WELLNESS SPOTLIGHT: Liz Reynolds
/“These are extraordinary, unprecedented times that we're in right now – and so wellness can look very different. And it’s important to give ourselves permission for that.”
We took a moment this past week to sit down with our dear friend & colleague, Liz Reynolds (a Charlottesville based Wellness and Movement Coach) to hear her thoughts on wellness in a time of crisis. We wish to thank Liz, Susan Mackinnon, Emily Keenan, Ann Dunn & so many others who generously contributed their expertise and insights to the resources provided here & throughout our online newsletter & website this month.
Studio IX:
Good morning, Liz. Thanks so much for taking the time.
Liz:
Of course.
Studio IX:
Business aside, it’s great to see you, even at the far end of this rather long table. Such a treat.
Liz:
Agreed.
Studio IX:
Because this is not a typical spotlight & the questions are a bit more in depth, I’ve given you a printout to refer to if need. As we’re talking, if anything comes to mind, anything at all, just pipe right up.
Liz Reynolds:
Will do. You want me to start up here at the top?
Studio IX:
Yep.
Liz:
Great.
Liz Reynolds:
So, I'm Liz Reynolds and right now I call myself a movement teacher and a wellness coach, specifically through the lens of Ayurveda. But I don't like to use the word Ayurveda too much because I think that that puts me in too small of a box. I'm interested in overall wellness, and I use a lot of practices from Ayurveda to guide my clients.
Studio IX:
Can you tell us a bit about Ayurveda?
Liz Reynolds:
Ayurveda is as old as yoga. You could consider it sort of like the sister practice to yoga. So, it was developed in India thousands of years ago. And it focuses on lifestyle and health according to each persons unique mind/body type, called a Dosha. Its a holistic practice; body, mind, spirit health. An Eastern style of medicine and it mostly works on prevention, but there are Ayurvedic doctors, so you could go to see an Ayurvedic doctor for a more holistic approach to healing and dealing with chronic disease.
The biggest thing that's changed for me with this whole coronavirus thing is not being able to teach public classes and meet clients face to face. A big part of what I do is I teach about six hours of group classes a week and then I have probably just as many private sessions, sometimes more. And what I do through movement and obviously through our Ayurvedic counseling or coaching requires being in front of people and helping them move through their bodies and help heal imbalances. And obviously that's not happening now with all the restrictions.
So, I've had to move a lot of my clients online. I had already developed an online membership as sort of a part-time business. I started that back in October, it's called Vari-Move. Since I've been stuck at home and haven't been able to teach group or private clients in person, I've been focusing more on that business, which has been really great for the business because obviously people are looking online for ways to keep moving. Fortunately I had that platform already set up and a big library of prerecorded classes ready for people to take.
Most of the classes are between 20 and 40 minutes. So, it has the busy person in mind. There were plenty of people before this pandemic that didn't have time to move their bodies every day. And so, this was kind of an outlet for that. And now that we're all stuck at home, I feel like Vari-Move is even more valuable.
Studio IX:
So what do your days look like right now? How are you adjusting?
Liz:
Personally, my life at present is focused on sticking to a routine because like I said, I know my tendencies to sort of get lost in procrastination. To sit at home and get stuck watching the news or watching a TV show. What do you call that when you just...
Studio IX:
Binge?
Liz Reynolds:
Yes, Binge watch. I could do that with all this free time. So, I'm really focusing on keeping a routine. I meditate in the morning, I do my Ayurveda routine, called Dinacharya. I scrape my tongue, I drink warm lemon water and I sit quietly, whether that's in meditation or not, I sit quietly by myself and focus on what’s present now, sounds, body sensations, breath, my field of vision. it’s so healing for my nervous system. I make sure I eat a really vitamin packed breakfast so my brain and body are fueled and then I start working on the business or do stuff around the house. Like, okay, what can I do to keep myself inspired today?
