Trust The Process! with Bennalldra Williams

In this episode of 'How Y'all Healing', host Spry Lee Scott engages in a deep conversation with integrative movement coach Bennalldra Williams. They explore the significance of movement as a form of healing, the importance of self-care, and the holistic approach to wellness through Bennalldra's initiative, BOVE. The discussion emphasizes the connection between body awareness, mental health, and the science behind movement, while also addressing the personal journeys of healing and the necessity of trusting the process.

https://bbove.com/

https://www.medicine4melanin.com/howyallhealing

Music credits:
Intro… https://www.therelaxedmovement.com/

Outro… Jarico - Island; supported by @FreeBackgroundMusicForCreators
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC9YwmlkIQlAQPz8IY6RHnPg/featured?sub_confirmation=1

Transcript

Spry Lee Scott (00:06)
Hello, and welcome to How Y'all Healing, a series of conversations with healers, leaders, and organizations about their healing journey and the importance of health and wellness for black and brown people. We talk to guests about the work that they are doing to heal our communities and find out what's in their personal self-care package. I am your host, Spry Lee Scott, and this is How Y'all Healing.

What's up, what's up y'all? Welcome to another episode of How Y'all Healing and like the intro said, I am your host, Spry Lee Scott, and this is, of course, How Y'all Healing. But y'all know that because y'all have been here before.

And I am excited as always to be here with y'all. I wanna show some love to y'all because y'all have been showing us, showing me, showing us, showing the podcast so much love. I tell y'all this often.

And I don't ever want to get tired of telling y'all this because I don't ever want y'all to get tired of hearing it. So thank y'all for supporting this show. And with that being said, we are going to jump in because I want to take as much time as possible to talk to our guest that we have

So, our guest today is an integrative movement coach that believes movement is our universal first language and the body is our greatest teacher.

This belief has been foundational in the development of both her community and private practice. She comes to movement coaching with over two decades of concert dance and teaching experience. And it's an extensive list, y'all, that I'm not even gonna start naming. But her goal is to help people demystify their bodies in a way that helps them be their most balanced, optimized, vibrant,

and expressive selves, remember that, B-O-V-E, which is why she created Bove, a wellness initiative that explores the intersectionality of movement, science, education, art, and activism. And there are some other things in her bio that I wanna get into later in the show, but y'all can read it in the show notes where you click on the podcast. please,

Help me welcome to the show, Bennelldra Williams.

Welcome, welcome, welcome. Hey. What's going on? I am so happy to be here. And I am so glad that you are here. I'm glad we were able to connect. And thank you for joining us. We met through some mutual friends. I met you as Benny. Yes. So if I happen to call you Benny throughout this show, that, you know, it is what it is. It is what it is. It's love. As long you got my name, Benaldre, in there somewhere, we good.

Right, So let's start with this, because that list is extensive. And when I went over your bio, I'm like, wow, she busy. Like this is why it took me so long to get on this. No, but you are busy. I'm are busy. And so with all of that.

with everything that you're doing, how are you healing? Like what is in your self-care package? The beauty about this journey is it's always for me. I started this journey because it was for me first. and the more I stay in myself, then the more I help them be able to do others. So absolutely, my self-care journey includes me moving. If I'm not feeling connected to my body,

I feel like I can't then respond to all the things that are happening around me. I can't be clear about what my own self needs if I'm not moving. So moving for me has been something that's always been in my life. And then it's almost been like a ministry in so many ways. And so I'm always looking for, I haven't moved my body today. What is it saying? Have I not listened? So that's always gonna be first and foremost.

And then, you know, I've adapted or adopted this saying that nothing's done to me but for me. And so for me, that is almost sometimes a mantra. So nothing's done to me before me. So it helps me be able to look at myself and my choices with grace. It allows me to...

be able to be in a space of, what was my being needing in this moment? And when it's a great choice and when it's not so great. Or the outcome wasn't what I predicted. Or maybe it wasn't desired. It allows me then to be able to step back and go, okay, hmm, that's not me as a person. It doesn't make me bad or good. But yeah, I had a choice. Wasn't my desired income. My intent didn't match my impact. Okay, what am I doing in this moment?

