Dawn Ross: Bit By Bit Bodyworks

08/25/2025

Movement, strength, balance, and play — in person and online.✨ In-Person at Every Body Stronger�Strength, Stretching & Yoga for an Active Life�⚡ Mobility flows, balance work & creative strength drills�⚡ Small groups = personalized attention�⚡ Limited 8 spots!📅 Wednesdays @ Noon (Sept 10 – Oct 29) → Link in Biohttps://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/e89b98ae/?appointmentTypeIds%5B%5D=82668749�📅 Fridays @ 10 AM (Sept 25 – Oct 31) → Link in Biohttps://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=19776369&appointmentType=82669021💻 Not local? Join the Online Movement Studio!�Biweekly live Zoom classes, pre-recorded practices & new Movement Made Easy PDFs each month.Link in Bio for 31 Day Trial Membership https://www.bitbybitbodyworks.com/checkout/cart

08/13/2025

As we head into fall (can you believe it?), I’m planning out what classes, series, and workshops to offer—and I’d love your input.

Whether you've been attending regularly, catching replays when you can, or just keeping tabs on what's happening from the sidelines, your perspective is valuable.

It’ll help me know what kinds of movement classes you want, when you want them, and how best to support you this season.

I’m considering everything from weekly classes to seasonal challenges, as well as yoga to strength-based sessions, both live and on-demand.

This is your chance to shape what’s next!

Thanks in advance for sharing your voice and helping me keep this studio responsive, relevant, and full of awesome humans like you.

Complete this 2 minute survey before Saturday to be entered to win a 30 minute 1on1 training session with me.

I’d love your input as I plan the fall lineup for classes and offerings. Whether you’ve joined classes regularly, watched replays when you can, or just lurked on the list (no shame!), your voice helps me create something that fits your needs and schedule. Thanks in advance for sharing!

08/08/2025

Build the parts, then plug them in.⁠

The bar work I’ve been doing as part of my ankle rehab, weight shifting, serratus lengthening, full-body folding, paid off in an unexpected way…⁠

Today I played with crow pose. And it flew.⁠ Easiest it’s ever been. Because the pieces were already there.⁠

Nothing’s random. Skills stack.Know what you’re doing, when to do it, and how and what felt impossible becomes possible. Want help? DM me I have 5 openings for new 1:1 students in September. Choose from weekly 30 or 60 minute training sessions in person or online. 🙌🏻.

PS I am still terrified of falling on my face and knocking out teeth in crow (thus the bolster) but am sure that too will change now that I’ve locked some things in.

07/30/2025

How you set up a movement determines what happens next. In this video, we dive into why technique matters, not just which one you use, but when and why you apply it. Whether you’re lifting, sprinting, or practicing yoga, your performance is shaped by how you prepare, initiate, and adjust in the moment.

Curious to put this into practice? If you’re in Calgary and want to meet up in the park to explore these ideas in real time and take them into your workouts, DM me! Let’s get moving, on purpose, with purpose.

P.S. These concepts are inspired by Let Me Introduce You by Adarian Barr & Jenn Pilotti a brilliant resource for anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of movement and performance.

07/29/2025

When you roll your ankle in Iceland 15km into a 55km backpacking trip…But your stubbornness is just as strong as your ligaments, so you finish the hike.Now I’m home, dating a piece of driftwood and slinging chains like it’s a Viking ankle rehab montage.Cue the Rocky music, Thursday’s the test match: with a hike up Stanley Glacier trail. 🥊👣

03/14/2025

Sage Twist is an interesting one because of how our body responds to different surfaces. Here’s a little experiment:

1. Test Your Surface
Sit on your yoga mat and bring one leg in. Notice how it feels.
If you feel jammed up in your hip, try moving off the mat onto the bare floor.
Without the sticky mat, your body may recognize more space and allow deeper hip flexion. Sometimes, the mat can create a subtle resistance that makes your system feel restricted.
2. Using a Block
Instead of placing your whole palm flat on the block, focus on connecting through the ball of your hand—not the heel of your hand and not gripping with your fingers.
Think of it like playing piano keys with that part of your hand.
Place the block behind you, establish that hand connection, and gently work into it, letting the action of playing piano keys help guide your twist.

Keep breathing and allow the rotation to develop naturally.Give it a try and see how it changes your experience in the pose!

03/12/2025

For Seated Forward Fold, I use multiple props to create support, feedback, and connection in the pose.

🔹 Feet: The balls of my feet are wedged against the wall, giving me something to work against. Under my ankles and shins, the bolster and foam roller provide me with something to pitch my shins into, helping me find a grounded and active connection through my lower body.

