Carrie Owerko is a renowned yoga and movement teacher with a vast international following. She has traveled throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South America to share her unique interdisciplinary approach, which weaves movement and exercise science principles into her decades-long study of yoga. Her approach extends beyond physical movement, encompassing a holistic view of well-being that includes diet, ethical consumption, and a playful approach to life.
The Playground: Cultivating Movement Optimism
Carrie Owerko is the founder of The Playground, a virtual global community of movement optimists where individuals can practice play and learn together, celebrating the joy of movement and ongoing learning. Owerko, a movement optimist, believes in the joy of movement and the power of playful practice. She advocates for an exploratory, playful approach to movement that goes beyond the rigid boundaries of traditional fitness.
On The Playground, a playful integrative practice develops strength, especially coordinative strength, mobility, stability, balance, and a whole lot more. That means a variety of movements are explored. Some of the movements will develop strength as defined above, as well as coordination, muscle endurance, balance, and control.
The Importance of Play and Focus
Owerko emphasizes the importance of play in learning and growth. As she stated on the How We Can Heal Podcast, "Play is a portal into all learning, especially for children. It's clear, but also as adults throughout our lifetime, and also creativity and adaptability." She believes that play allows individuals to explore novelty, which is beneficial for the brain and body.
Focus, according to Owerko, is a condition for play. When asked about the playground, focus is an important condition. Again, there's there's, there's a focus. You're absolutely 100% paying attention. In fact, I think play can help us pay attention to what is important, which isn't how well we do and someone else's opinion of us so these things. It's, it's like whatever that point of concentration is. Like whatever the focus in the locus of attention. Where you're where are we directing it? Is it constantly on ourselves, or what we're attempting to do when the environment?
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Coordinative Strength
Carrie Owerko sometimes talks about coordinative strength. Coordination matters and Todd Hargrove defines coordination this way: "Coordination is why some people make movement look easy, graceful and effective, while others make it look awkward, difficult and painful."
He elaborates further: "Coordination basically means firing the right muscle fibers at the right time for a given physical task. Thus, stability, mobility and balance are just different aspects of coordination. Further, strength, flexibility, power and even endurance cannot be expressed to their full potential without coordination. Therefore, optimizing coordination should be one of your primary goals in regard to improving physical function."
Diet and Ethical Consumption
Owerko's holistic approach extends to diet and ethical consumption. While not explicitly advocating a specific diet plan, her lifestyle choices reflect a commitment to mindful and ethical eating. Her transition to veganism led to several positive changes, including improved skin, weight loss, and regular bowel movements.
Veganism and its Impact
Becoming vegan led to a number of positive changes in Owerko's life.
- Skin cleared up: A plant-based diet can be rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which can contribute to healthy skin.
- Weight loss: While not consciously trying to lose weight, Owerko experienced weight loss as a result of her dietary change. This is not surprising, as plant-based diets are typically lower in calories and fat than diets that include animal products.
- Regular bowel movements: A high-fiber diet, common in veganism, promotes healthy digestion and regular bowel movements.
- Increased awareness of nutrition and health: Owerko's dietary change led her to research nutrition and health more extensively. She realized that she had been misinformed about the necessity of meat for a healthy diet.
- Mindful Consumption: She started putting a lot more time researching a product before buying it. What it’s made of, what are the working conditions of people making it, what will happen to it once I discard it - things I didn’t think so much about before.
Questioning Career Paths
Owerko's ethical considerations extended to her career path as well. Realizing that the medicines she was developing would require animal testing, she began to question her career choice. She recognizes that animal testing may have been necessary in the past, but she believes that advancements in technology, such as organs-on-a-chip, offer more effective and ethical alternatives.
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Navigating Ethical Dilemmas
Owerko acknowledges the challenges of living ethically in a society geared towards consumption. She grapples with daily dilemmas, such as choosing between out-of-season vegetables without plastic packaging and in-season vegetables wrapped in plastic. She also considers the trade-offs between supporting vegan brands that may be more wasteful and consuming unprocessed plant foods.
The Importance of Self-Reflection and Open-Mindedness
Admitting that she had been wrong by adopting veganism as a new lifestyle & philosophy, makes her more reflective of her beliefs. Since she was wrong once, and for something as big as this, she could be wrong again. So she tries to listen to arguments opposite from hers with a non-prejudiced mind.
Ethical Consumerism: Finding the Sweet Spot
Owerko strives to find a balance between ethical consumerism and a simpler lifestyle. While she feels morally obligated to support ethical brands, she also recognizes the importance of consuming less and getting rid of unnecessary items. She exemplifies a commitment to ethical living while acknowledging the complexities and challenges involved. She states, "I am convinced that we can live a modern lifestyle while being more respectful of our surroundings."
Leading by Example
Owerko believes in leading by example, demonstrating that it is possible to live "normally" while making better choices for the planet and its inhabitants. She hopes to inspire others to make small changes in their own lives by striving for a lifestyle that is both compassionate and integrated into society.
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