This is a first person account of what it’s like to attend our Moving with Chronic Pain class.
I registered for the Moving with Chronic Pain class, hosted by Embodied Physiotherapy and Pilates in Vancouver BC and facilitated by Catherine Murray, with a friend in early November 2024. I’d had a long week following a move and could just feel the symptoms of an endometriosis flare up creeping in. Going into the session, I was a little nervous, but was eager to try out the new class. I was curious to see how this class stacked up against other Chronic pain clinic offerings.
It was a cozy group of attendees, and Catherine let us into the studio a few minutes before the session was set to start. She set out various equipment we were able to use throughout the session, and asked us to find a spot to roll out our yoga mats.
Catherine took time before the start of the session to make a land acknowledgment, during which she specified the unceded territories upon which she was conducting the class. She then introduced us to the structure of the class, and how we were in no way expected to do all the exercises offered. Instead, she emphasized the value of moving at our own pace and trusting our bodies to guide us through the movements. This eased my mind immensely because I had been nervous about my ability to keep up with the class with my preexisting pain.
Before introducing us to the exercises, Catherine gave us the time to lay on our yoga mats and tune in to how our bodies were feeling in the moment. After some time, she gently introduced us to the movements we would be focusing on throughout the session. I loved that she gave us time to become accustomed to a new movement before leading us into the full exercise. It allowed me to take a moment to better understand how my body felt with the new exercise and tweak the movement to suit my own needs before committing. Even more, Catherine would provide us with frequent reassurance and gentle feedback.
As we worked through each movement, Catherine taught us about the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) and how our bodies move in space both consciously and unconsciously. Receiving such information as I was moving through the exercises worked wonderfully as it allowed me to better understand the mechanics of my body, and helped to connect the dots between what she was teaching us and what I was noticing how my body was responding to the movements.
Catherine expertly juggled the explanations with guidance and descriptions of upcoming changes in movements and transitions between each exercise. She would even take the time to address items that I was personally nervous about, such as transitioning from one movement to another naturally even if it meant looking away from her. This was especially reassuring to me because I had become nervous about turning away from her between movements. Her continuous verbal cues and reassurances were a wonderful touch to bring me to ease and allowed me to simply focus on the movements and how my body was feeling throughout the session.
With the equipment she had set out at the beginning of the session, Catherine would make recommendations on how to work with them throughout the session and would encourage us to utilize the appropriate props. However, as we got further into the class, she advised us to incorporate the props however we saw fit which made me quite excited to tweak the exercises to meet my body’s unique needs. It was extremely helpful to have initially been provided specific techniques to use the props and then given the freedom to incorporate them into our exercises in accordance with our preferences as we became more comfortable with the movements. This allowed me to learn new techniques to use items such as resistance bands, exercise blocks, bolsters, and exercise balls. I found myself favouring the exercise block and ball during the session. I especially loved the incorporation of these times because it provided me with ideas to use similar exercises at home for movements that had proven to be tricky otherwise.
Catherine went above and beyond with making the space feel calming and welcoming. She dimmed the studio lights and allowed the lamps that sat on the sill of each window to provide warm lighting. The whole experience left me feeling safe, calm and at ease. Especially following the hustle and bustle I was still experiencing at home in the midst of my move.
I was shocked when she notified us of the end of the session because I was enjoying the class so much that I didn’t even realize a full hour had lapsed. I left the session feeling relief and relaxed, already eager to attend the next session.