Nicole Frolick - Inflexible Me: Expanding Past the Inflexible Barriers of the Body, Mind, and Soul

"Over the past 20 years, I've had massages from over 100 massage therapists - and none of them come close to the work of Nicole Frolick. She's been the most knowledgeable, most professional therapist I've ever worked with. During my treatments she would explain the issues scientifically, based in physiology and mechanics. I learned more about the human body during our sessions than all my other sessions combined. She also provided me with preventative tools, exercises and stretches to avoid issues in the future. I would highly recommend Nicole."

~ Giovanni Marsico , Toronto, Canada

"I can confirm that I received enormous benefit from my stretching sessions with Nicole. My lingering back pain has all but disappeared."

~ Julian Reddyhough , Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

"Working with Nicole for the last 6 years has taught me much about my body in our yoga sessions. She has helped me understand the important role my mind plays in how my body responds to yoga. Frustrated with an ankle injury that has never healed quite right, Nicole helps me to see the lesson in body acceptance and patience. But her work goes beyond the mat. Her guidance has shown me the power behind compassion for myself and others, and I am always grateful for our practice together."

~ Robert Foster , Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

"Even before the end of my first appointment with Nicole I knew I had finally found a massage therapist who would actually listen to their clients' needs and adapt their routine to achieve the desired results; unlike others Ive used who'd just continue with a routine thats well rehearsed. With a few recurring muscular issues due to old injuries, bad posture, and past and present professions, I knew each week that with Nicoles experience, knowledge, varying techniques, and pressure, I would always be pain and knot free by the end of my deep tissue massage. I also asked for help with stretching out muscles that regularly became tight after training at the gym or sitting at the computer for long periods of time. To achieve this, Nicole guided me through her method for improving flexibility, which gave me a much better muscle stretch than achieved before and improvements were noticeable after the first session. I consider myself very fortunate to have had Nicole as my massage therapist during her time working in the Cayman Islands and its going to prove very hard to find someone whos not only as professional, friendly, and kind but also has the same commitment to improving their clients well being."

~ Gary White , Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

"We weren't conscious that we had these muscles in our bodies! It's an anatomical masterclass; she plugs into our bodies and knows what we need better than anyone else. We want more; it's addictive!"

~ Nancy Marino and Tom Copp , Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

"Nicole takes the time to listen to your story about what is hurting or bothering your body, working to target that area and the body as a whole. Any new clients will be in very capable hands and have no regrets."

~ Mary Anne and Dave Sharpe , Calgary, Canada

inflexible me

"The moment you change your perception,

is the moment you rewrite the chemistry

of your body."

Dr. Bruce Lipton

Have you ever considered trying a yoga class but fear that youre too inflexible for yoga? Do you believe that yoga just isnt for you? Are you afraid that youre not good enough to be in a yoga class filled with superstar yogis bending their bodies in ways you could never dream of? Are you afraid of being judged for your inadequacies because your body simply doesnt bend that way?

This book is for everyone, but its especially dedicated to those who are inflexible and afraid of trying a yoga class because of their inflexibility. Yoga can be extremely intimidating for inflexible people who believe yoga is for the flexible kind. I should know because I was that person. I would internally curl up into a ball (an inflexible ball) at the mention of trying yoga. I firmly believed yoga wasnt for me because I wasnt the flexible type. Touch my toes? I couldnt even bend over to reach past the bottom of my shins. It was embarrassing.

To my inflexible readers who know the struggle: How many times has yoga been suggested to you with great promises of curing your inflexibility? Probably more times than you care to remember. Ill bet money that you, too, cringed at the mention of this mere suggestion. To anyone who isnt familiar with physical inflexibility, yoga is downright terrifying. When inflexible people are asked to try yoga, the sound is equivalent to nails on a chalkboard. Yes. Its that excruciating of a sound. Listening to people talk about yoga was never the problem. In fact, I was intrigued by the yoga culture. But as soon as yoga and I became part of the same sentence, a symphony of alarm bells went off in my mind and body: Run, run before they actually convince you to take a damn yoga class!

In my experience, inflexibility isn't addressed in a way that serves us inflexible people well. And yes, I include the general yoga community in that statement. There seems to be a general consensus that you're either born with it or you're not, that flexibility is genetic. Is it true? I know that I believed it to be true for the majority of my life. I wholeheartedly believed that I was genetically inflexible. There was nothing that I could do to change my fate, so this belief became my truth. And happens to be the truth for many other inflexible people. Whats interesting about this belief is the level of convenience to its believer. It removes all responsibility from the person addressing their own inflexibility.

If youre someone whos genetically blessed with flexibility, youre capable of excelling at various physical activities such as gymnastics and dance. The sort of activities that seem impossible for an inflexible person to execute. An inflexible person doesn't have such options available to them. However, what a flexible person may not be aware of is that inflexible people can't even perform some of the simplest day-to-day activities without struggling. Take sitting, for example. You heard me right. Sitting. If you asked one of us to sit on the floor in a cross-legged position, most of us would become quite uncomfortable after a short period of time--and thats pending being able to get into that position in the first place. Our hips and knees are usually too tight, creating a large amount of stress on our spine to remain upright. Lets face it. Our bodies are not partial to bending.