A couple months ago, I was scrolling through Instagram and saw this post:
I had, a short while before, begun to consider that I was not breathing as deeply as I could, physically. I was noticing that I was not utilizing my diaphragm but instead breathed up into my shoulders. This sounds like a silly thing to focus on, that is until you notice this means that the rest of your body suffers and, if you believe in what this post talks about, the rest of the layers of yourself also suffer because you are not filling it with one of the basic nutrients that it requires, Oxygen. I saw this post and I realized that the triggering of this contemplation was not by accident. I was moving into a very important part of my training. I was learning how (and why) it was vital that I stand up for myself in all the ways. I was being asked to step up my practical application of the body mechanics (which I understood well) so that the rest of the pieces of me could fall into place.
Did you know that when you roll your shoulders back, straighten your back, and breathe into your belly you effortlessly look slimmer? Did you notice when you tried just now that you also pulled more air into your lungs? Do you notice how much more life that breath seemed to bring with it, also? Delicious, right?? And that is only the beginning.
It’s amazing how when we remember to use proper mechanics we are able to experience a high level of operation.
I will warn you however, that there is a handful of “side effects” to this recalibration. When you start to work on doing things the way they are meant to be done (using the proper muscles, tools, techniques, procedures, etc) you will notice:
-At first, you feel silly as all get out. Your movements will feel foreign. You have been moving the same way all of your life (or at least for a long time), so you are out of practice doing it the “right way.”
-You may find that as you work on standing up straight, rolling your shoulder, and/or breathing into your belly you suddenly feel achey in other parts of your body. As I was making this transition, I found that my shoulders were sitting at two different levels. This caused neck and shoulder pain…that eventually I had to go to physical therapy for.
-Fixing that next thing will start the journey that will make you think about strengthening and toning.
-You will begin to chase aches and pains around your body that may be new or may have been like that for sometime. Maybe you even thought it to simply be a product of aging. Often, however, we are facing bad body mechanics not aging. We have simply not been taught to look at it differently. Almost ALL of our problems are fixable, if we seek the answers.
-That you will occasionally encounter a place in your body work that triggers a huge crying jag. Good. =) This is one of the surface level places where that intertwining of the mental, physical, and spiritual comes into play. There is plenty of literature (some of it even written by MDs) and tons of podcasts out there talking about this. Find some answers…though, I will warn you, the most helpful ones will be from your ownself.
-As you stand up straight physically and you breathe in more deeply, you feel more secure inside your body (again, this is more of that “I can be trusted to care for my ownself” bit, isn’t it wonderful?).
Honestly, I hope you try it. I mean, like in your daily life. It’s great to do this when you are meditating, but you live more life than that. I hope it does great things for your brain and your body and your spirit. I know it is work, especially in the beginning. But you are worth the effort, I think. I can’t wait to hear how your brain and your body and your spirit grow from this simple investment of daily effort.
Chew on it. Let me know what you think.
-A
Eating My Way Through It 