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As Amanda elaborates, “When you know what a movement is doing inside your body anatomically and physiologically, your sense of movement and sense of your body as a whole grows. In turn, your understanding of proprioception becomes greater. And on a much more basic level, how our body relates to the space we’re in.”
Understanding and being in your body – what does that mean? Being in your body means more than just on a physical level, but also on an emotional and spiritual level. And, as Amanda contends, “Those three things combined gives us such an understanding in our daily lives of what we need physically, what we need spiritually. So, proprioception can be this amazing catapult toward really feeling like you’re in your home, which is your body, which is your self.”
Movement is medicine. In 15 years as a fitness instructor, Amanda Jane Avis ’96, former dance major and member of the Bruin Dance Team, now running her own integrated fitness studio, Santa Monica-based Mala Motion, has turned this simple three-word declaration into her mantra. And by movement, she doesn’t necessarily mean running a marathon or lifting your weight in iron. By movement, Avis is referring to simple stretching exercises.
Finding balance is the biggest challenge in this pose, which means despite your level, Tree Pose (Vrksasana) may be a tough one. But the benefits include strengthening the abdominal wall, increasing proprioception (knowing where your body is in space) and improving balance. You may practice Tree Pose in front of a chair or near a wall if you are a beginner.
The Chair Pose, or Utkatasana, will challenge your legs, gluteals, abdominals, back muscles and sense of balance.
No matter what your age or fitness level, “movement is medicine,” says integrated fitness expert Amanda Jane Avis ’96 of Santa Monica fitness studio Mala Motion and a former Bruin Dance Team member.
No matter what your age or fitness level, “movement is medicine,” says integrated fitness expert Amanda Jane Avis ’96 of Santa Monica fitness studio Mala Motion and a former UCLA Dance Team member.
