Ecology of Movement

13/02/2025

This expensive piece of paper took me 4 years to earn. It says that I’m an Exercise Scientist (aka certified Science Man 5000).

Unfortunately, so many excellent coaches, rehab specialists and personal trainers have the capacity to resolve pain and change lives but get ignored because they lack a university degree. So, this is the official degree that I need to complete another official degree to then become a Physiotherapist.

What I’ve learned from 4 years of study:

1.⁠ ⁠An undergraduate degree means you’re dipping your toe into multiple enormous topics. It’s just the beginning.
2. There aren’t nearly enough studies done with women’s bodies.
3.⁠ ⁠Having an exercise science degree doesn’t mean you’re good at teaching exercise. This comes from years of coaching.
4.⁠ ⁠Statistics are important.
5.⁠ ⁠Learning anatomy is a lifelong, beautiful process. Don’t get overwhelmed on the first pass.
6.⁠ ⁠Always volunteer for V02max testing – that stuff is expensive!
7.⁠ ⁠No matter the institution, most academics are so exhausted that you need to squeeze every bit of extra learning out of them that you can. It helps to show interest and ask questions.
8.⁠ ⁠Force plates are awesome!
9.⁠ ⁠Be polite and turn on your camera during zoom sessions.
10. A lab coat was an unnecessary purchase.

01/06/2023

I sometimes view my early-twenties self as an inflamed mess who lacked a movement practice and was almost completely sedentary. Yet I realised recently that I’d spend several hours every weekend dancing in clubs, warehouses, loungerooms, kitchens or the bush. The dance became a necessity for my mental health, an essential experience of embodiment, and an integral part of my development as a human. I became completely obsessed with DJing, threw away some of the culturally-imposed restrictions on my body, and danced my ass off.

I love the power of music to inspire movement and explore emotional states, so I’ve been immensely happy to return to regular DJing as part of facilitating a monthly Ecstatic Dance event in Launceston. It’s an opportunity for me to give back, and allow participants to have their own experiences.

Every session is different – a new opportunity to unwind, go inward, shake out and completely unleash. All without the use of alcohol, chemicals, phones or cameras. It can be a huge challenge for some. The music itself moves through 5 energetic stages – Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness (the 5 Rhythms model). If you feel heavy, you move through the weight. If you’re feeling anxious, you move through it and observe the changes. The dance offers an avenue to find freedom in your body and self.

If you’re interested, check out the link in the bio and come dance with us.

30/08/2022

Last year I decided I wanted to spend more time outside, take more walks and bring more playfulness into my life.

Enter Usul the Koolie-Sandworm.

I now spend close to two hours each day outside walking, crawling, jumping, throwing, dodging and playing with our dog!

I’m also learning daily lessons about consistency, boundaries, responsibility and unconditional love.

Author Christopher McDougal postulates that the crisis of mental health and human disconnection that many cultures now face may have its roots in humans no longer having close, inter-dependent bonds with animals. I can certainly vouch for the richness in body and spirit that bringing a little creature into our lives has facilitated.

Training a dog is frustrating, expensive and quite time-consuming. It’s also immensely fun and rewarding! My patience, emotional attunement, intuition, mental health and movement teaching have improved massively as a result. I also send people dog photos.

Oh and the final, often overlooked bonus of having a dog is using him as a living, breathing wriggly kettlebell that sometimes bites you.

Yay dogs!

 

 

 

 

19/01/2022

Nothing like a multi-day hike to recharge the batteries.

10/01/2022

We have deliberately crafted our home environment to be movement-rich.

This means leaving resistance bands hanging on bannisters, pull up bars in doorways, kettlebells in corners and yoga mats permanently on the floor.

The idea is to incorporate movement into our day rather than movement being confined to a specific place, at a specific time, requiring specific clothing (I still enjoy doing this too).  

Even without specialised equipment, our homes offer so many movement opportunities when we transition to floor sitting and use a little creative thinking.

Just like any new healthy habit, removing as many barriers to participation as possible and incorporating a little bit each day can be the best way to make lasting change.

03/01/2022

Welcome, 2022.

For me, I hope this year is full of movement, community, lovemaking, time in nature, deep reading, tasty food, enlivening discussions, crude humour, new music and plenty of dancing. 

I also hope 2022 contains the right kind of barely-surmountable challenges, discomfort and inconveniences that help us grow as individuals and as a collective. 

Thanks for reading; and know that you are important to a lot of people. 

Eric. 

12/10/2021

I absolutely love teaching yoga.

Landing in a new place this year, I was a little nervous to bring my teaching out of the nest of my home-town and into a city studio.

The community at The Yoga Loft Launceston have been so welcoming, and I’ve found my feet as a regular teacher in this beautiful space.

It’s been a huge change from teaching 8-10 group classes per week in Cowra to teaching just one per week here. But it has given me the space to refine my goals as a teacher and bring an arc of skill development over several weeks into my classes.

Currently we are working on shoulders and how they tie into core musculature in standing poses, inversions and arm balances. Along with current sport science and top-notch humour, I’m weaving functional movement and myofascial mobilisation into alignment-based yoga asana under the moniker “Yoga +”.

If you’re interested in refining poses, learning a little anatomy and getting a sweat on, you can find me every Saturday morning at 8:30 .



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25/03/2021

The new Movement and Personal Training space is slowly coming together. Just a few more bits and pieces to go before it's functional.

15/03/2021

Super excited to be teaching a free pop-up class this Wednesday at 12pm.
This class will focus on the hips and spine with lots of fun myofascial mobilsation.
Bookings through their website.

08/03/2021

Happy International Women's Day.
This one goes out to the many powerful women in my life - you are forever my teachers.
Thanks for your love, your patience and your wisdom.
Navigating gender relations and structural imbalances is an ever-evolving process.
I'm here to listen and learn.
This is my Mother, Sister myself at a roaring Koorawatha Falls, NSW - a place on Wiradjuri Country where Mother Nature continually held us.

07/03/2021