A big thing that's coming up for me right now is connection. Because my work relies so much on connecting to others face to face, I'm doing a lot of FaceTiming with folks. So lots of communication with people over the past two weeks for sure. A lot more than normal. And I think we all need that. In a way, we are more connected now than ever, because we are making the effort.
Studio IX:
It does feel that way.
In regards to wellness, I've noticed that I’m struggling a lot with not having the gym any longer. Not seeing my people, having the collective incentive, connection & community of it.
Liz Reynolds:
Most people that I know have a hard time motivating themselves to do movement practice on their own. Some people prefer it, but most people I know want the community aspect of working out with others. That's why they go to a yoga class. That's why they pay the money to go. Because there's a sense of family there, there's a community, and they want to practice with other people. People are meant to move together.
The best thing I know right now for that is lots of studios are offering virtual classes through Zoom & other platforms, rather than an on-demand prerecorded class, you can actually see the other participants and you can live chat. People are talking to each other before and after the class. And I've done a few of those. it's been the best substitution. It's the best we’ve got right now. So, I would definitely recommend that to people who are missing their gym experience.
Studio IX:
Can you talk a bit about Wellness? How it's evolved for you — your understanding and practice of it.
Liz Reynolds:
I think maybe the biggest difference for me is just the holistic approach to it. We are culturally bombarded with messages that wellness is about your physicality. How you feel in your body. But that’s such a narrow outlook, and frankly, I think a dangerous one. The body is not separate from the mind — and we are missing that piece.
If you stop and you hold out your hands and close your eyes and you just pay attention to your hands. If you just concentrate and focus on your hands, what do you feel?
I'm feeling tingling, I'm feeling different sensations. Now I feel it in my wrist and it's going down my arms. My mind is doing that. So, I think the biggest difference for me now with wellness is adding the emotional and mental components into my movements. Why am I working out- what’s my intention? Is it to get six pack abs and fit into those jeans, or can we look at exercise and movement in a bigger way?
There's a Sanskrit word called Svastha. And it means deeply seated in yourself. It's the Ayurveda word for ‘health’. I just love that.
Studio IX:
And it’s just so easy to not feel that way. To literally be out of the seat, running full speed each day.
Liz Reynolds:
Yes.
Studio IX:
Breathing like a rabbit. Eating whatever’s at hand.
Liz Reynolds:
And it speaks to the fact that Wellness looks different for everyone.
How I work with clients is first and foremost by saying to them “You don't have to be perfect”. It's okay. You don't have to be eating kale salads and exercising hard every day and meditating every day, and doing all of the things that we're told that we need to do to be healthy. Wellness could be, I feel more comfortable looking in the mirror. Wellness could be, I can poop every day!
Studio IX:
Go girl. (laughter)
Liz Reynolds:
Wellness could mean, I don't feel anxious anymore when this situation comes up.
Studio IX:
And that feels connected to that voice, to that self-critic which is in all of us.
Liz Reynolds:
Yes, absolutely.
Studio IX:
The benefit of taking away the guilt, taking away the shame, taking away anything that stands in the way of ease — of being “seated”, as you say.
Liz Reynolds:
Yes.
Studio IX:
If I'm in the middle of a workout and my body says “stop”, I stop. It’s become less about ‘hitting the mark’ or pushing through pain & much more about listening.
Liz Reynolds:
Right. I'm so glad you brought that up, because that has been the critical piece for me in terms of my view of wellness. You can be exercising, following a protocol, “I need to exercise every day to be healthy, to be well” and your body is telling you the opposite of that. Is that wellness? No, that's ignoring the signs that your body's giving you. That's ignoring your body's wisdom. I’ve realized that my body is much smarter than my mind.
I'm learning to listen. To trust that it knows what it needs. It's like this beautiful complex orchestra. Instead of trying to conduct it, one can listen to it.
The concept of wellness for me right now, during the pandemic is about granting myself permission to do things that I really feel I need. Permission to start ugly crying. That if you need to break down and sob, if you need to scream and yell into a pillow, if you need to eat a fricking gallon of ice cream, let yourself do it. Give yourself permission to feel the hugeness of this whole thing, without judgement.
