Page 18 of Body Check

Dakota looked faintly surprised but Gavindidmean that. He was a lot of things—a workaholic, a bit controlling, sometimes inflexible—but he wasn’t afraid to defer to someone else when it was clear they had more expertise.

That was a lesson he’d struggled with growing up but he’d finally learned it the hard way.

And, despite his initial doubts, he was beginning to respect the work Dakota was doing here.

“Alright then. Please take off your socks and join me on the mats. Feel free to close the door if you feel comfortable.”

Gavin removed his socks, then tucked them in his shoes. He closed the door and when he turned back, Dakota was seated in a comfortable cross-legged position.

Gavin did his best to imitate him, wincing at the pull in his hips. Okay, so maybe he’d gone a little too far in the direction of strength training and neglected his flexibility lately.

Probably didn’t help that he was forty-one to Dakota’s twenty-nine either, but his feelings about ageing were a thought foranother day. Turning forty in the midst of a divorce had been brutal and the less he thought about it now the better.

“So, all jokes aside,” Dakota said. “You do understand what your posterior chain is, correct?”

“Yes. The muscles on the back side of my body. Calves all the way up to my neck.”

“Correct. But what a lot of people don’t realize is how much that’s impacted by your feet and ankles. They’re the foundation of your posture, movement, and stability.”

Dakota went through his little spiel, explaining why all of this was important while Gavin did his best to give Dakota his full, undivided attention.

That was one of the insults Rory Decker had hurled at Gavin during their divorce—that even when he was therephysically,he was never therementally—and, well, he couldn’t deny it. Work occupied a large portion of his brain, and he could never seem to turn it off.

“Let’s start in mountain pose,” Dakota said, rising fluidly to his feet.

Gavin’s attempts were far less graceful but, thankfully, Dakota didn’t laugh at him. “How familiar are you with yoga asanas? Or poses, if you’re not familiar with that term either.”

“Uhh.” Gavin waggled his hand back and forth. “Moderately, I guess? I know some of the more common ones though it’s usually the Western names.”

“Okay, then I’ll skip the Sanskrit and use the Western term for each pose by name and describe it. If it’s something you’realready familiar with, you’ll be ahead of things but don’t take it as an insult or that I’m talking down to you, please.”

Gavin nodded.

“For mountain pose, stand upright with your feet hip distance apart, feet planted firmly onto the mat. Take a moment to look down at them and send them some love.”

Gavin glanced at Dakota with a questioning look. “Send my feet some love? Do you have a foot fetish, or something?”

“No,” Dakota said with a faint scoff. “My only interest in them is how they’re supporting you and what we can do to improve that. Many people have parts of their bodies they dislike, and I think it’s worth taking the time to improve those relationships. Besides, it also improves the mind-muscle connection, which as I’m sure you know, is extremely important.”

Gavin nodded, feeling a little chagrined for his teasing. Hedidknow that. “Apologies. Continue.”

“Look down at your feet, thank them for all they do to support you, to carry you throughout your day, and send them some love.”

Feeling a bit foolish but not wanting to insult Dakota and his methods again, Gavin did so. His feet were … fine. He didn’t have any feelings about them one way or another. He had kinda long toes and there was a little hair on the top of his feet. They were neither ugly nor sexy. They did the job. But he dutifully tried to send them some love even if it felt ridiculous.

“Okay, now let’s begin by waking the feet up. Lift your toes, keeping the heel of your foot connected to the mat. Feel freeto wiggle the toes, spread them wide, just bring movement into them.”

Gavin lifted his toes and grimaced at the tight feeling in his Achilles tendons and up into his calves.

Dakota shot him a knowing look. “You can feel the tightness, yes?”

He nodded.

“They’re all connected. Every part of your body connects to another. What happens in your feet impacts the way you carry yourself, the way you feel. Your stress about work impacts the way you hold your hips, the way you walk. And all of these ripple outward into other areas of your life. Our bodies are feedback loops but notclosedloops. What we put out into the world feeds back into our bodies and vice-verse.”

Gavin considered the idea. He’d never really thought about it in those exact words but that did make sense.

“Now, rock front to back a little, lifting your heels. Okay, now we’re going to stand tall, not collapsing into the hips. Keep your core centered and rotate your shoulders back until you’re in a comfortable, supported posture.”

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