for their adventures.


Want full Confidence With your Capacities?

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It’s a given, backpacking and thru-hiking in the wilderness requires a level of being physically fit to feel capable of accomplishing your dream adventures on the trails.

Your adventures also require some mental fortitude. Not the attitude to just keep pushing beyond yourself; that’s violence to one self, and you and your hiking partners will pay for that level of drive and incompetence.

Train smart, hike smart and be the best you can out there!

So let’s get to the missing link in being well equipped for your adventure.

The less understood, and often missing part of a training program, is breathing and how it’s physiological dynamics sustain your physical fitness day in, day out on a multi-day trail adventure.

Yes, breathing.

Breathing over lightweight packs, minimizing base weight, food, footwear, poles and planned itineraries.

If your breathing is not there to support your demands effectively, your body will have to adapt to the lack of support and eventually breakdown – injury or illness could end your trip prematurely.

And as I’ve seen, many people are overlooking the main aspect of breathing. It’s called over-breathing, or hyperventilation. And what you don’t know about hyperventilation will likely create a terrible experience, or at the minimum you’ll be suffering more than you need to.

So let’s talk about why your breathing pattern affects your experience on the trails and what will follow is a series of articles to help guide you in the direction of right breathing and right effort for building capacities and building confidence to go higher, and go further on your adventures.

It is vital to get the most effective access to what the breath can do for you by training smart with the breath.

Hiking smart with the breath entails training intelligently and competently with the breath:

  • Noticing the inefficient breathing habits that affect your everyday living by learning foundational breathing patterns, often new to most in daily living and during exercise.
  • Developing a felt sense of how breathing helps you be better in your day – greater flexibility, general ease of posture, increased ability to handle the demands of you day and less stressed, greater focus and concentration, enhanced clarity through the day, more productive, and greater endurance.
  • Unifying your foundational breathing patterns to yoru training or exercise programs. When you know how to breathe well depending on the demand – for example when you need to keep the mouth closed and when you need to open the mouth dependent on your perceived exertion from the intensity of the activity. Understanding and developing this capacity now will provide you the skillful means on the trails. And this gives you resilience and confidence on your adventure.
  • Promoting the physiological prowess it takes to travel to altitude, especially if you can’t train at altitude months in advance. You can train at sea level without big expensive technology. Training efficiently for altitude so the altitude doesn’t take you down….down the mountain. Understanding what the body does in it’s adaptations to the lower pressures at higher and higher altitudes (which makes it feel like you don’t have enough oxygen…and then what you do to compensate), and how to simulate this at low altitudes will help you gain the much required physiological capacities to help the most on your adventure.
  • Getting the most out of your legs by understanding the importance of the diaphragm. It’s a two way, intimately related phenomena between the legs and the breath, more than just what a good cardio routine will do. Also your spine and joint health are integrally linked to the function of the breath.
  • Gaining control on your breath’s rhythm, volume, force and mechanics as variables change on your adventure. Your mental and physical fortitude is intimately connected to your breath and it’s important you don’t go through your resources you need on your adventure.
  • Having a good bag of recovery breathing methods that help the body recover some of it’s vital resources for the next day, and the next, and the next.

The extreme value you place on incredible light-weight gear, the right supportive footwear, poles and clothing will only help you as far as your body will support you. By day 3, 4 or 5 is your body capable of continuing the demands to continue, so your mind is happy and satisfied with the experience you are having?

Or are you suffering and wondering about the days ahead? Are you feeling the beginnings of apprehension and concern/worry that your adventure of a life time is turning into a suffer-fest as your joints and spine feel beat up? These feelings are not normal for a multi-day adventure if your mind is questioning your experience.

Your physiology – primarily how you breathe (goes beyond the deep breath idea) determines your condition and your adaptability/resilience on your adventure.

50% of people suffering low back pain were found to have dysfunctional breathing patterns

(Chaitow 2004; Kiesel 2017)

And most people miss this opportunity because they don’t know how to effectively prime their physiology (besides eating good nutrient-dense food that is not heavy!) to be well suited for a long-distance trip.

Want to enjoy your adventure & life-time opportunity?

…….or just suffer through it and minimize the memories and opportunities available to you?

Want to be able to go off trail, off plan with confidence and explore that high peak that has your pulled to explore?

Feel assured you will make it over the high passes and descend with ease and confidence to enjoy that night’s camp?

Waking up the next day inspired for what your journey holds for you?

Being physically fit requires working with your physiological capacities to support the physicality and how you will perform on the trails. To travel in the mountains at altitudes unfamiliar to your mind and body requires adaptability that does not limit you in any way. ; and how your body responds to varied terrain and environments carrying a backpack is essential to a well-accomplished adventure. Do you agree?

