March 14, 2017

Meet Kristina Macias of Primal Coding in Venice Beach

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Macias.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My journey into movement started at a young age, from soccer to track and cross country I was always on the move. In college I studied Kinesiology and after graduating became a personal trainer which is where my journey into the world of strength truly began – learning the art of power lifting, strength training, mobility, and learning how to heal and be patient with myself and the world.

A few years after college I began to work as an exercise physiologist for fire and police populations across Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego county. I would perform exercise testing as well as lecture on subjects such as strength, mobility, agility. Around the same time I began my Kinesiology graduate studies at Cal State University, Fullerton. In parallel to my graduate studies I began integrating breath, yoga and meditation and energy work into my mind/body practices as I was healing myself from an ACL surgery. These environments began to integrate together, I was gaining knowledge of the east and west, and working with a population that was looking for new ways to deal with their stressful environments. I began to make connections between the two practices, understanding the science behind the healing.

As a result I created a class called “Breath Control is Stress Control”, and began to show the men and women of the fire and police populations how to use breath to control their reactions to their environment, reduce stress, create strength, relieve pain, and manage their mind and body so that they may have longevity in their careers. This lecture has transformed over the years, shifting and changing as my knowledge expands. I began to see that there was a subtle layer missing in the way we teach modern fitness, yoga, lifting, sports… There was little to no discussion of the breath and if there was, it was very general, and the breath is anything but.

I can tell you that if you are able to convince fire and police populations to breathe to better their help you can pretty much convince anyone. 😉

Currently, I have clients that range from individuals who want physical strength, to those healing from chronic pain and have “tried everything”, to individuals who want to learn mediation, reiki, or quantum touch (a healing modality where I can shift bones with my breath), the common thread is the nervous system. When we control our physiology (how our body reacts to our internal and external environments), we can achieve the strength, healing, and/or understanding of self that is desired.

This year is focused on creating a map of breath so that people are able to build a daily practice based on what they need. Giving people another way to access knowledge of self. I will also go to Spain to do research in the field of Rock Climbing (my thesis was also in rock Climbing), bringing breath for recovery and performance to the athletes of the sport. And of course climb and high line (Slacklining across mountain tops) across Europe.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No road worth traveling is smooth, but I have definitely begun to find flow in my reality. Starting my own business was not easy, I believe everything that I have done in the past decade has prepared me for this part of the journey. I can say that all of my clients have found me through word of mouth, no advertising has been done, so far. My passion for what I teach oozes from my every pore, my clients feel and experience it.

As an entrepreneur you must have a neutral reaction to the downs as well as the ups. I have found this to be the most important. My reactions dictate the flow of my reality.

Please tell us about Primal Coding.
Primal Coding is about re-learning the natural rhythms of the body, the breath and movement patterns we once knew. I am not trying to re-create the wheel, it is just my version/translation of the principles or the truths that are taught across all practices. Primal Coding uses the principles to teach others how to control the nervous system, create true core strength, paths to a meditative or “flow state”, and a stronger more powerful self in all aspects of your life, because how we do one thing is how we do all things…

There are foundational breathing patterns that must be understood so that our body is truly getting the oxygen it needs, otherwise all the movement, nutrition, and water will be negated with each negative breathing pattern. This type of self- awareness is built with focused attention, repetition, and patience over time. By slowing down and performing what I call “body-mapping” we feel into the boundaries of our breath and movement, creating space in our mind and bodies, which expands our bodies physical capacity or stress. There is also the acknowledgment that this space is sometimes uncomfortable and remembering that transformation lies at the end of our comfort zone.

The principles of Primal Coding are rooted in the science and yogic philosophies I have studied and my own experiences distilled down into an ever evolving, readable map. Each person must start by carving out mobility, strength and power of the breath, learning the intricacies of each inhale, exhale, and the space in between. Then moving to the spine, we build awareness of how each vertebrae moves, so that we may earn the right to use our limbs. Then we will have a true foundation of strength and awareness in which to carve out the primal patterns (hanging, crawling, rolling, etc.) that lead to patterns of strength and power, which leads to endless possibilities! Each individual’s journey to their true strength is different, I guide others to finding the right path to a better understanding of self, through experience.

One of the many results of the Primal Coding practice is the ability to freely and knowingly enter a state of flow, or be “in the zone”. You have probably experienced this in sports, reading, writing, dancing, etc., it is a state of timelessness, a place where you are not moving but being moved, and a state that leads to happiness. Getting to this place requires the challenge to match the skill, effort must be given to receive this rewarding feeling of happiness, leading to longevity. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says it best in Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience,

“Most enjoyable activities are not natural; they demand an effort that initially one is reluctant to make. But once the interaction starts to provide feedback to the persons skill; it usually begins to be intrinsically rewarding.”

When we are able to go through life linking flow state experiences we are able to achieve a happier existence.

Primal Coding is not another fad class, it is just one more doorway to a deeper understanding, a deeper experience…

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
The days spent snowboarding with my dad and brother in mammoth. My dad taught me to enjoy a challenge.

Me: Daaaad, I don’t want to go out in the storm…
Dad: Get your gear on! When the storm passes in an hour we will be the only ones on the slopes and have the freshest powder!!
Me: ok

I learned that the storm always passes, and it usually isn’t as bad as you think it will be.

When I would snowboard with my Dad he was always challenging me, teaching me to manage my board, my mind, my body and knowing he was there with his “dad pro” (an old school video camera) filming me eat shit, that was enough motivation for me to find that flow state.. 😉

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