Liz Reynolds:
These are extraordinary, unprecedented times that we're in right now – and so wellness can look very different. And it’s important to give ourselves permission for that.
Self compassion. The article you shared (Michael Maddaus | Skills for Optimal Performance ), again and again, it points to self-compassion. I think that's so key right now.
Studio IX:
Yeah, I love that line right at the beginning, about that voice in our heads. That restless, crazy maniac that's following you around the house all day.
Liz Reynolds:
YES. I love that too. I'm going to steal it. (laughter)
Here it is, Sam Harris, says, "The voice in your head is the most rambling, chaotic, needling, insulting, insufferable person you will ever meet. And it's like having some maniac walk through the front door of your house and follow you from room to room and refuse to stop talking." And that’s a huge reason why I've limited my news intake to 10 minutes a day.
The news is like having that maniac walk through the door of your house and follow you from room to room and refuse to stop talking.
And the relationship to that maniac can sometimes be one of codependency and even fusion. That’s when we get into trouble. When we sync our mind up with, are dependent upon the hamster wheel. When we get caught in that cycle.
And most of the time this cycle is “what's wrong”.
Studio IX:
Say more.
Liz Reynolds:
One of my teachers calls it the “what's wrong” attention. You get caught in everything that’s negative.
Studio IX:
You get a negative thought in your head and it just goes.
Liz Reynolds:
And at four in the morning, it can wake you up in a sweat.
Studio IX:
So what are some practical tools to break out of that?
Liz Reynolds:
Well, you’ve heard it before, but yoga is a great place to start. And I don’t necessarily mean the yoga poses. I wrote down earlier, the second yoga Sutra which is pretty much, what yoga is. It is says yoga citta vritti nirodha and it means that yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. The stilling of the mind. And there's lots of ways to get there. But really, the main tool I use is the practice of letting my mind, body and emotions feel this big crazy experience without getting caught in it. Becoming a witness to my experience instead of a slave to it.
Studio IX:
So it's the physical manifestation of meditation in a sense? That yoga is essentially a more holistic means of quieting the mind — and the body?
Liz Reynolds:
It is meditation, yes. The whole point of the asanas (physical postures) that we do is to help tone, strengthen and open the body, in preparation for meditation. So you can sit your ass down and be quiet and still. Open the spine, open your hips, open your shoulders, and then you'd sit. And that was the original intent of yoga. That's why every asana has the word asana at the end of it, which means “seat”. All the poses are seats for meditation.
Studio IX:
One of the things I notice that a lot of people are struggling with is the uncertainty & disruption of the work world. That those who are still working are doing so in a very different way. Hustling to adapt. Adjusting moment to moment. And for everyone, this is so pronounced.
Liz Reynolds:
Yeah.
Studio IX:
As a result it seems these practices are less of a luxury and more of a practical and critical foundation right now.
Liz Reynolds:
Yes, they are & I think that the notion of slowing down is so crucial as well. Both for our nervous systems, but it's also crucial for emotional processing. Feeling our feelings is one of the hardest things we can do as humans. And slowing down creates space for that. Because it's so scary and hard, people are resisting. They're resisting slowing down.
Studio IX:
I thought that was amazing. That piece in the sleep section of Maddaus’ article. That the very last stage of the REM cycle, around hour seven, is where we process our emotions. I had never heard that before.
Liz Reynolds:
When you sleep you digest your food, your gut resets. And yes, you also digest your undigested emotions. You digest the news, you digest anything that you've put in through the gateway of your five senses, everything. And as far as practical tools / best practices for sleep, doing anything stimulating, especially a screen, an iPhone, a TV, a computer, two hours before you go to bed, at least two hours, can be detrimental. So disruptive.
Studio IX:
That’s hard.
Liz Reynolds:
It can be really hard. Some people go to sleep watching TV, checking their feeds.
Studio IX:
Have to confess, I've actually dropped my phone on my face before.
Liz Reynolds:
Don't do that Greg!
