If you were to stand on one leg, for as long as you can, what would you notice?
Would you hold your breath to keep upright?
Tense up somewhere to stay still?
Tighten to stop wobbling about?
Maybe you’d fix your eyes, grit your teeth, brace your shoulders…to stop yourself
losing balance and falling over?
Try it.
You have an awesome, intelligent structure. (Your body)
It does pretty incredible stuff.
Constantly seeking to maintain and return to homeostasis (a balanced state), whilst
responding and adapting to constant change.
Intricately designed to be optimised and sustained in movement.
Our musculoskeletal system beautifully supports this.
And is nourished, hydrated and primed for efficient functioning, through..yes
movement.
Back to standing on one leg.
So, because of our design
balance is not a fixed position or point in time.
Rather a dynamic, ever adapting, way of being.
That responds
to the task
or function at hand.
How we feel.
What we believe.
Balance is movement.
It is an expansive state and more multi- faceted than we think.
Posture is too (by the way…but for another time)!
Movement begins in the brain
And is regulated in the nervous system.
We live with loud
ramped-up
nervous systems.
Fed (in part) by chronic unconscious tension and stress
that accumulates over time.
Have you ever been somewhere so loud
you couldn’t hear yourself think?
It’s the same with our nervous system.
Too much background noise
and you can’t “hear yourself feel!”
Move away from pushing yourself into a fixed state or shape.
Balance is a moving, breathing, state-of-being.
A playful, learning perspective through movement.
Not a right/wrong, good/bad perspective.
Fixed in time.
Moving with attention
Noticing difference
Grows new neural pathways.
Creates possibility for new abilities
And for change to emerge.
More on how to do that next time!
Movement is key. Movement is LIFE. Movement is FREEDOM.
Until then
How can you playfully move into and out of balance?
It’s part of living life after all.
Ruth x
Here’s some standing on one leg music from Andrew Bird to playfully move in and
out of balance and see where it takes you…
Find balance with the Feldenkrais Method, where movement with awareness cultivates and strengthens the connection between body and mind. If you would like to learn more about how I can help you move with ease and do what you love with comfort and confidence, do get in touch. I'd love to hear from you.
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