Lauren Roxburgh is an internationally renowned author, wellness educator, leader and inspirational speaker - dubbed “The Body Whisperer.” We’re thrilled to feature her as part of our Women’s History Month feature.
Tell us a bit about your work with wellness and what inspired you to work in this field!
Through my years of education, training, teaching and working with clients, I have discovered that everything is connected. Our struggles, our imperfections, our gifts and our purpose – it’s all part of the journey, and it’s molding us to be the best version of ourselves.
I have also realized that each and every one of us has a powerful body, radiant energy and a deep authentic purpose beneath all the layers of stress, tension, neglect and feelings of unworthiness.
And once we can connect to our awareness, listen to our bodies and start to embody our life's purpose we can heal ourselves, our communities, our world, and humanity.
I first discovered my soul path during a very tough time in my life. My parents had just gotten divorced and my mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. I was just sixteen, barely coming out of that stage when the world was confusing enough. I witnessed my mother’s pain and her battle for life, which was more than enough to inspire me to look deeper into understanding how human beings work.
Watching my mother battle cancer encouraged me to turn the pain of witnessing her illness into purpose. I realized that the key to living a fulfilling, healthy and joyful life is a holistic approach, so I was inspired to find ways to help prevent dis-ease and learn how we can thrive, not just survive.
I was motivated to go on a quest for knowledge and wisdom about the body, mind, heart and spirit. I got a degree in nutrition and exercise physiology, certifications in Classical Pilates, meditation, yoga, bodywork and Reiki, and started working with some of the greatest athletes on the planet.
I also discovered Structural Integration (Rolfing), a healing system that focuses on fascia, the way the human body relates with gravity and stress. I credit this for saving my life and connecting me even deeper to my true calling – to help people find alignment, healing and freedom in their bodies, souls and lives, and to help them connect to their authentic selves and purpose.
Where does your work feel most impactful in people's lives? Can you share some inspiring experiences you've had with clients?
It's about human empowerment, deepening awareness and connection on all levels and ultimately helping people connect with their true and authentic selves – the real inner truth of who you are when the labels are taken away.
Connecting with your individual strength, graceful power and creativity, and to embody this in everything you do. It’s about finding alignment, both in the physical body as step one and then aligning your emotions, your choices, your relationships and your life.
By doing the work, you will connect to your gifts, attract your deepest desires, be of service, feel connected and know that you’re in alignment with your soul's purpose.
You work with alignment and a lot with the pelvic floor - what is the most common misconception you encounter in your work around the pelvic floor?
Oh yes, I wrote an entire book about this called The Power Source which goes deep into this topic.
Many may not realize that everyone (men and women both) has a superpower in their pelvic floor just waiting to be harnessed with a deeper consciousness and connection, to awaken graceful power and strength. This area plays a huge role in our overall health and wellbeing because it’s our root, our foundation.
Many people lose their connection to this powerful area of the body and the ability to mindfully relax, contract and activate the pelvic floor. So when we lose the connection we also lose sensation, tone, resilience and flexibility in the structure of the pelvic floor, and our deep pelvic core muscles as well.
This disconnection also creates stagnation energetically, and makes it more difficult to feel and strengthen our bodies. [It] sets off a whole chain of reactions – biological, neurological and emotional – that inhibit us from attaining vibrant holistic wellness.
Talk to us about fascia - what is it, why is it important, and how does our fascia impact pelvic floor health?
Fascia is a thin layer of connective tissue that encases your body under your skin, like a wetsuit, and actually wraps itself around every muscle, joint, and organ. The fascia is also where the nerves and lymph nodes lie – so it’s being referred to as a sensory organ.
While fascia is incredibly malleable and thin, it’s also largely responsible for the shape of our bodies. The amazing thing is that fascia is only now being medically recognized for its importance in maintaining a healthy, fit, toned, and aligned body.
Fascia can thicken and harden, which can cause all sorts of structural and alignment issues in the body: when you have a stiff shoulder, for example, often it is not damage to the muscle that it causing it, but a hardening or thickening of the fascia around the shoulder muscles and joint.
Injuries, stress, poor posture, poor flexibility, and repetitive movements can pull the fascia into ingrained patterns and cause it to become dense and tight. Adhesions form within the stuck and blocked fascial tissue like snags in a sweater, and make our bodies feel heavy, thick, uncomfortable, and run down.
The good news is that your fascia is incredibly malleable and has almost ridiculous self-healing abilities. One of the best ways to help heal the fascia is through using body rolling tools for self bodywork, breathwork and somatic movement.
Rolling regularly helps to “lubricate” your joints and reduce inflammation, but it works wonders on fascia by breaking up thickness and density that builds up in the connective tissue and bringing hydration back into the fascia.
Think of fascia like a sponge. When the sponge is dried up it becomes brittle and stiff. But when you add water (hydration) to the sponge it becomes supple again.
If our pelvic floor is in clutch mode, we are thrown into an unnatural state of limited movement. The layers of connective tissues within the pelvic floor become glued down and fixed into a position that reinforces this unnatural constant contraction. Not only does this result in pain and discomfort in the pelvic floor, but it also forces the rest of our body to compensate for it in a number of ways.
What habits or commitments to your wellbeing have changed your life most and supported your success?
All too often we’re told that to get the body (and life!) of your dreams we need to beat ourselves up doing all sorts of crazy cardio or intense gym workouts and deprive ourselves to within a calorie of our lives. I fully believe that is just not the way the body works.
Ultimately It comes down to my daily rituals of mindful, nourishing and sensual movement, having gratitude and compassion for myself, my life and the our world, connecting to my intuition, I truly enjoy grounding on the earth and spending time in nature daily, eating consciously with fresh organic, local whole foods that nourish my fascia, joints, skin and soul, while tuning into my authentic gifts and aligning my heart, mind, body, emotions, beliefs and spirit.
You can read more about my 4 secrets to living an Aligned Life here in this blog.
Any projects or work you're focused on at the moment that you want to share with our audience?
Absolutely! This year is exciting as we continue to expand our offering and grow our community of the Aligned Life Studio - the one-stop comprehensive, virtual and holistic “lifestyle program” which streams globally in 50 plus countries with over 20,000 members on board for this healing journey.
Our mission is to empower millions of people/women all over the world to live a truly Aligned Life. An “Aligned Life” is a life of purpose, passion, kindness, balance, flow and connection that brings optimal wellbeing on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level.
Over the last year we have put a huge effort into evolving and developing the Aligned Life Studio and over the next few months we will be launching a lot of new content to complement my current Movement medicine workouts, healing sequences and visualizations, including Yoga classes, Barre classes, Sound healing, Monthly Astrology readings, Weekly Live classes and the launch of the complimentary nutrition app with recipes and meal plans, based around the concept of “Fascia Foods”. And next up will be a comprehensive certification course about fascia called The Fascia Secret.
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