Furthermore, your confidence to travel many days in the wilderness & back-country is dependent on how you feel physically and physiologically. Yes, good gear and itinerary are important planning. But without the internal well functioning body, your trip is not going to be worth the time and resources you put into it.

Prepare by training intelligently and you will find great success and accomplish your goals and maybe have the juice to do more while you are out there on your life-time adventure.

Enjoy your Adventure! Enjoy your Life!

Why not invest in how to gain access to your physiology, your capacity for your trip?

Training can not completely prevent illness or injury. Nothing can prevent un-expected challenges. Only the mind can adjust to the challenge that seems daunting.

Your mind affects your physiology. Your mind affects your breath. And the good news is your breathing patterns and function affect your mind.

Wouldn’t you like to know from a trained eye and source of knowledge with 30 years of exercise and physical-physiological capacity and performance?

Most training will focus on you doing miles and strengthening your body to handle the rigors of multi-day adventures; and a handful of them will highly suggest you spend time in the altitudes you plan to travel in.

Did you know that your breathing physiology will determine your capacities for all of these? Your endurance, your muscle power and core strength for spinal support – carrying a backpack on uneven terrain, up & down hills – and be the primary factor for how well you accommodate, recover daily and function at altitude?

I am not talking about preventing acute mountain sickness or other medical conditions.

I am talking about your capacity to be in the mountains with your greatest capacity through training.
I am talking about having the confidence you can access higher terrain with less strain on your body and mind.
I am talking about enjoying your time on your adventure.

And 75% of the people I talk to do not what happens or why they have difficulty with their fitness or body’s capacities when they are at altitude.
And 90% of them do not know there are ways to train the body’s capacities with breathing to be better prepared and confident to go on their adventure.

And you can let go of the false myth that “going to altitude to train will enhance your chances of surviving at altitude”
And you can let go of the false myth that “taking deep breaths will improve your breathing capacity”
And you can let go of the false myth that “having the lightest pack improves your chances at altitude”
And you can let go of the false myth that “taking a drug before you go is your only assurance”
And you can let go of the false myth that “feeling out-of-breath is because you need more oxygen”

These are just not true!

So, why not invest in something so simple as learning to breathe well in daily life and during exercise, and start now with effective means you can do during your regular daily routine to enhance your physiological capacities, develop skillful action and live and adventure well!

And the time you might spend driving to the mountains because you think you can only get altitude training in is by going to altitude…..well let’s give you a more effective way.

Yes, you can read and watch videos about altitude simulation exercises. But do you know if your patterns of breathing now are conducive to engaging in stressor exercises to create the adaptation for altitude performance? Most people I work with are not aware of their daily breathing patterns and how they affect their ability to exercise and their ability to recover optimally during sleep. And most people do not know the trigger that cause them to over breathe that limits their physiological functional capacity and ability to adapt to stressor exercises like hyperventilation and breath-hold exercises.

Wouldn’t you like to know from a trained eye and source of knowledge with 30 years of exercise and physical-physiological capacity and performance?

How to cultivate access to the Power in the Bones!

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How do you consistently remain alive during life’s demands? How do you adapt? Are the adaptations you currently incorporate helping you live in harmony? Being alive is being fluid in response. Being alive is being in balance from the foundational support that your bones give.  Establish balance from a sustainable resource, the bones, and discover your potential.

Learning new patterns to replace habits that limit freedom of well-being can be challenging. Habitual patterns of posture for sitting and standing which unknowingly limit the flow of your circulation of life force energy, Prana, are perhaps the toughest to change. Typically, when there are changes required, we don’t realize how the bones can be that foundational support.

Life is challenging, sometimes overwhelming, sometimes eliciting means to survive. The body and mind do the best they can in the attempt to meet the demands from you and your environment. The stress response of the body, if elicited during these demands can diminish any biological and physiological healthy rhythms leading to symptomatic signals of unease. It is a resonance in the nervous system that registers dis-ease from unsupported activity. Symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, cold hands and feet, decreased appetite and difficulty digesting food all relate to an overwhelmed system.

A standing posture can be helpful in cultivating the supportive essential qualities for a path toward balance. Stances can also simultaneously aide in cutting and removing habitual “holding” patterns limiting your current state of being. Patterns developed from adaptations you needed and that may have been necessary during a certain time of your life. How you dealt with a demanding or stressful experience – survived, managed, or thrived. With a relaxed focus on the dynamisms of a stance, you begin the process of feeling the body’s innate wisdom for balance – harmony.

