EVENT RESOURCES
At TFC we believe in the importance of a ground-up approach to movement and rehabilitation - starting at your foundations and learning fundamental skills will allow you to resolve common aches, pains and injuries in an empowering and sustainable way, allowing you to live a playful and pain-free life!
In this seminar we covered:
- Fundamentals of breathing for physiological and psychological health and performance
- Ground-based locomotives and developmental patterns for coordination and control and integrating ‘ground-living’ into your daily life
- Assessment and restoration of natural foot function through simple tools and strategies
- Advanced balance training for strength, mobility and active meditation
- Developing efficient walking and running mechanics and transitioning to a barefoot practice
- Integrating play into your training and life to enhance your physical and mental health
Below you will find helpful resources including graphic slides that explain what each concept is, why they're important and how to get more in your daily life. There are also links to blog posts, videos and episodes from our podcast the TFC Audio Project Down Under that dive deeper into the topics.
BREATH + CORE
What is the most important movement nutrient?
What is the most natural and vital movement we can all do?
Breathing.
It’s something we all do, all day, every day (about 20,000 times) and for the most part we do it without even thinking about it, which is pretty awesome EXCEPT...
Most people take it for granted but breathing is also a movement skill and is definitely the MOST important movement skill to understand and master, which is why we're starting here.
GROUND LIVING
Ground living is the practice of radically reducing the time spent using these supportive technologies (especially sitting in chairs) and increasing the time spent sitting and moving on the ground.
This practice can play a huge role in either preventing or reversing the negative effects that have accumulated over years of sedentarism through promoting movement variability in our daily life.
There are a number of reasons why the practice of ground living can be so beneficial for our health.
FEET
There is a very common and very strange story in modern society that our feet are an inherently weak and fragile body part that need support and cushioning at all times and that the more painful/stiff/weak the foot is, the more support it needs. This story is completely unfounded and actually makes no physiological sense at all, yet it has somehow become almost universally accepted.
We don’t put our hands in thick, tight oven mitts all day and we wouldn’t recommend someone stay in a neck brace for their whole life after one incidence of neck pain. So why do we do the exact equivalent with our feet from a very young age? How have we been convinced that our feet are the only part of our body that needs extra technology to function optimally?
BALANCE
Balance is probably the most important yet least trained movement capacity - most people don’t pay any attention to their balance until they either have a fall or some kind of injury!
The beauty of balance training is that can be so enjoyable and flow-inducing when it’s done with a progressive and play-based approach. This is why balance is such a central part of the TFC philosophy.
WALKING/RUNNING
In our mostly sedentary and work-focused society, walking is an often forgotten and under appreciated movement that is low on the priority list, underneath all the other more intense exercises like running/lifting/cycling etc.
This is a real shame because walking is actually an incredibly complex, beautiful and foundational human movement that should really form the bulk of our movement diet! Besides the more obvious physical benefits, it has been shown to improve learning, memory, creativity and mood and can actually reverse the functional ageing of the brain.
Walking can also be a powerful way to connect socially with your friends/family/community or the perfect opportunity to spend time alone with your thoughts and focusing on your breath as a moving meditation.
PLAY
Play is the ideal approach for learning and refining movement skills in an enjoyable and sustainable way.
The more movement skills we possess and enjoy practicing regularly, the greater quantity, quality and variety of movement nutrients our body will receive.
From a physical perspective this is exactly what our body needs in order to function optimally - without frequent and varied movement, it is impossible to thrive in the long-term.
Our bodies also become more adaptable and resilient to injury, which prepares us for unexpected situations and unfamiliar environments.
From a psychosocial point of view, play provides the perfect avenue to connect with our family, friends and community.
Play also has an amazing capacity for connecting us with our environment and especially for spending time in nature.
All three of these aspects - movement, connection with community and time in nature - are well documented to be extremely beneficial for physical, mental and spiritual health.
Play can act as a powerful conduit between them all, enhancing the benefits of each one and adding its own element of magic.
EXTRAS
- Books
- Move Your DNA by Katy Bowman (Movement Nutrition)
- Whole Body Barefoot by Katy Bowman
- A Guide to Better Movement by Todd Hargrove
- Playing with Movement by Todd Hargrove
- The Practice of Natural Movement by Erwann Le Corre
- TFC Australia YouTube Channel
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TFC Audio Project
- The Canadian podcast - plenty of great episodes exploring movement, nutrition, behaviour change, footwear etc.
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TFC Audio Project: Down Under
- Our podcast project which we started this year - we delve deeper into all the concepts that were discussed in the workshop in the first 9 episodes and there will be more episodes being released each week!
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Facebook Community Group
- Range of videos on movement and mobility as well as a place to stay updated on products/events/free sessions and connected with the TFC community in Australia
- The Sit & Rise Test