Listen to your whole body!
I couldn’t help but admire the determination of this fascinating wee gastropod. Moving tentatively but steadily as she ventures forward. Be a little more like this wee snail, to reconnect with your body. Tentatively but steadily explore your limitations by tuning into your body’s response as you challenge and move it, to protect it.
Know your limits!
Recognise your limits to be safer in maintaining and progressing increased levels of exercise and activity. Limits are not a negative, they are a sound measure of reserves and capacity. They help mitigate pain and injury. Your body will keep going, you’ll keep living regardless of your awareness or not, of depleted reserves in your strength and capacity.
This causes strain leading to the voice inside your head declaring “I’ve sorted one bit now another bit hurts”. With limits known, progressing your ability is more objective. It avoids the increased risk of injury compared to the “I’ll just give it a go and see what happens” approach. I’ve had to rehabilitate far too many people away from pain who’ve opted for this!
Shake up your assumptions!
If you’ve diligently worked on one area of your body, it does not automatically follow you’ve improved your whole body. For example, moving more freely using newly developed leg strength and fitness, may highlight unresolved back stiffness resulting in back pain.
Is your life limited to repetitive forward and down actions and postures? Then add in repetitive three dimensional up, out and backwards movements and positions. Consider this with your arms, head, torso and legs. Gently but intentionally address the imbalance that can lead to future aches, pains and niggles throwing you off course to a fitter, stronger, freer body.
This helps maintain and improve the quality of your movements AND assess potential issues. These may be lurking silently, taking you unawares with painful movements which seem to appear from nowhere.
If you’ve improved how one area of your body works and feels, great job! However, don’t end it there. While working on your “hotspots” avoid it being at the expense of the rest of your potential hotspots. It’s not only the time you spend dedicating to your body that counts, but the range, quality and frequency of that dedication with every movement and every exercise.
Here’s how to start!
For your whole body to function more as you would like it to, your whole body needs your attention. If you’re starting out, keep things simple. Work head down to your toes. Move every bodily part in turn. Explore how it moves and feels. Accept that one side may be different from the other, don’t force it to level it up. It may be that the more limited side is one of your “potential hotspots”.
Where you find weakness, repeat the movement to strengthen. Where there is stiffness repeat the movement to stretch. Where there is poor control repeat the movement to develop greater control.
By intentionally moving your body, your body moves in the way it’s intended!
Our modern lives while busy, are a far cry from the dynamic, rural, three dimensional, seasonally varied, movement dictated evolutionary journey. Rise above the digitalised, movement limited, instinct deprived urbanised world. Shift your mindset away from always taking the easier, movement limited option.
This article along with all my work is underpinned by my Simply Move!™ concept. It’s straight talking physiotherapy advice, founded in human evolution. With Simply Move!™ you can breathe, align and move your body away from pain, stiffness and recurring injury.
Tune in to how your body feels.
Connect with the muscles and joints you’re using.
Simply Move!™ with control, intention and confidence.
Do comment below if you have any questions or thoughts relating to this article. For more information on how Simply Move!™ can help you believe in your body again, click the link below!
