“I feel like if I let go I’ll fall apart. It’s almost like my body gripping in this way is a deep coping mechanism.”
A client recently shared this insight during a more investigatory session. We slowed down and used Pilates principles to inform and guide us both through his postural and breathing patterns. Using movement to understand the "Why?" and the "How?" vs using movement to impose a solution. We often find ourselves saying to clients "no need to force your body to fit the machine when we can make adjustments to make it fit you."
Investigating through movement this client identified the persistent gripping in an area of his body as a type of exhausting “vigilance” keeping his nervous system on high alert. Finding more balance and flow allowed a noticeable wave of tiredness wash over him - as if he was allowed to put something heavy down after being made to hold it for years.
This type of mindful movement work can uncover more than tight hip flexors and rounded forward shoulders. It can illuminate how our environment and emotions shape our bodies. Beyond that, what that shape allows, or doesn’t allow, us to do. Just like actors change their posture, their gait, the way they sit or stand to convey how their character feels, we are constantly doing the same.
The practice of noticing the body more deeply through mindfulness in movement can unlock major insight into why we do what we do, and why our body behaves in ways that seem mysterious and separate from us. This is particularly valuable for those with chronic back or pelvic pain that seems to lack an equivalent structural injury.
Have you noticed what your body is telling you recently?
Call to Action in the Name of Change
As mindful movement practitioners, we are in the business of supporting and guiding our clients through change. That change does not happen in a vacuum, but instead has ripple effects. In that way, we are in the business of change in the individual, the community, and the world.
We are obsessed with knowing more about ourselves so we can know more about, and be more connected with, the world. There is so much power for positive change in that knowledge and it's imperative that everyone have access to the opportunity to know.
Brooklyn Public Library is adding their voice to those fighting for the rights of teens nationwide to read what they like, discover themselves, and form their own opinions. Inspired by the American Library Association's Freedom to Read Statement, BPL's Books Unbanned initiative is a response to an increasingly coordinated and effective effort to remove books tackling a wide range of topics from library shelves.
For a limited time, individuals ages 13-21 can apply for a free BPL eCard, providing access to our full eBook collection as well as our learning databases. To apply, email booksunbanned@bklynlibrary.org.
BPL’s eCard is always free to teenagers in New York State. Apply here.