What was I actually needing? So the more I can do that for myself and look at and recall my day with that as a question for different things, it allows me to then either set up for the next one, and I was able to learn from the experience. And it's just been something that was given to me by another practitioner that I was working with, and I was like, yeah, that's a way that I can always look at myself and my choices with grace, no matter what the outcomes were or are.

and I can be okay with, okay, this was a decision, it was a learning experience, or yeah, I could go a little deeper in that, or maybe that was too much, or maybe that was exactly what I needed. So yeah, those are- So sort of like a self analysis. Absolutely. And it's funny, one of the episodes, y'all could go back and listen if you have not heard it yet, but one of the bonus episodes, I talked about criticism or having constructive criticism, but having people around you who love you enough.

to give you constructive criticism and being able to package it in a way where you're able to receive it. But also a part of that is that self analysis. So being able to give yourself that constructive criticism and like you said, giving yourself grace as well and finding that grace. cause we gotta talk to ourselves nice. Yes. Cause sometimes when we criticize ourselves, we...

can be really harsh. We are our worst critic. Absolutely. But it's important to also the same way we want other people to show us grace and kindness and love in the same way that we give it to others. Because sometimes it's easier to give it to others than it is to give to ourselves. But we have to remind ourselves to give ourselves that love and grace. And that's exactly why I do it. Because in my best self, I'm...

Yes, you can do it. But then I come and I'm looking in the mirror and I have all the things to say. And I'm like, wait, but my being is hearing that too. Am I walking this talk that I want to do out in the world? Am I first doing it for myself? And so me adopting that on so many levels has been like, OK, all right, have my moment, acknowledge what I feel, and then go, all right, but what were you actually seeking in this moment? Or what was this really about?

you know, the way that I can ask the why and keep going with that has then helped me go, okay, yeah, I am more than that moment. I am more than that choice. I'm not necessarily that choice. It is a choice. What can I do from this moment to get there? Or it doesn't define me. that just felt very important to me to be able to ask myself because I'm a dancer. my body was always...

the prism in which I shared my art. So it was always in question. So I still am recovering and healing from what all those things could mean. And so me then be able to live in my body and be able to go, okay, what am I having a breath about? How am I looking at myself? What am I saying to myself? How is that keeping me balanced? How is that making myself vibrant? Are you really being expressive? that's just something that.

I feel like the more I can answer that with grace, it helps me in my journey of my healing. So you do have a movement practice for yourself outside of the work that you do with others. Yes. I ask that because I know how important that is. Like my son runs. He's a little track star, little brag. There's a little dad brag right there.

And I run with him sometimes and I train with him, but I run to clear my mind and it's therapy. It's a part of self-care package and even if I'm running every day with him, I still need moments where I have to run by myself because running with him is for him.

Even though I'm getting the exercise and my body is, benefiting from it, it's still for him So I have to take that time to do for me. I'm assuming that's the same way with you. Yeah, it is. And like before I do anything, I'll go see any clients, even before here. I would say I have to get in my body so that I'm...

And for a while there I lost the practice because I was so busy and you know you want to show up as your best self and I was doing everything, doing the most. And I realized I had lost my own full connection and then I noticed how other things were showing up in my life that I was like wait, I was having to reflect too much around those choices and around those things and when I start to do my self-reflection I was like but you're not moving.

and moving for me, like I said, is my ministry. So I'm not able to stay balanced because I'm not staying in my body. And I had to find it again. Like I had injuries, I had all these things happening. And I was like, okay, I hear you. I have to be my own medicine the way I'm coaching other people to be this, but I'm not embodying it. And so I had to rediscover it and go, okay, there's a lot of things that are able to leave, but this is not one for you. And so

even if I have to give up at five, just to do 30 minutes, you know? Or even small things for me. Doesn't have to be, and that's whole other thing. I talk about this idea of like reframing what it means to move and reframing this idea of fitness, maybe I don't have 30 minutes. Maybe I only have five. Okay, am I able to then move a joint? Am I able to do something that then allows me to then reconnect with myself?

to do that and that's how sometimes I would put it in through my day. I actually don't have time. I'm too tired in the morning to get up. Okay, well I do need to rest because that's part of me being able to take care of myself so I'm not going to get up at five. But throughout my day I can do something. I can go take a breath. I can decide I'm going to move my spine in a way. I can roll out my feet. Little things that I can do that actually keeps my body moving that changes in my mental capacity that allows me to stay inside of myself even when I can't do the typical

gym or 30 minutes here or 20 minutes there. Small things go a long way with the body. And so I'm like, okay, that I can commit to. speaking of your ministry, what does it mean to be an integrative movement coach? Yes.

