Getting Fixed: Pilates, Cryotherapy, Acupuncture and Cupping in Aspen

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Jillian Livingston
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Getting Fixed: Pilates, Cryotherapy, Acupuncture and Cupping in Aspen

Last week was a break through week at The Fix and The Art of Fitness. By working with Denise in the Pilates studio twice a week she is helping to retrain my body on how to move correctly and rid myself all of my bad habits, dumping into my lower back, hanging out to one side of my body, not lifting my core, slumping, sitting too long yadayadyayada…

Gyrotonics at The Art of Fitness

Seeing that we needed to revert back to the basics, Denise has been focusing on movement and creating space through the Gyrotonic Expansion System. A machine designed by dancer, Juliu Horvath, to accommodate the natural movement patterns of the human body, and although I have this nagging desire to speed things up and get on with strength training, I recognize the value in slowing down and taking a few steps back. What I’m discovering is that Miss loosey goosey over here doesn’t move very well as I still have issues that scare me from moving in the wrong way, but with Denise there watching and correcting my every move I am able to go to a place I couldn’t get to without her training.

What is Gryotonics

The Origins of Gyrotonic
Juliu dreamed of a machine that would help a dancer achieve a better turn or pirouette. This dream and Juliu’s creative energy lead him to the development of Gyrotonic Expansion System®, as we know it today. Now people of all ages and all walks of life have benefited from his system. The Gyrotonic Expansion System® works for anyone wishing to gain strength, flexibility and coordination. It is now found in rehabilitation centers, dance studios, sports training and fitness facilities all over the world.

After training, she brings me to her team at The Fix to break up bonded tissue, ligaments and muscles and create blood flow to stubborn injuries and last week brought my first introduction to Cryotherapy as Anita applied a cryo-elephant local on my shoulder that I fell on, and my ankle, swollen from problematic veins. Next she massaged my very painful Piriformis muscle with the Theragun, a gun-shaped device that helped her to go directly to an area difficult to get relief from and massage it, I was amazed at the release.

THEN I experienced a very soothing combination of acupuncture, moxibustion and cupping with Brittany Buffalino, a national board certified acupuncturist and Chinese Herbalist holding a Master of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine from Southwest Acupuncture College and a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Production from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has also studied Japanese Meridian Balancing and SoTai movement therapy with Jeffrey Dann, Ph.D., L.Ac.

Before she worked on my body, Brit taught me that cupping is a form of suction therapy, when the cups get applied to the skin it releases facial adhesions and flushes the lactic acid out of the muscles.

Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a 3,000-year-old healing technique of Traditional Chinese Medicine which, in the last 20 years, has become an accepted form of treatment in the U.S. Acupuncture is a proven effective treatment for a wide range of conditions because it improves the body’s functions and promotes the natural self-healing process. Stimulation the body’s various systems via points on the body can help balance the body’s energy, thereby resolving pain, improving sleep and digestion and enhancing one’s sense of well-being. If you’re new to acupuncture, you can expect to lay comfortably on a treatment table while precise acupoints are stimulated on various areas of your body. These points will be pre-determined by your acupuncturist during an assessment of your physical health and symptoms at the start of your appointment. Most people feel no or minimal discomfort when the fine needles are placed on the acupoints. Needles may be left on an acupoint from anywhere between 5 and 30 minutes. At the end of your appointment, you will feel balanced and relaxed.

My experiences with Denise and her practitioners have felt completely indulgent as they work to relieve my pain, but I am recognizing that is more than just a quick fix as I wake up with less pain (feeling younger with each session) and move with more ease and strength while mountain biking and hiking. Completely elated, I cannot believe the increased strength I feel by switching on the muscles I have been finding with Denise; my serratus, glutes, kegel and inner thighs – giving my lower back and shoulders a break from being over used.

**Coming soon…. Cryotherapy.

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