 Welcome to Much More on Medicine on the ThinkTac Live Streaming Network series broadcasting from our downtown studio at Pioneer Plaza in downtown Honolulu. I'm your host, Catherine Noor. Much More on Medicine is an opportunity to learn about all aspects of health care. I talk with guests about medical and alternative care treatment, insurance, medication, surgery, rehabilitation prevention, and Much More. Joining me in the studio is Stephanie Galey to talk about breath and movement with intention. Stephanie Galey is a professional tandem surfer and a certified personal trainer. She's also a Pilates instructor. Stephanie and I, we actually met when I was regional coordinator of officials for USA Triathlon. She was one of my officials, so I've known her for a while, and actually she came over to my home and taught me some exercises before. Welcome, Stephanie. Good to be here, Catherine. It's great to be here with you, and I understand you are a professional tandem surfer. Yes, I am. How long have you been doing that? Well, I began in 2009, so about 10 years now. Oh my gosh, okay, so what is tandem surfing? Tandem surfing is where there is a board that's about 11, 12 foot long, and the man paddles, and the woman too, and almost like ice skating. So the lifts are acrobats. We do acrobats, but the whole part is being on a surfboard with each other. That's an amazing part of it. So it's like ice skating, but on a surfboard. Were you a surfer before you started doing that? No, I was not. I knew nothing about surfing, but I had a lot of water knowledge because I did the whole red cross swimming, and I like guarded poolside for a while, so I wasn't afraid of the water, but the surfing part was all new to me. Oh, that's pretty interesting. So did you have to, you paddle out with your partner? Yes, we start from the shore, and the girl gets in front, and the man gets behind, and then you get, you time your paddling with each other, and you paddle out, and to catch a wave, the man will call out, partner will call out, okay, paddle, and then stand up, and there's a technique to how you jump up and get onto the board and start riding away. Okay, so let's, I'm sure that our audience would love to see what this looks like. So let's bring up picture one. Okay, so now is that you being held up? Yes, that is me. Okay, so what, was this a competition? This was a Duke's Ocean Fest. I'm not sure what year, and that is my partner Travis Long from California. We're a pretty good size wave, and that lift is called an arabesque, so it's a ballet move. Pretty much the background comes from, I did ballet and gymnastics when I was growing up, and that helped a lot with knowing how to get into these lifts and being flexible and having this strength. Okay, so when you, how, how is he able to lift you up in that position? Because it seems to me like that you might be kind of dead weighted if you don't do it right, is that right? Yeah, there's a, there's a lot of technique to it, and now when you look at the pictures, it's like how do you get there? Well, you paddle together and you both stand up together, and it's almost like riding a motorcycle. So I'll push all of my weight back onto him, and he become, we become one. He steers the board, and I'm pretty much just going with the flow. To get into a lift, there's difference transitions, and that we learned on land, we're coached at the gym. We have great, a great community of people that get together where we practice. Well, the lifts, for that lift, I actually turn around and face him, and I put my arm around his shoulder, but the important part is that there's a down up. So we both kind of go down, and then we both jump into the air. We don't time it right, then I'll weigh about 200 pounds. If timed properly, then it's effortless, and the transitions are effortless. Okay, and today we're going to be talking about breathing and moving with intention. So when do you, when you do this? Is that what you're doing? Oh, yes. Yes, there's a lot. I'm a Pilates instructor, so that really helps with, and a trainer. But everything goes out the door in a contest. It's pretty amazing, because we practice and practice, but when you put adrenaline and nerves with it during a contest, we forget, as as many of us do, when stress hits in. But yes, you're supposed, you breathe, when you're paddling for the wave, that's a whole different, that's cardio and and muscling. And then going into the lift, you need to be a little bit pliable and simple, not so stiff. That's where it becomes such an amazing sport. There's strength and grace and flexibility. It's very extreme in all aspects. Fantastic. Now let's move to picture two. Okay. Now is that you? That is me. Okay, and and tell us about this picture. This is Makaha. Amazing, an amazing year. Remember it very well. That is Augustine Constantino, my partner. And we were doing buffaloes. That year, the waves were 18 to 22 feet. Probably the first time that tandem did this surf in these conditions with such big waves, but it was amazing. Just the feel of being in the air