The Bones

The bones are that balance point. Balance point where there is no binding stress on the system. Rather an acceptable demand that facilitates circulation and change. How you move from balance, through balance, to balance is one of the key elements of how the bones support optimal function. Bones represent quality of concentration, physically as the most solid and physiologically as the most vascular.

The bones are most associated with the earth element because of the mineralization and density. The bones are “well-baked,” holding the qualities of the fire, AND are the most metabolic tissue. They are built to support you! When the practice utilizes the bones for support, it:

  • Reduces the muscular effort for support,
  • Decreases stress responses to daily demands,
  • Creates the quality of Dharana, which is essential for Dhyana (meditation),
  • Generates a gentle internal heat for metabolism, and
  • Improves circulation for all of the body’s functions.

Stability from the bone brings lightness and relaxation. Optimal load bearing and “alignment” brings optimal fluid dynamics to all tissues. By being in a stationary position such as goat or horse stance, your entire body’s ability to facilitate and integrate change is supported by the work-horses of your legs – the bones.

Practicing in the Bones

With a standing practice, the body must have the capacity to remain in a stationary position and maintain circulation, without binding or holding. This is part of the body’s natural ability to support you, just as a horse knows how to sleep standing up. One of the keys is the feeling of lightness, fluidity and ease during and after the stance. This is a measure of how long one is sustainable in stationary work.

A standing practice can help you realize what supports you. The practice can also provide a glimpse into the understanding of non-violence, because the demand on the structure asks us to release our old ways, and surrender to something stronger and more powerful than our means to survive. You may be amazed at how much energy you have been using to hold yourself up. What is the sustainable enduring essence within you?

Solution – Develop balanced foundations with the 4POINTS and Yin Horse





Here is some guidance for the Yin Horse:

  • Stand with shoulders over outer edge of ankle joints, and then move your heels out so the toes are in more than the heels.
  • Feel the 4POINTS on your feet (see animation above), to establish balance in your foundation; as you notice the settling onto the four points, if one or more points are not as engaged with the earth, try not to mechanically roll the feet or ankles to adjust, rather soften the feet and extend your awareness to the edges of your feet – nail bed or first toe, space between the 4th and 5th mound, backs of heels leading back and down into the earth. Keep allowing the feet to soften and feel more fluid like.
  • With the hands soft, place them on your low belly below the navel in a way that the elbows and shoulders are relaxed and there is no tension in the chest or neck.
  • Entering the stance, lower yourself down 1-2 inches onto the balanced 4POINTS from your ankles, with the top front of your shins weighting the heels, and avoid pushing yourself down into the stance which will produce increase weight onto the balls of the feet and lightness in the heels. Feel the difference if you are not understanding – push yourself down, and notice your ankle, knee, hip joints and the spine. Do they feel compressed? Try lowering yourself from the feet and notice the difference. Optimal outcomes will be realized over time as you develop vertical support through the bones and spaciousness in the joints.
  • Depth of stance remains at 1-2 inches, no deeper. As you begin to allow the body to be supported by the bones, especially the shin bone, you will want to go deeper. Can you stay at 1-2 inch depth and allow the internal release that feels like you are going deeper, when in fact it is the release of what you habitually hold up that is releasing down.
  • Avoid stress by overdoing, pushing down into the legs, holding in the knees, hips, buttocks, and/or spine. These holdings are very common when the cultivation and development in the bones to support you is young.  “Young?” you say, “I am 45 yrs old.” Rather than age, I am referring to a development of circulation and neuromuscular (or neuromotor) patterns of support that is usually associated with muscles, rather than the bones supporting you. Holding in the muscles or resting on the joints, which is a more common habit, can be your default and, therefore, “stronger” than this new way of being in your legs.
  • Be patient, accept your capacity and persevere with trust your body can do this. Your development is dependent on practicing with awareness, and then integrating that awareness through your day by feeling the support of your legs.
  • Recommend doing this in the morning, mid-day and in the evening before bed 2-3 minutes at a time. Build to  -> 5 minutes, -> 8 minutes, -> 10 minutes, -> 15 minutes over a 6-9 month period. Give it time and have no expectation of it coming sooner. Once developed, your body will hold a wonderful support level that will serve you for a long time.
  • The above guidance in the video is a great resource. Be patient with feeling the more subtle aspects of the stance that are mentioned about the pelvis, the breath and the spine. Be comfortable being in the stance first noticing support and then releasing onto the bones; then your awareness will have more capacity to observe the other things that happen. It took me 3-4 years to feel the things I am sharing.
  • Keep practicing with this or other stances to further your development, depending on your desires and your needs.
  • Join me for a class!
  • Schedule a session!

This can be transformative by transcending some of the barriers to your healing potential!