I really take a multidisciplinary approach to working with people's physicality. And it's through working with the physical, so that means helping move more efficiently. Moving then gets us around this idea of education. The more I know about my body, then...

the more I'm able to take ownership of it that then leads to the healing. So I choose to look at the person as a whole and use multiple disciplinary things to go, great, this tool may be good for this, this tool may be good for that, and put them together to make a more holistic approach to having people move more efficiently in their body, to have people connect more with their body and their system. And you're teaching people to tap into their own bodies, so it's not something that they can't do.

like they don't have to be with you for the rest of their lives. Absolutely. That's my goal. My goal is to then give people information that then it's like, okay, and that's why I teach in concepts. so people meet me in the studio, they may meet me virtually, and we work together, but the exercise itself is not necessarily the gold standard, right? It's so that...

you are inside of your body enough to do whatever you want to do. So that if you're working with me and in some of the modalities that we're working in and you decide to take another modality of any kind or to go out and hike, that you understand, OK, this principle still applies to this. And so that's really my main goal is so that we understand function of our bodies. So that way, the sky's the limit around where we go, what we do.

how we choose to use it. So to me, the movement is just a way to then replenish the choice and replenish the ownership of this beautiful vessel that we're living in. It's not for me about how many pushups you do or how long you can hang. Yes, those can be goals. They can be things we work on. But it's so that, you feel like you have the strength to do whatever that you're actually desiring. And that's ultimately the why we're doing this so that

you then know what your body, how it works. not making others than the captain of your system because it's from a not knowing. But it's from, okay, yeah, I'm making choices to do this because the body's so amazing. It can do so much. And it's like, okay, great, I can push myself to the edge if I'm choosing to. But the difference between being going there because there's a choice or just going there because there's no how and you don't know how to get yourself back, that's what we're trying to come.

That's what we're trying to work for. And the body will tell you, as a yoga instructor.

teaching people how to move through their bodies and finding out what works for you and understanding that you have a choice. So you have a choice to stay where you are or you could, like you said, push yourself a little bit further. But you know your body better than anybody else. And so I can tell you what to do, but if your body is not ready to go there, then it's not gonna go. And you'll end up hurting yourself.

in the long run if you ignore you know, what your body, we call it intuition, is telling you. Yeah, and I think we particularly, I'm gonna stick to like sometimes our fitness world, and there's these mantras or things that are well-meaning and I think work for some of, you know, go hard or go home or.

no pain, no gain, you know, that sometimes can teach our systems to override those things. And yes, some things may feel discomfort in your body. And there's a difference between discomfort and pain. And as we're connecting to know the difference and distinguishing from those things or the differences of those things so that we know, okay, is this something I back away from? Is this some place to go?

lean more into so that I'm actively choosing. Am I just pushing myself or am I hurting myself? so we're working for that as an understanding. And to me then the function is what's underneath it to help us sometimes make that distinction of, okay, what is the body designed to do in the first place? Like we hear about all the things that it's not doing. So it's like, okay, well, what is it supposed to do? know, yes, I hear about my back.

when we talk about, my back hurts, or, you know, I have sciatica, or I have a herniated disc. Those are things that come into me, but it's like, okay, but what is it supposed to do in the first place? Like, I don't want to just know what it's not doing. But what is it at its best self? so I feel like if we can get to that, then we can hear, a little bit clearer. okay, well, wait. That is pushing myself to beyond where I can come back.

that is now actually pain and it's not discomfort. And you have a BFA in dance and exercise science. So there's a science to all of this. This is just not. absolutely. This is just not you saying, right, move your body. What is the science behind it? So much. In layman's terms. no, because.

Well, my science stuff, I have been studying the idea of basic neurology and how the brain itself is actually responding. And so, as I'm, when I'm making programs for people, I am looking at those things and understanding, like, okay, the body is adaptability. It's gonna adapt to the amount of force that we're putting on it. okay, are we doing that intentionally? Are we not?

I'm looking at, there's cranial nerves. You know what I mean? Like our brains, it's a phrase that everything above the body, above the neck, everything above the neck controls everything below it. So then maybe take in a moment to see, okay, how is your body actually responding to this? Not what we think, but what is it actually responding to? And just because I might think.

that this is exercise that's great for you, your body may tell me something different. So I'm doing testing to see like, okay, did your body actually like that? Or we just wanted it to like that. So I'm looking at, well, what was your response after that? And it's not just what I'm looking at. I also want you to feel it. Like, okay, do you feel a difference in your body? you, you feel a difference of now lessening of pain? Although I don't like to use pain as the marker per se, but.

are you able to feel those different distinctions? Did you get more range of motion? Are you feeling more comfortable in a space? And sometimes I can tell all of that by a way a person walk. Our walk is already an embodiment of what our brain stem is doing. Because walking is a series of reflexive actions. So it's not something that we're just thinking about. I just let you walk. Your body then is showing me, is it safe? Is it comfortable? Is it reading the room?

all of that can be reflected in something just as simple as a walk. So that's actually, when people come into me, I'm assessing their walk from the beginning. And they don't know what I'm looking at them. But I'm like, OK, cool. After we do an exercise, I may have them walk around. Because then that tells me, too, yeah, did their bodies appreciate that or did it not? All right, so when we leave here, I'm going make you walk out ahead of me.

