01/09/2023
Why do I move the way I do? Why do you? Why do we?
I'm old enough now to look back at the past decades of my life and notice patterns. Patterns innumerable, about relationships, emotional responses; origins of habits, defenses and responses. And specific to this post, patterns of my body's movement.
As an adult I discovered weight lifting [🥹, swoon], crossfit and strength competitions. In the beginning, I had very little body awareness and no idea how to access certain muscle groups necessary to perform the movements-like squeezing my glutes (think Nacho Libre in his tight pants). Over time, working with my coaches and personal trainers, I gained awareness, strength and tone in my muscles.
Over many hundreds of hours of training a pattern of movement was being grooved into my fascia. A pattern specific to the nuanced movements required to perform weight lifting. Even to this day, 6 years after my last competition, my body still remembers how to move the way I trained it to move. My inner voice still gives me the mental cues for bracing, breathing and firing.
It's incredible that we can train our fascia, brains and muscle memory! The implications of such power is that we can build our physical bodies to look, move and behave in certain ways intentionally.
We're already doing it every day unintentionally. The nuanced ways that we move through the world are influenced by our past and present experiences. Those ways are the most appropriate and efficient ways to encounter the world- from our perspective. It's amazing and brilliant that our bodies are so responsive!
But what happens when the way we are moving no longer serves us and causes us pain and discomfort? What can we do?
We must intentionally teach our bodies a new way. Yes, it takes instruction, patience, time and concerted effort. You don't have to do it alone and it can be fun! In fact, I think it becomes more ingrained into the body if it's enjoyable because releasing "feel good" hormones signal safety, comfort and wellness to our nervous system. I have so much passion for creating and facilitating these kinds of changes in bodies. There's a way for everyone!
