Our bodies know our
history. They remember the fall off the
monkey bars that broke an arm in third grade, and all those sprained ankles in
middle school. We get more than stretch
marks from having a baby and more than a scar from surgery. In a more short-term sense, our bodies hold
grudges about that uncomfortable seat on the bleachers during the kids’ baseball
game and that ill-advised decision about trimming the giant tree out back
alone.
On the plus side, our
bodies also keep track of the positive things we do for them. The classic example is riding a bike. We don’t forget how to move our bodies even
if our brain hasn’t consciously thought about it for years. The instructions of our first dance teachers
or football coaches (or both!) live on in our muscle memories.
Since we are not dead yet
(zombies don’t read a lot of blog posts, I find…), this means we have an
opportunity to create new body memories with what we do now. Our future selves can have cause to curse us
or to praise us. If we work on strength
and coordination and balance now, we will have them stored up for later, when
we need them. We may be able to avoid
that potentially hip-breaking fall or stave off bone loss or catch up to that running
grandchild on the playground.
Practicing what we want
to be helps us become that very thing.
Let’s do it!