like that. And of course, that's called a swan. That lift was a swan. Pretty much you're in a cradle, like how a person cradles a baby, and then they kind of throw you over the shoulder like a sack of potatoes. My work is to be very, very stiff and still so they don't tip the board over. Okay. And in Makaha, the waves are really big there, aren't they? They're amazing. Yes, that time of the year. When they hold the buffaloes out December, January, February. Okay. Now let's look at picture three. Okay. And can you tell us about this picture, please? This is Duke's Ocean Fests. I'm with Todd Robertson. And that lift is called a back angel on a pretty beautiful wave, what they call shoulder high wave. I'm not sure. I think we placed that year fourth podium in Duke's Ocean Fests. Okay. Which is quite an honor. Yes. All right. That's a difficult lift. That's an extreme. It's an extreme lift. It's an extreme lift. Okay. So you had high points, a lot of points for difficulty. Yes, the way I were ITSA is how is what we surf under the organization. And we have a lift chart where they'll have like low level, level one lifts, level two, level three, and, and the extremes of the lifts you get scored on lifts and off also surfing ability. Okay. And, and let's look at the last picture, please. Okay. Oh, wow, you look fantastic in that picture. And what are you doing there? That is kind of one arm back. That's my partner Travis Long at Cardiff Reef. We won first place at that contest, the photographer, Santa Sol Garcia. And I'm sorry to not mention on the first on a couple of the prior photos, Jerry Jarmillo is a photographer on those. Oh, true. I have to mention him because these guys are amazing to just capture us sure in our moments. We're very thankful. Okay. And so let's go back to picture four. And so what, what is that competition? That's Cardiff Reef. Swami's at Cardiff Reef. And that's Travis Long. This lift is called the one arm back. Okay. And that's a beautiful lift. It doesn't score high points, believe it or not. But it's an amazing photograph shot. And also it's amazing for the man to surf with the woman, because he kind of uses your leg as a lever. And it's easy to steer and women can stay in that lift for a pretty long time. Oh, okay. And how long do you usually stay in a lift? They three seconds. So there are points when you surf professionally. The woman has to weigh half the size of the man. Okay. Lifts have to be held for three seconds. Otherwise, they're not counted. Okay. And you have to have two feet touch the board when you land. Hmm. Yeah. Reminds me of gymnastics when you the way we see the gymnast land with sticking a landing. Yes. Yes. So do they call it that? Or what do they call it when you stick that landing? Sticking a landing. Pretty much because they'll still count it. But sometimes you'll your foot will slip off the board. You might have a fall. If you have two people fall completely in the water, they're not going to score that lift. Okay. So the woman's feet one foot has to touch the board. Okay. Now, you are a grandmother. Is that correct? Catherine. So I am. Yeah. So you are you've been doing this for quite a while. And you have demonstrated a lot of longevity in this. Okay. And so we're going to get to that a little bit later. But what I want to ask you is I understand you also have some certifications as a trainer and and also Pilates. Why don't you tell us about that? Oh, I can. Well, I started off as a nail technician. Okay. Back in the in 89 when my first child was born, bringing it up to part 2005 I wanted to change occupations as like I'm sitting for a long time. I want to do something different. So I got into fitness. And I got certified in aqua therapy and worked with the mermaids at YWCA here on Richard Street in Hawaii, and then went to YMCA of Honolulu, and became a personal trainer and a Pilates instructor. And it's it saved my life in being able to help others. The more I I take care of myself and learn these neat things, the more I want to share with others and it's just keeping people healthy and happy and letting them know never to give up. And if you have a dream, go for it. Don't let anything stop you. So that's where that's kept me healthy. And and the more you exercise, the more your body just craves food to eat right and sleep and and feeling good about yourself. And and so when we see you being lifted up, we see your body and it's phenomenal. And so what you're doing is you're showcasing that at any age, you can be the best you can be by exercise, diet, good sleep, and, you know, nutritional food, is that right? Absolutely. Fantastic. Well, I thought, you know, my hope is that people can be inspired. And the reason why I really wanted to showcase your your work as a professional tandem surfer is to inspire people. And, you know, I think that's really exciting to people that they think even a grandmother could do that and look as great as you do. So okay, we're taking a short break. I'm Catherine Norr. This is much more on medicine on the think tech live streaming network series. We're talking with Stephanie Gailey about breath and movement with intention. Aloha, my name is Victoria and I'm a host at the Adventures in Small Business. 