When we think of mindful
movement, I think we tend to imagine yogis or tai chi masters moving slowly
through their routines. That is
definitely part of it, but we can do any kind of movement mindfully.
We can, for example, think about
where we feel a particular kind of lift as we are moving the weight through the
air. Does it feel the same on both
sides? What parts of our bodies
want to move even though they aren’t part of what we are moving, say, the
standing leg’s hip shifting out to the side as we raise the “working” leg? We can proceed through observation
toward mindfulness.
As we learn more about our
bodies, we can tune in more deeply.
We can learn where our serratus anterior is and why we might want to
engage it as we raise our arms (to keep our shoulders out of our ears). We can think about how our bones move,
about where our muscles pull, about why tightness in our tissues keeps us from
full range of motion.
Maybe we learn that an exercise
is not right for us. Maybe we
learn that we have improved since last time we tried. Maybe we can shift our form with a change in breath.
What can we learn when we pay
attention?
No comments:
Post a Comment