You're gonna look at my walk and see all my trauma. You can tell so much just from a walk what's working efficiently and what's not. How your body's, like I said, how it feels safe in an environment. Yeah, a walk can tell it all. Walking is one of the hardest things that our body's doing. It's so complex. Like we take it for granted or we don't think about it because we all can do it. But it's actually a really complex action. yeah. And so, you know...

When we get injured, we realize how hard walking is. I had a discovery of how hard walking was or is when I had to have surgery on my foot, which is what took me officially off the stage from my dance career. And then I had to re-evaluate, wait, walking is not as easy as I thought it was. And so, can give me so much information. And so that's part of the science of, okay, what am I articulating? What am I seeing in this walk? What am I identifying?

It is how is his brain perceiving this space? How comfortable is this brain inside of this body? Wow. So let's go back to the injury that you said shifted your trajectory in dance and in this ministry, per se, you know, using your words. But as a dancer, are, you're an athlete. So the body goes through a lot.

But then there's the mental aspect of it as well because you're constantly going out for auditions and it's a non-competitive competitive sport or a competitive non-competitive sport. So how did you deal with?

the mental aspect of not being able to dance the way you wanted to, or the way you could have danced, you could danced before. so when I had my surgery, it was an ankle injury, it was a bone spur.

that was about to rupture one of my tendons. And we had been performing and doing all these things. it was like our last show before the company that I was dancing in was deciding to go on hiatus. So I was like, great, we're going to hiatus. This would be a perfect time for me to actually see what's wrong with this ankle. Because that last show...

My foot was so swollen, but you know, dancer is like, but I'm gonna perform anyway. Right. Because you don't listen to your body. Yes. And you push yourself. You push it to the extreme. Right. You know, and so I was like, okay, I don't care. I can't walk, but I'm gonna dance. Right. And so I finally was like, okay, let's see what's going on. I know enough about the body to know my foot's not supposed to be this big. And so when discovered, yeah, you have bone spur, you're about to rupture your ligament. All right, you need to have surgery. Great.

I actually had prepared my mind for not being able to dance. What actually took me under was the normal life stuff. Like I was like, okay, great, I'm gonna, you know, prepare, I'm not gonna be on stage, so I'm just gonna do my exercises, whatever they're gonna give me. But I wasn't prepared to not be able to walk. I wasn't prepared to figure out a way to, how was I gonna cook myself dinner on two crutches?

You know, how was I gonna get into the shower? Those things really what took me down a downward spiral. And I, for a moment there, did not know how to come back from it. I was sitting there and I was like crying every day on my couch while my friends are still touring or went on to other projects. I'm sitting in my couch, can barely move around my house. And I had to be like, okay, well, Benny, you have other stuff.

that you do want to do. I had already had to double major in dance. I'm an exercise scientist, so was like, okay, there's a whole other side of your brain. You've always been fascinated about this body. Okay, what can you learn from this? What can your body teach you about what is going on? Because the doctors pretty much told me, okay, great, you're not gonna dance. Initially they were like, yeah, you'll be back on stage in about four months. Four months came and went. Nine weeks, I was still on crutches.

So I was like, how am I still on crutches? When they were like, you're gonna get off crutches in like three weeks by a month, then you'll be back. You're gonna be ready to perform easily. So was like, great. And that wasn't happening. And I was really getting depressed and I was like, okay, well, there's another side of your brain that you didn't wanna use. What can you know? What are the things that you already knew around this idea of body work?

that you can apply. And that was another catalyst moment to me, like, okay, well, wait, I could get some certifications. I could learn more. And so that's actually what pushed me into the Pilate certification that I received. So I had already, while I was touring, had studied gyotonics. So gyro is... Now I saw that in your bio. In my head,

when I heard gyrotonics, I'm like, it's like whining aerobics. So explain to me and all the other ignorant folks out there, what is gyrotonics? So gyrotonics, I like to, just to give people the jump in there, it's almost as if yoga and Pilates had a baby. It be gyro. So what it works is the full function of the body. It works in a circular pattern.

It works with both you can lengthen and strengthen at the same time. So it works with your mobility, your flexibility, complete joint mobility inside of it to give you some strengthening. So it's everything, if you think circles and flow, that is the basis of gyro. So it was a system that was started with the ideas of using dance, swimming, yoga.

