Ahoy.
I am working on a new writing project that explores one of my highest values: The cultivation and evolution of movement practice, and helping others to create healthy practices of movement in their lives and reconnect with their bodies. I’m tentatively calling it (surprise, surprise) Movement Practice. Very creative eh…
Needed a picture for this blog post so here’s one of me doing some movement practice with Charlie pooch at Rattlesnake Point last weekend (I’ve got handstand goals). If you’re the kind of person who follows dogs on Instagram, check out @no_bull_charlie.
In this project my primary aim is to describe how for fulfillment, health, and resilience (or anti-fragility, for you Talebians) in our lives, a movement practice, in whatever form it takes, is an integral part of a life worth living. If you know the story of how when I was 22 all I wanted out of life was to be able to walk 30 minutes without pain, it’s no wonder that I have such a fascination with this topic. Our voids become our values…
(FYI I accomplished my walk-30-minutes-pain-free goal just last year and recognize that this general state of “pain-free” is transient at best. Nevertheless, I am enjoying the shit out of the relationship I now have with my body).
In this writing I am planning to provide examples and stories of the what, why, and how of movement practice both from my own life and from experiences of my clients with the aim of helping some more folks to establish their own movement practice in a healthy, sustainable way.
And I need your help! I need to do some “market research”. I’d really love to know how you think about movement and exercise in your life. Would you help me out by answering a few questions for me? Just four of them:
Why do you have a movement practice? (if you don’t have one, why not?)
What does the phrase “move daily” mean to you? (How does “move daily” show up, or not, in your life?)
Consider the terms “movement practice” and “practicing movement”. Do those terms mean the same thing to you, or something different? Please explain 🙂
Do you feel your movement practice has an effect on other areas of your life beyond the physical? Think mental/emotional, spiritual, financial, vocational, social, family. If yes, would you share an example?
I appreciate you taking the time to help me out! Can you write down your answers and email them to me? Or maybe I’ll take you out for coffee and we can talk about it. That would be nice.
And even if you don’t want to share your answers with me, doing your own reflection on these questions will probably be useful. So I encourage you to write down your answers on a scrap piece of paper, napkin, or with a stick in the sand.
If you’d like to be kept in the loop on this writing project, please shoot me an email. I can share some of the writing with you as I go. Or maybe I’ll just share it here on my blog. Because that’s what blogs are for…
Why do you have a movement practice? (if you don’t have one, why not?)
I don’t have a movement practice. I have a deep desire to do things with my body in the most efficient and pleasurable way. I will practice movements to try and discover what sequences, intensities, and focus is needed to make those movements efficient and pleasurable. For example when I ski I am looking to build and manipulate energy from my movements and their interaction with the snow. Certain sequences of movement in skiing produce a very exciting outcome that feels like energy is being created and little is being expended. I have a memory from early childhood of riding my bike on our dirt road. I was sure that I could ride faster if I used my arms more as it seemed like only using my legs was inefficient. I stacked my bike hard testing out the arms theory and never did that again. But it makes me realize I was always looking to move better even as a six year old. So it’s not a practice but a deep desire to do things with my body in a better way. This may look like practice but it feels like experimenting.
Hi Tom 🙂 I think for you movement is so interwoven into your life that it seems abnormal not to be exploring movement in some way, and so doesn’t feel like a practice or “move daily” ideal. It’s just your go-neck self doing what comes naturally. Where’s Tom? Probably kite surfing, or climbing, or skiing, or doing handstands, doing plyo-pistol squats 😉 Like if you asked a sedentary person (The Indoorsman), so do you have a sitting around practice? They’d probably say no, it’s just how I am, it’s not a practice, never something I’ve questioned. I think that’s how it is for you with movement. And I guess it begs the question: what do I mean by “practice”? Something with conscious intent? The simple doing of a thing? Does it always have to be something deep and focused? Hmm. Stuff to ponder. Glad you aren’t using your arms more for bike riding, but ya gotta rule out the possibility eh! Thanks for reading 🙂
Why do you have a movement practice? (if you don’t have one, why not?)
I need to explore all of the possibilities of my body.
What does the phrase “move daily” mean to you? (How does “move daily” show up, or not, in your life?)
Move your body around and be aware of it.
Consider the terms “movement practice” and “practicing movement”. Do those terms mean the same thing to you, or something different? Please explain 🙂
It’s different. Movement Practice for me is a set of practice to explore your movement while Practicing Movement is Practicing over a certain movement.
Do you feel your movement practice has an effect on other areas of your life beyond the physical? Think mental/emotional, spiritual, financial, vocational, social, family. If yes, would you share an example?
Absolutely yes. Especially in recognizing my emotional and mental thoughts. I offered mentoring to my students to understand their body and recognize the message of the body. Body is the projection of our mind.