Studio IX:
I know. Not good. (laughter)
Liz Reynolds:
If you're struggling with sleep, cut out the stimulus before you go to sleep.
Studio IX:
So let’s talk a bit about Social Distancing.
Liz Reynolds:
Oh, God. For me, that has been the hardest.
Studio IX:
I hear you.
Liz Reynolds:
I was thinking on the way over here: “What’s the first thing you're going to do when all this is over?” And I didn't even have to think - I'm going to hug everyone.
And right now I (we) can't. I can't be there to hug my dad. He's 72, it's not worth the risk. I can't hug my little brothers.
Studio IX:
Yeah. It’s been a bit unbearable, so counter-intuitive.
Liz Reynolds:
I mean, talk about feeling helpless and isolated. There are so many of us riding it out alone.
Studio IX:
Yes. And no one is really, ideally, positioned. Those who are sheltering with partners, or family. You’re all just trying to stay sane, get things done, ride it out together. “I love you” , “Go away”.
Liz Reynolds:
Right. I mean, you've got to think we're all each other's spiritual teachers right now.
You have to put yourself on a higher level. Reframe the situation. I'm not stuck with my family (my partner) but rather, I get to spend time with them & this may never happen again in my lifetime.
Studio IX:
And harder still, split homes & the kids that depend on school to be their only meals of the day. A reprieve from neglectful or abusive homes, etc.. There are just so many challenges with it.
Liz Reynolds:
So many.
Studio IX:
So let’s talk about diet & eating habits.
Liz Reynolds:
I think for me that goes back to that notion of self-compassion. Taking it easy on ourselves. Who cares if what you’re eating doesn’t perfectly line up with what you typically know to be ‘healthy’. Just eat! & enjoy it. Now is not the time to stress over eating a perfect diet, whatever the hell that is anyway.
Studio IX:
That dovetails nicely into what we were talking about earlier. The importance of letting expectations soften, letting things be messy. No judgment.
Liz Reynolds:
Yes.
Studio IX:
And I suppose that holds on the emotional front as well. We are going to need to flip out, to vent, cry, get angry — have some release.
Liz Reynolds:
Yeah, I talked to a friend this morning and she was just like, “I've been waking up with nightmares every morning. I don't know what's wrong with me.”
Sounds perfectly normal to me. Let yourself digest that shit sister!
Studio IX:
Yes.
Liz Reynolds:
Someone said to me the other day, I feel like I haven't felt this sense of heaviness since 9/11. And I was like, this is so much heavier.
Studio IX:
It does feel heavier & I’m not sure that we can go through the world in a guarded way right now and feel that connection that we’re needing, that release. It’s just not possible. It seems to be dissolving those walls, whether we like it or not.
Liz Reynolds:
Yes. We need to bare witness to each other’s stories. The article talks about that as well. If people don't have anyone to tell their story to, they lose their minds.
Studio IX:
A great many of us are struggling with loss right now as well. From something as simple as our everyday routine all the way up to our financial security & god forbid, the potential loss of loved ones. Could you speak to that a bit?
Liz Reynolds:
Yeah. Loss is a part of all of this. We are experiencing a collective loss. I'm probably going to lose my stepmom from cancer in a matter of days, maybe even hours. I can't give her a hug. I can't really be with that side of my family right now.
Liz Reynolds:
And wellness looks very different when you experience loss in that way.
Studio IX:
I’m so sorry to hear it, Liz. Please continue.
Liz Reynolds:
We have to adapt to what's happening right now. What’s right in front of us.
Studio IX:
I feel that. Prior to COVID there was, for me anyway, this everyday, ‘regular world’ way of distancing myself from these things. That I could think about it conceptually without confronting the reality of it. Looking to books, Buddhist philosophy, reflections on impermanence, etc. Then there’s the emotional reality of when it comes to meet you. When you have to surrender to something that is completely out of your control, which can be in some cases, unbearable. Overwhelming.
Liz Reynolds:
Yes.