Mm-hmm put together in the with the system so there's specialized equipment for it and there's not so there's a gyro kinesis Which is you would do without any equipment and then there's a plethora of equipments that you can use For that so I had already got certified in that I got introduced to that and when I was in college Okay, I got certified in that while I was still touring because it had actually helped me redefine myself as a mover

because it was so close to what we were doing and I could just locate it in my body differently to help me as a performer. So I had already done that and so when I was at home crying, I was like, okay, well, you can do something else too. This could be an opportunity for you to learn more. And this particular Pilates certification was very anatomy based and very like into, all right, what is the body doing? So I was like, okay, well.

you have this degree, you already have this gyrotonics certification, you could learn more, you could do more. So that's when I got the Pilates certification. And then from there, I was always that annoying kid that asked why. So then after I got that, was like, but why, why does this work? And I need to know, well, what can I do about this? So then I got the Franklin method, which is a system.

that is really about function, not about necessarily a pedagogy of movement, but just like, okay, how is the body designed? How do we make it work more efficiently? And that was my first introduction to, all right, using this brain as a tool to move more effectively. So basically it's like, all right, this is my hand. What is my hand supposed to Exactly. And what else can it do? Exactly. What's the function of your hand? Okay.

Well, let's learn about all the joints. Let's learn about the ligaments. Let's learn how imagery can change how I relate to my hand, can change how my hand moves. So it was this idea of like, okay, the brain has a direct effect on how we're moving. That was my first introduction to like, wait, I know we're doing these things in dance and we use imagery and dance all the time.

But it was like now going back and understanding why it could be effective or a time that I might use it. Or then I go deeper into, well, what are the words that I'm saying? How do they affect how my body is actually working? That was the way that I actually peeled, start to peel that apart. Like, yeah, that's right, words do matter. If I start talking about how my back is feeling, tight, it's cranky, it's moving, my system feels different as I'm trying to move it when I'm saying those words to myself.

So that was kind of a way that I put together, my god, how we feel in our emotional content can change our physicality. well then now I can't just pay attention to just the physical. There's another layer of possibility here that we can shift. And so I was like, all right, well this movement thing that I'm doing, well how do I then tackle that area a little bit more? Or what am I paying attention to with that?

So I added some neuroscience and neurology of like, okay, well, what are we doing? How are our systems? What is the hierarchy of what are my eyes telling me? Why are they important? What's the importance of my inner ear working to work with people with balance?

after I got all these systems and working, I was always getting very complex people cases, so they may have neurological dysfunctions, brain injuries, knee replacements, hip replacements, and I was like, okay, well then how do I work with any of these beings that come into my space and work with them effectively and try to change as much as we can, as much as they're ready for.

And so I was like, well, then I need to know how's the brain, what is the role of this? What is a deeper role of how this is happening? Because like you said, our brain or above our, what is it, above our neck? Everything above the neck controls everything below. Controls everything below. And that's so important because the body is connected I remember,

One of my yoga instructors would always say, mind is stronger than your body. So your mind will give up first. Before your physical. Right, and so you have to push yourself. And once your mind is on board, then your body is gonna be on board. Absolutely. I often say that your brain is the painter and your body is the canvas. So how are you thinking?

what are you saying, those words that you're saying, it's painting. And that's even more so why I can use the walk as an analysis of what's going on. Because you walk into a room, when you turn the lights off, if you're scared, you don't step, just go. Your walk is tentative, you know? Because that's how you're thinking, like, I don't know if I'm safe. And so that's why we walk like that, when we don't know if we're safe. And so I can really use, that's why that walk can be such

a helpful tool to see what's happening upstairs. How are we perceiving And on our, one of our earlier episodes, spoke, I spoke to Somiari Fubara, who is a therapist, and she talked about how our bodies hold trauma and so it's important for us to not only get

mental therapy, but also be able to move our bodies because that is what's gonna help us release some of that trauma as well. this is our embodiment of how we're in this world. It is our container. It receives everything that we experience. that's why I feel like I have to take a more holistic approach if I'm trying to get sustainable results.

because we are the multiplicity of all those things living in this one container. so even though I may start off at the body, I know that safe movement is gonna lead to then you being, increase your self-esteem. When you're more balanced, then you do have more self-esteem around. I can look at, when we work with cognitive things, it can then help you process your emotions and your thinking.

You know, so like it is a deeper science to what I'm doing when someone is coming into me. Do you think your injury made you your first client? absolutely. Absolutely. made me, absolutely, it me a deeper, had to have a deeper understanding. And every time I dance now, so I don't dance full time anymore, I do projects, but.

Every time I step and I dance, to me it's a testimony because the doctors told me I wouldn't. And I literally, when I left that last doctor after it was months and months of them not listening to me, and I was saying, something's wrong, it's not progressing, something's wrong. I'm like, it's just gonna take time. And I was like, no, something's wrong. I went to another doctor and a specialist and they were like, yeah, there is something wrong. Now you have multiple ligaments. So like right now don't have ligaments in my ankle. I have like one left.