🔹 Hands & Dowel: Holding the dowel with a crisscross grip, I roll it under, then c**k my wrists and reach long, working my hands and feet together until I find the point where my pelvis naturally stops moving. That’s where I settle and breathe.Instead of forcing straight legs and hinging forward,

I’ve found that working both ends—hands and feet—simultaneously creates a more integrated and supported fold. Give it a try and see how it feels!

03/11/2025

For Warrior 3, I’m using a dowel with a crisscrossed wrist grip—a simple but powerful setup that changes how I find stability and length in the pose.

I start by curling the dowel in and under toward my chest, sinking into a small chair pose before unfurling my wrists and taking them in the opposite direction. As I extend into Warrior 3, I focus on pressing the ball of my foot away from the knuckles of my hands, which helps me create space, connection, and control in the shape.

This setup brings a new awareness to balance, giving me a stable, lengthened line from my hands to my foot.

If you tend to feel wobbly or disconnected in Warrior 3, try this—it’s a fun way to explore resistance, expansion, and structural support in the pose!

03/10/2025

Setting up the Camel Pose with a dowel and an asymmetrical grip completely changes how I move into the shape.

I started with the dowel in front, holding it with an asymmetrical grip and playing with paddling, rotating, and twisting to guide myself into a tall kneeling backbend with the arms overhead. This gave me instant feedback through my shoulders and thoracic spine, making it feel more connected and fluid.

Then, I brought the dowel behind my back, still using the asymmetrical grip, and worked with twisting and rotating as I moved into Camel. What I love about this approach is how it integrates my head and neck into the movement. As someone who used to lead with my head, this keeps my head naturally aligned with the rest of my body, making the pose feel more cohesive and supported. The head and the pelvis are related, and this works great if you are someone who finds that either the pelvis or head has a mind of its own in this pose.

If you tend to feel disconnected or unstable in backbends, give this a try! The dowel’s structure and asymmetry can help you find better integration, smoother transitions, and a more profound sense of support in the pose.

03/09/2025

Bringing back the chain for this one, and it’s a game-changer!By placing the chain under my foot and gripping it with my same-side hand, I create an ipsilateral connection that helps my body’s left and right halves coordinate more fluidly into the pose. Instead of forcing movement from my hips, I let this connection guide me, making the transition into Extended Side Angle feel effortless and integrated.I play with two variations:�🔗 Pinky toe side – I initiate a bicep curl, which guides me into the shape, letting my hips follow naturally without bracing or buckling.�🔗 Big toe side – Adjusting my grip, twisting through the wrist and arm, changes the tension and engagement across my joints, offering a secure, stable feel throughout the movement.The way the chain curls and twists as I move creates subtle variations in tension, giving my joints feedback and support in an incredibly secure way—something that can be especially helpful for those who struggle with laxity or instability in their joints.Try this if you’ve ever felt wobbly or disconnected in this pose! The added tactile feedback and resistance might just be what your body needs to find a smoother, more stable entry into the shape.Give it a try and let me know how it feels! 💥

03/01/2025

Day 1 of Jules Mitchell Yoga March Creative Prop Challenge! 🎉

Kicking things off with a dowel + side-lying leg lift!

With a reversed grip (one palm facing in, one facing out), start moving and twisting the stick—let your body find the rhythm. Feel how your arm and leg naturally want to coordinate.
🔹 Stay grounded through the outer edge of your fifth met & ball of the foot
🔹 Notice how the dowel guides the movement of your arms and leg
🔹 It’s all about tuning in & having fun!

Give it a try!

02/22/2025

If you’ve ever felt like your hips are tight, you may have been told to stretch more, strengthen a particular muscle, or improve your internal or external hip rotation. But what if we looked at hip rotation differently?

Since January, we’ve been exploring this in my in-person classes, and participants notice the difference: Their hips feel more supple while cross-country skiing, winter hiking, and walking farther than usual without the predictable hip tightness.

Rather than thinking of hip rotation as the thigh turning along a vertical axis, we can also consider a different movement pattern—one where the thigh moves end-over-end.
This is key to transitioning from what you might refer to as hip flexion to hip extension, especially when moving forward efficiently.

A crucial part of this motion is how the foot interacts with the ground to create an anchor and how the calf muscles engage to hold and secure the knee end of the thigh. When the foot is anchored, it sets the ankle so the shin holds steady, and the thigh travels in the end-over-end path, taking it from behind the anchor of the foot (hip flexion) to in front of the anchor of the foot (hip extension).

This approach can change how we think about hip mobility and efficiency. Instead of forcing a range of motion, we can improve how the foot, calf, and thigh interact—creating more fluid, coordinated movement and reducing unnecessary strain.

If this resonates with you, I’d love for you to join an online or in-person class this spring!