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In Health Hawaii, why don't you tell us about what you do for In Health Hawaii? In Health Hawaii, I'm contracted out to work at I teach classes at the Hyatt, and I also train people in my own home and then Poo by Fitness. I have my website, they help me out with my website and whatnot. So I, I love Pilates Reformer. And I love Pilates, classic Pilates. It's it's, it's almost it's a little bit lower than having a physical therapist. I want to say lower. I'm like having a physical therapist. Pilates, it's stretching and strength. And we go by breath, put with the movement, and taking that, that discipline into daily living with sitting in your car, working at your desk, the different sports, surfing, my tandem surfing, tennis, golf, Pilates can be used for everything. Okay, so I'm someone who sits at my desk a lot. Okay, why don't you tell me what kind of things I can do to incorporate some movement and intention with breath into what I do? What I see, I work with clients a lot. And what I see is they are, they're always at their desk and you've got your hands out in front and you're kind of slumping. What you, what I'd like you to do is find your sit's bones and sit up straight. They do say the shoulders up back and down. When you breathe, inhale through your nose. And as you exhale, lift the chest. So you would do four breaths, inhale, and exhale. And one more. And then keep lifting. Now the reason that's important is if you're not paying attention, the body is going to be at your desk and your breathing, and you take your one hand, inhale, and then you slump your neck, inhale, slump. And that's what brings everybody forward through ages 70 and 80 of the spine can't hold up anymore. I could show you one really good exercise. Please do. I'd like to see it. Okay, if you're at your desk, you're going to take your two this put them together. And then you're going to hold your shoulders. I'm pressing very tightly with my, my hands together. I'm going to inhale and bring the head forward. And then exhale. Take my ear to my shoulder, and then inhale. Pull the neck up straight. Exhale forward. Inhale down. Exhale to the side. Inhale up. Exhale, center. Inhale forward. Release your position. Right there. You put the breath with the movement. And also you're bringing your posture, your thoracic spine up and giving your neck a good workout. That's a little exercise that would go a long way. Wake you up. You won't have neck pain anymore and shoulders right in the posture right. And how often would you do that exercise to have optimize it? I've always thought it'd be really cool to have a timer on people's computers that alarmed 15 15 to 30 minutes. Okay, so you're going to do that. That's going to be your invention where you have and then a little a little video of you will come up and go okay, it's time to breathe. I thought you exactly it's gonna let's do our breathing and take a drink of water. Okay, okay. Why why breathing and taking a breath of water and pausing? I've noticed and with myself too, I've learned a lot from injuries and my miss my own mistakes that we're fighting is going so fast. And we don't know how to settle down and stress. You've got a project that's thrown on your desk or you're driving in the car and you have to take your late school. So everybody's up here with their shoulders and they're breathing right about here. And two and what that does is it releases cortisol and stress and just all these not good chemicals that throw your whole body out of whack. So to take that time to settle down and use your breath which be an inhale, filling up the beat back of the ribcage in the diaphragm. And then as you exhale, a contraction should happen where the stomach pulls back towards the spine. I don't like saying belly button to slide, but it does contract. And you do about eight of those breaths. And it brings you back to center. Okay, if not, what happens is it's like a backwards breathing, you inhale, the stomach goes inwards, and you exhale, the stomach goes out. What I like is have people at least test themselves. You know, for the people at home, I would say, try it out. Okay, where your breath is going. Okay, Stephanie, I just asked you to move your ponytail a little bit so that we hear you better. Okay, thank you. Okay, so do you have another exercise you would like to share with us? Another one, when I did lifeguarding, a lifeguard actually taught me this. You're sitting at your desk and your eyes are getting tired, you would just not touch your opposite hand to your body, but with this hand, you take it over. Just hold for 18 seconds. Okay, time it because it takes about 18 seconds for the blood to completely circle, brought it artery. Okay, then as you let go slowly release, and then do the opposite side, hand goes over. Okay. And then slowly read. Oh, wow. Okay, so you feel bright