Hey Reader,

How are you feeling today?

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately and even more so yesterday…

At heart I am a teacher and learner. I love to learn the “why” and feel called to share the “why” as part of the way I coach women in their bodies. Time and time again, I’ve been given the business advice to stop sharing so much of the “why.”

There’s this idea that people just want to be told what to do. They just want a plan to follow and don’t want to have to think about it.

I get it. You are busy. It’s easier to just have a plan and follow it.

AND it has always still felt inauthentic for me to coach in that way.

Partly because I’m a nerd and I love getting down to the nitty gritty of form, positions, muscle actions, running biomechanics etc. It's who I am.

The more I do this work, the more I realize it’s bigger than that.

It’s about YOUR autonomy.

It’s about your ability to understand what your body is telling you, to learn its language, and support its needs. It’s about your ability to step INTO your body (not tune out) and your power.

Especially today, the importance of that weighs heavy on me.

I know the body autonomy issues many women are facing right now are astronomically bigger than running (you can expect me to be more vocal about this moving forward) AND…

Every opportunity we take to live fully for ourselves and our goals matters.

Every little informed choice we make about how we move in, talk about, and support our bodies matters.

That’s why this quote from one of my Women’s Running Academy athletes means the world to me:

“I spent a lot of time in pelvic floor PT and I had done work with a gait PT. Through that, looking back, I feel like I had started doing all of the right things, but didn't necessarily have the understanding to put them together. I feel like that's where this really helped because we went really deep into that. I had so many aha moments, like ‘oh, that's why they were having me do that exercise.’ The connection between my pelvic floor, feet and hips now all make so much more sense. I’m really just kind of learning to become the detective and caretaker of my own body.” ~ Corey T.

She messaged me yesterday after some “rage speedwork” belting out Taylors Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me.

There’s a fire in our collective bellies growing stronger now.

We had our hope that the majority of our friends, family, neighbors and country would vote in a way that supported our autonomy. And now we know we need to fight even harder for it. As a wise friend and mentor said to me yesterday, “It’s easier to fight with the lights on.” 💚

Moving forward we fight with the lights on:

• For women’s rights, value, and autonomy.
• For LBGTQ+ rights and pride.
• For black lives and love.
• For the safety of our children.
• For science, education, and the health of our planet.

Your Coach,
Alison

Alison Marie Helms, PhD Certified Personal Trainer and Running Coach Unlock your full running potential through physics and physiology. ​Work with me.​