Goodbye lilac season, I got into kinésiologie!
What a whirlwind May has been! Since our return from Denmark — we were there in mid-May for a superb wedding! — I’ve been trying to get back into that consistent writing-ballet-training with Pippin routine that I had in November and December before I started attending UQÀM. This last week of May has been characteristically hectic, but everything feels like it’s moving forward in a positive way.
We were in Tønder when I got confirmation that I am accepted into the kinésiologie programme at UQÀM this September. I’m so relieved — and excited about this next chapter of my life! Ever since I started my current hormonal treatment for endometriosis in 2021, I’ve been devoting so much time to a movement practice that includes running, ski (in winter!), swimming and hiking (in summer!), and classical dance. I stopped almost all athletic/physical activity in 2013 as my endometriosis (though I didn’t know what it was) started really getting out of control, and apart from brief attempts at weightlifting and failed efforts at getting back into running, it really took nearly a decade before any kind of sustained physical effort was accessible to me again. Every day in the ballet studio is a gift, every moment on the mountain is precious.
When I look ahead, there is perhaps a niche or three I can fill in the athletic and movement space by studying kinesiology. The research on therapeutic movement for endometriosis, for example, is virtually nonexistent. Based on my own experiences as a patient (and former-athlete-turned-chronically-ill-grumpy-grump), there is — across all care fields, including physio and kiné therapy — room to improve in physical and emotional trauma-informed care, there is room to improve on understanding chronic pain and chronic illness, there is room to improve when it comes to taking care of people with hyper-mobility, and, perhaps most especially, there is so much room to improve the care of those who are failed by those eugenicist, cissexist and white supremacist standards, the BMI. I feel like there are so many possibilities to do work here that is genuinely helpful. On a lighter note, I’m also excited to start kiné classes in September to immerse myself in all the ways movement affects a person, mind and body, and gobble up all the information I can. It’s also just a little bit exciting to feel this kind of passion and motivation again, especially after the last few years.
Camping out in the studio, taking notes on what I'm planning during my solo ballet sessions, and working on getting strong again for pointework. I've lost a lot of that fine, hard-to-build-outside-of-pointe-shoes strength in my calves and ankles, and as pointework is something I don't like to rush, I'm taking it very slow and really trying to get back to basics, like working on actually activating turnout from the right places and actually getting over my box.
I actually have so much more to write, and was planning on a much longer post. I’m going to have to leave it for a future blog entry. The sun is already hidden behind the horizon, as I have too many things on my to-do and I'm keeping a very strict sleep schedule at the moment (ah, those little chronic illness/pain management things...) Be good to each other, I'll be in touch again very soon.
PS: In case you missed my clarion call for the Argo in early May, the little Montréal indie bookstore that could succeeded in raising over 19k CAD! I know several of my readers also supported them, and I'm so grateful for everyone who stepped up and shared the link to the fundraiser! The Argo deserves this win, and I wish the shop — and all of us, really — smooth seas ahead.