and a little bit woken up. Of course, the next stretch again. Now, as a professional tandem surfer, I imagine you have quite a workout program. So can you tell us a little bit about what you do? Oh my goodness, I do a lot. I do Pilates, and I have a reformer that I do work on. What's what's reformer? Reformer is a machine that was invented by Joseph Pilates. It's really interesting. He actually was held as prisoner of war in World War Two by the Germans to rehab their soldiers. So he tore apart the beds and use springs and the frames and made a piece of equipment that you lay, you lay on instead of standing. And most of the exercises are done that way. The reason is when you stand when you're standing, you have 100% of gravity on your spine. When you lay down, it goes to 0% gravity. You can turn off the bossy muscles and start working the deep intrinsic muscles throughout the body. And that's another thing that's happening is people are our quadriceps, our thighs are strong, our arms are strong. But we're lacking all the muscles that support the spine. And I see it with children in our schools and all the devices that they're playing on with the slouching and the head forward, we're not meant to be in that position. If not corrected, it leads to chronic pain. And that's another reason why people are not breathing. It all goes together. When we're in pain, we don't breathe. And when we're stressed, we don't breathe. So it's take time out to have to move with intention to breathe with intention means when you're going to your workout classes and your circuit classes, your hit classes, CrossFit, you really slow down and be aware of what you're doing, you'll wear of how you're breathing, you will get fast and you will become strong. You have to have that foundation set first. I learned that with myself, I was go go going and I ended up being very injured in a contest. So brought me back to basics, but it opened my eyes to know that you have to build build first from the ground up. So you need these as fundamentals. Absolutely. Okay, that's what they are principles and fundamentals. That's how Pilates goes. There's seven principles and they go from precise, fluid, controlled control. A G was a big word that Joseph use in his classic Pilates. And it makes so much sense. I like to tell people that their upper body is like a two by four. And the hip girdle is another two by four, we pretty much just have Lego pieces snapped in. So you can either move in different parts or you can pull everything together and use the core of the body. And the core is not just the tummy, not just abdominals. It includes the shoulder girdle and the hip girdle, which when you do these small movements, but you do them with intention, you'll save yourself from hip surgeries and knee surgeries, shoulder problems. Yeah, is it too late if if you're a grandmother and you start at that point? Oh, my goodness. Never too late. I love. Never too late. I love it. And I want to inspire people to know that you can be 70 and be like, Oh, okay, I want to try that out. And go and do that. Find that Pilates class or find that instructor that motivates you and inspires you. Find something new. There's there's always something to learn. Well, it's a process. It's not something that you're going to do it a few classes and have major changes. You have to do it for ongoing, right? Yes, definitely have continuity. Yes. Okay. Okay, consistency, discipline, discipline of determination, and a schedule, like right out on the calendar, right? Well, what I've done in terms of I did 200 classes at 24 hour fitness in one year, and I put an X on my calendar each time and then I counted them all up for the year and it happened to be 201 something like that. But it was that X on the calendar of, you know, that really helped me a lot in getting into going to classes, right to see the accomplishment. Right. And I always hope you don't don't think of the end goal, think of the short term goal. Sure. And have and then just go be present. Right. Be present. So in being present, the breathing is definitely something that's important. If you're like present, you're thinking about breathing, right? Yes, present and intention. Every move. I like to slow people down because they'll be like, I just want to get this over with and go fast. And I'm like, I'm really happy if you do two really good ones. Because if you do eight really fast ones, the next six might be terrible and your body is not in the in that perfect position. That's going to work all the muscles properly. Well, you've told you've taught us so much today and inspired us. And okay, we're out of time. And we'll have to wrap it up. I'm Catherine nor this is much more on medicine on the think tech live streaming network series. We've been talking with Stephanie Gailey about breath and movement with intention. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you to our broadcast engineer, our floor manager and to J Fidel, our executive producer who puts it all together. Please join us for a future think tech production. Aloha.