Darin Smalls
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ABOUT ME

I am a Nutritious Movement Certified-Restorative Exercise Specialist, a MovNat Level 2 Trainer, and a yoga instructor. These methods of movement have shaped who I am and I love sharing them with other people. 

​Two threads have woven the fabric of my life – movement and rewilding. I used to see them as separate threads. Playing volleyball and basketball in a gym, running the streets through my neighborhood, and doing yoga on a mat moved my body so I could “stay fit”. Learning to prepare herbal concoctions, make fire with a bowdrill, and where to find wild mushrooms moved my mind so I could get in touch with the ancestral side of my human.


What I didn’t realize for a long time was that these two threads were inextricably linked. Human bodies are meant to move. They’re meant to move a lot. And they’re meant to move because ancestrally, movement was how we survived. Movement was how we hunted, gathered, made fire, cooked, helped community, and played. Moving our bodies in this consistent and varied way is much different than our current cultural model of moving, which is often limited to a few repetitive or highly specialized activities, done in condensed “exercise” chunks throughout the week, while remaining sedentary the rest of the time.

Once I realized this, I shifted my movement focus to encompass more of my day and include a wider variety of activities, that is ever-expanding as I remember how to be more wild at the same time. Digging clams is delicious, and a great way to move more. Collecting medicine from the woods keeps me healthy, and is a great way to move more. Lighting a solstice fire with a bow drill is magical, rooted in tradition, and a great way to move more. 
 
Unfortunately, we live in a world that is stripped of movement possibilities. From a young age, we walk on flat pavement, sit in chairs and cars, and stare at screens with our hands in the same position on the keyboard for hours at a time. Because of this, our bodies need some help moving back to our natural state. This is why I practice and teach Restorative Exercise, MovNat, and yoga. These methods of movement help our bodies recover their full-body potential so we can be strong, graceful, pain-free, resilient, and WILD. ​
P.S. - I love food that is nourishing to my body in a deep way, and eat a (mostly) paleo diet. I blog about backpacking paleo trail food over at Paleo Traileo!
live in the sunshine. swim in the sea. drink in the wild air.
-emerson

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  • Home
  • About
  • Methodologies
    • Restorative Exercise
    • MovNat
    • Yoga
  • Get Started
    • Contact