Movement Is Life

Movement is one of the four things that everyone does all of the time.  The others are thinking, sensing and emoting.  One way that we can look at the concept of self is to examine these four things.  The more freedom that we have in any of these areas the better we are able to live.

This article is intended to give some insight into the concept of self from a movement perspective:

• how poor movement patterns are formed,
• problems caused by poor movement
• and how moving better contributes to your personal evolution

If you were to watch a baby move you would notice that it can get into all kinds of positions that adults cannot.  Sitting with their legs at funny angles, lying on their stomachs with their heads held vertically, and biting their toes are all things that most babies can do but most adults cannot.

Why is this?  There are no significant structural differences.  Is it because of so called "natural aging"?  I don't know what natural aging is but I do know that simply believing that we are bound to feel less able can lead people to accept diminished lives.

The differences in movement between babies and adults are not the result of some unavoidable process that means that our bones and muscles become less effective.  We move differently because we have developed habitual patterns of movement and have forgotten how to move any other way.

Movement habits are learned in many different ways.  How many people went through school being told to sit up straight, or were told by their mothers to hold their shoulders back?  After school comes the working world, and then there is watching television, or sitting at the computer, or driving.  The list of habit causing behaviors goes on and on and everyone develops habitual movement patterns.

What's wrong with movement habits?  There is nothing inherently wrong with habits generally.  They save us from having to think about what we are going to do next and how to do it.  Its probably a good thing to be in the habit of brushing your teeth for example.

Where we run into trouble is when actions become compulsive and we are unable to behave in other ways.  If you have to go back and check that the stove is turned off three times before you are able to leave the house, you can probably live better.  You can still function in the world but what would it be like if the resources that were used in checking the oven could be directed towards something more productive, like enjoying your work, or a hobby?

The same thing is true with movement habits.  If you hold yourself in any given position, muscles are working to hold you in that position.  If the way that you hold yourself is habitual then the muscles that do the holding become chronically contracted.  If a muscle is chronically contracted it is not available for anything else.  That means other muscles have to do more of the work and they become fatigued more quickly and may become painful.

When you study the way that you move and become more aware of compulsive patterns you are better able to differentiate parts of your self and learn new patterns of movement.  This then allows overworked muscles to do less, as the load is shared with other muscles.  As the load on the overworked muscles decreases, pain disappears and movement becomes pleasurable.

Things that you may have given up because of physical limitations become available again.  Existing activities are more enjoyable - your back doesn't hurt after gardening, or you don't get stiff after exercising.

Another benefit is that the resources that your body used to contract the muscle - glycogen, brain activity, nervous system activity - are no longer being consumed and so there is more of you available for other things.

As the movement part of your self becomes more differentiated and refined the other parts of your self follow.  Your ability to differentiate your emotions increases.  You will find new ways to think and your senses will become more acute.

As the four parts of your self evolve you will have more options available to experience life and you will be more present to it.

As your way of being becomes more rich and sophisticated you will find that your ability and desire to learn increases - your learning switch is turned on.

Having your learning switch turned on and being present to life are keys to your continuing vitality, health and personal growth.

Movement is life.  Old habits prevent us from using our bodies as well as we are able and as we discover more options for movement we become free of pain and live more comfortably.  We are then able to continue to grow and evolve throughout our lives.

To summarize I will use another quote from Moshe Feldenkrais  "Movement is life. Life is a process. Improve the quality of the process and you improve the quality of life itself."