And I have neuromas, which are like neurons that are inflamed. So I have all these things that now still happen, and they were like, yeah, you should just do another surgery. And I asked them, said, would it help me dance? And they said, no, it's going to help you walk better. And I was like, I just taught myself how to walk. OK, that means, you know what? I'm going leave out of here, and I'm going to make a lie out of you. The best thing to do is tell me I can't do something, and I'm like, OK, well, I'm going to figure it out.

And so I was, I then started to enlist. I need another kind of person that looks differently about the body. And so I went to acupuncture. I did go to a different kind of PT. And then I was like, okay, there's a lot I can learn. There's a lot I can understand about the foot. And I then got obsessed with it and then realized how the foot changes everything above it. Like it's your, your foot is such, it's like your major, one of your major GPS systems.

Right. It touches the ground. gives your body information. It's how force is translated all the way up through your body. So with my foot not working, of course then I later had a hip injury or something because guess what? It wasn't efficiently absorbing that force and communicating up the chain to say, you have to activate, you have to do something. So it was down there and because it wasn't given a clear signal, the helpers above it wasn't coming in to the rescue. And so...

your feet are so important as to what they're able to do and how they can change your full system. If somebody's jaw is messed up or TMJ, where they can't open and close, I actually don't start at their jaw. I start at their foot.

Particularly the opposite foot. Now that I know how force is conducted up the body, it goes up the same side and across the body. And the end result is at the top of the head and the jaw. So I'm like, okay, well, that tells me I might need to look at your opposite foot and see if it's doing its design. I'm even now thinking everything you just said about the foot and how it receives messages and how it sends the messages to the body.

grounding and how I never thought about that part of it. Like I know we're supposed to ground. I do it and I know it's helpful but now it just puts a deeper understanding to it. Absolutely and so yeah it just makes you go my god that's why that's why that works and that's

what keeps me going because I'm like, wait, that is an effective thing, but why? And that's why I will never stop learning and probably getting another certification or anything because learning about this lovely vessel that we live in is such a powerful thing. divinity its incarnation is so amazing. And we get to be that. So I'm we get to be our balanced, optimized, vibrant, and expressive selves, right?

So segue into BOVE

So tell us about BoVe and how that started and the benefits of it and what void is it filling? BoVe is a place, like I said, I believe in the movement and I believe in the education and that's the process to our healing. So BoVe is a way for me to really do that and look at wellness as a full entity.

and not just a part in any way that I can. So I do believe that yes, when I, and particularly this is important to me as a person of color, as the more education I have, our bodies have been, I feel like, property for so long, or it's been under someone else's use for so long that it felt very important.

for me to take that back, and one way I took it back, or am taking it back, because I'm not there yet, is to continue to learn. And when I know more, then I can have a different relationship to doctors. I can have a different relationship to how I'm feeling. Sometimes just knowing, my relationship to pain can change once I know what's happening.

that's why the education to me is so important because then it allows me to be my own advocate. even when you were talking about going into the doctor's office and they're telling you that you need surgery and you're like, no, I taught myself how to walk. Absolutely, you know, and so that education piece to me is huge and that's why I wanted to create BOVE

And I've been thinking about this idea and didn't know it since I was younger because I grew up in the South and I was really close to my grandmother. And I just watched her go to the doctor and people disregard her. The older you know, and it's a thing in our society right now, the older you get, the more somehow we forget all the stuff that you've learned and all this knowledge that you have and somehow in our current society you become...

not as wonderful or you get disregarded in some way. And so I watched her go to the doctor and not be able to get answers and people just go, okay, whatever. So I experienced, I watched her as a child. I experienced that. And then my own journey with my mom who actually had a brain tumor and no one explained to her, okay, it's not your fault that you can't make these decisions. There's a tumor on that part of your brain that helps you make decisions. So it's not you. And watching me just sit her at the table,

and explain to her, no, Mom, you're okay. Your body's fine. You can't make that decision because it's on your frontal lobe, which is your decision-making process. And you can't. And watch her cry. So I was like, okay, I know. To me, that's three women, myself, my grandmother, and my mom, that the lack of education and the way that we're treated in our current system had a downward spiral of, or...

we were taught about or told what we can't do or disregarded. And I was like, okay, that has to change. What can I do to help that change? And so I started then looking at, right, what are all those things that I need that I feel like make us well? All right, there's the movement part. Yes, the movement science, which includes the education, our creative expression, you know, in one way or another. I use dance in mine, but we all...