And as the person experiencing that, we really just need to be listened to. Zach Bush talks about that in the podcast I shared with you. (Food Independence & Planetary Evolution | Rich Roll Podcast Ep.414)
Studio IX:
It was great.
Liz Reynolds:
He talks about all these people who were on their deathbeds and who he brings back to life, the common thing that they all say is "I finally felt accepted for exactly who I am." In that space, that in-between space from living and dying, that was what they all had in common is that they finally felt like they belonged.
So what does that tell us? It tells us: fuck all this petty bullshit. Who cares who you voted for? Who cares, where your kid goes to school? Whatever. Thank you, coronavirus, for reminding us that this shit doesn't matter. You know what I mean?
Studio IX:
I do. Very much so.
Let me read something that was sent to me the other day. “This virus is a leveler. It's bringing our world to its knees. It is a unifier and does not discriminate. It cares not for social status, skin color, political affiliation, religious identification, or geographic region. We are, all of us, ideal hosts.”
Liz Reynolds:
Yes. Yes.
Studio IX:
And because of that fact, we all need to step up for one another. Now, more than ever.
Liz Reynolds:
Yep, absolutely, and that could mean whatever. It means different things to different people. Some people are going to just reach out to their friends and their family more, and some people are going to take school lunches to kids who are hungry and some people are going to lead fundraisers. It doesn't matter what you do. There's a ripple effect to every single one of those things. It doesn't matter how small.
Studio IX:
So that empathy piece is critical?
Liz Reynolds:
Yes. We all have to get a little bit more enlightened.
If I were to give one piece of advice, in the tool box of practices that I have, I would say one of the best things people can do right now is have a gratitude practice.
Studio IX:
What does that look like?
Liz Reynolds:
You can say it out loud first thing in the morning. Really, first thing in the morning is so great because it sets the tone for your whole day. The yogis would say that the space right around when the sun comes up, before you get out of bed to put your feet on the floor, ask yourself what are you grateful for? It doesn't matter what it is. You can say it out loud. You can say it to God. You can write it down in a journal.
That’s the catalyst for your day. You take a seat of gratitude before you even begin your day, and then you're starting off in the space of your heart. Your gratitude comes from your heart. If this were different, if we were in a different time in history right now, I might suggest a different practice, but the gratitude practice right now is just so key.
Studio IX:
It brings that quote by Brene Brown to mind “What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude.”
Liz Reynolds:
It reframes it, yeah.
If I may just offer, from the Ayurvedic lens, when things feel complex, in Ayurveda, they would say the more complicated the symptoms, and you think about all the symptomology of what's going on right now, of mad chaos and uncertainty and anxiety ,whatever is coming up, the more complex the symptoms, the more simple the healing protocol.
So, I think what that looks like is everything we've talked about. Self compassion, connection to others, gratitude. But also consider things like get enough sleep, limit the stimulus that you take in every day, especially the "What's wrong" attention, eat a diet that's simple. Simple. Try eating the diet that your grandma cooked you to soothe you. Eat the chicken noodle soup. Eat the casserole, whatever. Whatever you ate growing up as a child, eat that, even if it's Spaghetti-Os. Give yourself a break and nourish your soul.
Across the board, with your diet, with your relationships, with your children, with your parenting skills, with your job, you're just not going to be able to sustain perfection. You won't be able to ‘execute’ every day. Your kid will make you insane. Your partner will get on your nerves. Ride it.
Liz Reynolds:
And make sure you get in nature.
Studio IX:
Yes.
Liz Reynolds:
Yeah. That's part of the simple healing protocols: sleep, simple diet, move your body every day. It doesn't have to be a high intensity interval training or running a marathon. Just walk. The most gentle nourishing movement you can do is walking, and you can open up your senses, especially if you're outside.
Studio IX:
Somebody recently shared the acronym STEM: Sleep, Talk, Eat, Movement.
Studio IX:
Any closing thoughts?
Liz Reynolds:
Just be kind to yourself.
Studio IX:
Thanks so much, Liz.
Liz Reynolds:
You're welcome, my pleasure.