An easy way to describe 24-year-old Halle Meadows is as a beautiful mover. She comes from a diverse background of dance, lacrosse, CrossFit, and yoga. Through her husband who owned the gym Recess (now closed), she was introduced to movement and flow exercises such as parkour, animal locomotion, and obstacle course racing. In December last year, Halle took her workouts up a level with mace training.
The mace is a steel weapon that dates back 50,000 years, and it has most of the weight at the end of the handle. She says, “It’s a dance of finding your balance with an imbalanced tool by applying isometric tension and torque while training the mind-body connection through proprioception (knowing where your body is in space in relation to the tool itself).”
Breathing is an essential part of the practice because of the tension it puts on your body. Over time, the imbalance restructures the body’s relationship with stress. It’s a physical practice of push and pull, yin and yang. “It’s only a 10-pound tool, and I was fascinated by my body’s response to the learning curve when I began. I considered myself plenty strong and able-bodied. This tool has a funny way of shoring up weaknesses in our thoughts and our bodies we haven’t noticed or addressed. It’s a slice of humble pie.”
Halle’s practice is rooted in a lineage called Steel Mace Flow, founded by Leo Savage, and she’s now a certified coach in the methodology. Her passion lies in inspiring others to explore self expression and become the best and most authentic version of themselves through movement.
It’s a playful and challenging workout. Among this unique and supportive community, no artist flows quite like another. Halle embodies strength and elegance in her workouts and in her work with clients. She advises beginners to enjoy the process of learning. Steel Mace Flow has a robust online community and online classes. Halle also offers private lessons on Zoom or in person around Memphis.
In her personal practice, she takes a different approach that aligns with her feminine flow. She honors her body by altering her routine according to the different phases of her menstrual cycle. Some phases imbue the body with energy, while others require more rest. Halle’s usual routine consists of dancing and crawling every day. She also rides her bike, practices martial arts kicking and strikes, does strength training, and flows. Flowing with the mace is a form of moving meditation. She supplements with yin yoga and breathwork for their restorative benefits.
All of this cumulates in self love and a sense of kindness and compassion that points inward. Her approach addresses physical and mental health as intertwined. She says it best with, “Beautiful movement to me is healing medicine.”
By Lillian Kay
Photo by Tindall Stephens