Our brain responds differently when we're able to have some kind of creative outlet whatever that is Okay, what is the idea of? Nutrition is a part of what goes in my body right and I don't not anything good or bad But okay, am I looking at a way that it is balanced for my system? And Yeah, putting all that together. I was like, okay, this is this is why I want to create this space of bovey. I want us to

to look at how are we recovering, like I said, when things aren't going the way we intended. That is a process of our body to be able to recuperate from that or to be able to adjust. so, I say I wanted spaces where we could talk about those things, where we can experience those things, where we can look at how our vessels are responding to those things. And if it's something we want, if our bodies are responding the way we want it to, then great, we leave. If it's not, then what other choices can we make?

and have ways that we can do something about it and not just talk about it, but we can actually do something, make the shift, or have a pathway in some kind of way. And I was like, all right, well then that's what BOVE needs to be, and that's why I wanted it to be. So then I can be the driver of my own healing because of all these other things and all these other processes, but mainly because I also have ownership of my own body because I'm learning about.

my body and I'm paying attention to how I'm living in it. Right. And this is not just for dancers? No, no. Actually, of my, honestly, most of my clientele is not dancers. Okay. And no. It is for, I tell the dancers on stage and dancers of life, because we all are moving, we're all performing in one way or another. So yes, most of my clientele are dancers of life. Right.

work with conditions such as osteoporosis, scoliosis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, foot and ankle dysfunction, dysfusions, herniations, and ACL and meniscus, just to name a few. name a few, right. To name a few, so again, this is for anybody who is going through

Anything dealing with the body, basically. Absolutely. It's for rehab. It's for people that just notice different things in their bodies that they want to do something about. It's for also to keep the vitality that you have. So it's not just for the dysfunction or just for something that's not what we desire. It's also to say, OK, great. I feel good. Let's keep feeling good.

it's important, I would say, is to not only honor what's not functional, right, but to then go, okay, let me also get even better at those things that are working very well for me. Both of those things, to me, share the same importance of that we honor where we need to grow and we also honor what our genius is already doing. So. So getting back to your story,

you were prepared or you knew that you weren't going to dance, but you really weren't prepared for the path that it would take you on. what would you say to someone who had that shift in their life? a lot of times our injuries will change the trajectory of

where we think we might be going. there has to be sort of detachment from what you thought what was, or what could be, to what is now. So thinking back to how you transitioned, what would you say to someone else who may be going through something like that?

That's where I adopted, nothing's done to me before me.

I already was so interested in the body and how else would I be able to go into the intricacies of this without experiencing it? Because now it helps me in my practice every day because now I have a different kind of empathy because I'm like, know what that's, or the possibilities of that. Even if it's a condition that I don't have, I can take myself back and go, okay, well.

I've had a version of being stopped. I've had a version of having to shift. this injury honestly was, didn't feel like it at the time, was one of the best blessings that I received because I didn't even know that down the pipeline my mom was gonna get sick. me being on the road touring wouldn't allow me to then be able to be there for her. Me not going into this place of studying the body wouldn't even have been able to meet.

to help her, like even now. And giving you the language. Exactly. You were that liaison now between her and the doctors. And being able to take what the doctors were giving you, go in there and ask the right questions, because A lot of times we go into these spaces and we don't know what questions to ask. Absolutely. So being able to ask the right questions, but then being able to translate that.

and give it to your mom in a way where, she's not only able to understand it, but to also receive it. Right, and that's why I trust the process. know, it doesn't always feel good. It's kind of like when go to the gym, right? We're in the gym and we're doing, you know, our last set. We're lifting those dumbbells, right? It doesn't always feel good, but then...

Later on, if my goal is to grow my biceps and I start to see progress, I'm like, okay, that moment that didn't feel good though was meant for me to get to where I am now. And so I'm gonna say trust that process. It doesn't necessarily always feel good in the moment, but, and, it can get us to another thing and I needed that moment.

so that BOVE could exist. I needed that moment so that I could actually work on being my own medicine and putting together a team and looking at a different paradigm in how do I get to my own healing that wasn't what the doctors believed, you know, that wasn't maybe the norm of what one would think would the norm would be. I had to then go into, well, if I want to be able to dance again, what other pathways do I have? Because they've told me no.

And that process took me down this rabbit hole where I was like, yeah, and I don't ever want another person to feel like someone else is in control of their bodies or that someone else gets to define what they're able to do. And because I had that moment and I had to work through it and trust the process that I didn't know what was coming, that all right, this ankle injury was for something. All right, what did it invoke in me? What did it start in me? What did it make me curious about?

because little did I know that was actually my pathway. I wanted to be a doctor and a dancer. Okay, great. I didn't go to med school, but all of this learning allows me to have a different kind of effect that's outside of regular thinking. You know, I get to shift, I get to play, I get to say, okay, great, I know your back hurt, but let's do this eye exercise. And then watch people get out of pain. Great. And so it allows me to have some kind of flexibility that...

Me going to traditional PT school I may not be able to have, or me being under that system of what I thought healthcare would be, it allows me to step outside of that and respond to the being that's in front of me with whatever comes up. Because sometimes it's like, you know what, your back keeps going out. I've noticed when you get anxious, that's when you come in here and you feel this. Or like I have a client that's an amazing writer. When they have a story coming up, they're really fixed and their bodies are really ang- and I go, okay.

I can ask a question, do you have something going on? Do you have a story coming up? And I get to really then be able to be inside of this person and notice patterns and respond to them in a way that me being like a doctor that I imagined myself being maybe because of our current systems, I get to be able to go beyond that and I'm having so much fun. I'm having...

This is my other ministry in the sense of I feel like it helps me get closer to my purpose of actually why and the what and why I was a mover and why dance was so important to me to be able to put those worlds together. And I'm not sure I would have put them together earlier or in this way had I not had this injury. So it still goes to trust the process, know, if whatever your faith is or not, or if you believe in divine presence and whatever that means.

Okay, there's a reason why something happened. All right, what can you take from that moment? And then how does it make you pivot? speaking of trust in the process this episode Premiers on November 5th, I don't know if you know But

November 5th is election day here in the United States. Shout out to all of the listeners around the world that's listening. But here in the United States, November 5th is election day. And there's a lot of energy to say the least that's happening around that day. And we are trusting the process no matter what,

But what are some things that we can do with our bodies? What are some things that we can do to kind of just help us move through whatever is happening in our heads and in our bodies at the time? Yeah, one of the simplest things is

Drink water. Keep our systems hydrated. That is something that I feel like we don't do enough and that can have a huge effect on how our systems respond. Of course, anything that we can do with breathing. Lots of noticing. Honestly, your body is giving you all kinds of answers and responses. notice...

what they are. If you've been sitting for a while, get up and move, or just move intentionally. If we're feeling anxious, any kind of, move intentionally, it helps your body then go, okay, well wait, it can't be bad if I'm able to move. We can even do things even with our eyes. Like when I think about using our peripheral vision, it's like when our screens and things, we tend to stare at them and it.

It's almost like okay. We were getting chased by a tiger You're not gonna be looking around You're gonna be trying to find a way out right and sometimes That's what our only staring at the screen or only looking in one Place can actually make us feel like okay your body's like well wait what's going on? can't take in the room so even something as simple as all right I'm gonna take in as much of the room as I can I'm just gonna get up and put my favorite song and move and that's the thing the body

The same way we don't like to eat the same food every day, even if it's our favorite food, mine is macaroni and cheese. But if I ate macaroni and cheese every day, my body's gonna be like, okay, I've had enough. So if we do the same thing, being in one position, your body is like, okay, I've had enough. so even sometimes just getting up, putting on our favorite song and just moving around will do wonders for our...

our bodies, places that we have the most joints, so like our hands and our fingers and our spine, right? We have receptors in those areas that then release this idea, you can feel better, right? And those are all the areas that are, the mechanoreceptors is what they're called. And so if we can just move those, that's an easy way to get a huge payoff on a little bit.

Like the little goes a long way. So any of those areas, your feet, your pelvis, your spine, just move them. It's gonna just change your perspective. It's gonna just change then how your body is able to relate to itself. And so even if it's just twilling in our thumbs as we watch what happens, little things like that, believe it or not, goes a long way that we can have a sustainable shift in our bodies. And those are just some quick ones that I think about.

so stay hydrated. They hide your body move your body. Don't sit there. Just stare at the screen Take in peripheral of it, you know take in the whole room invite breath into your body and spend some time with our social connections matter Right. And so yeah, call somebody go take a walk with somebody watch the results with someone so that way

You know, that energy does matter, and that is part of our wellness system, I believe, how we socially connect. And so yeah, socially connect with someone in that moment. And also, like you said, don't just stare at screen, but look around for ways to get out. Right. Just in case in case. Just in case. On that note, I think we're going to get out of here. Thank you.

Thank you, Bennalldra for coming through and please, please, please tell the folks out there how they can, Yes. Get in contact with you. Yes, you can get in contact with me at BeBOVE.com I'm also on Instagram as Benaldir. I work in here in New York, in Chelsea, but I do...

work virtually so the world is my playground. So yeah, if you email me or info at BeBOVE.com or go on my website at bboboe.com. And you get flued out too. Yes. I'm sure. That is. This is an international show. So she is welcome to, she will come to a city near you. Yes, I will come to a city near you. So again, thank you.

for joining us today. Thank you everybody for listening here. And all of her information is going to be in the show notes down below. So you can make sure you check those out as well. So Trust the Process is what I'm hearing. I think that's the name of the show. Yes, Trust the Process. And as always, I want to remind you to choose joy, lead with love.

and find your peace. I am Spry Lee Scott. I am your host. And this is how y'all healing. Thank y'all and we out. Peace.

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