Keep on Moving.

Movement is a life journey.

Movement is a life journey, this might sound a bit weird, but due to situations that arise at different times in our lives we may become more inactive than others. As we get older it’s more important to Keep on Moving to remain healthy and active, mentally and physically.

As babies we learn the developmental movement patterns as a foundation for life. How to yield, push, reach, grasp and pull. How to use these to roll, crawl, sit up, stand up and walk, run, jump, gallop, slide, hop, leap and skip. 

How did you move as a child?

Were you a fidgeter? did you love running and jumping, skipping, playing group games that involved movement? Did you do gymnastics, ballet, football hurly, swim? Did you play any sports as a teenager? Perhaps none of that interested you and you were more introvert, perhaps a reader or painter, something creative that involved less movement or something else? Nowadays milennials have grown up with X box and the more recent generation with all kinds of tech which has meant a lot less movement for young people generally.

How Life Stages Affect Our Movement.

As we grow older life involves somewhat less movement, maybe because of your type of work. Maybe because you gave up the things you liked to do when you were younger. When children are born and families created then there’s more movement again in household life. Life is busier, more active but not always in a beneficial way for the body. When families grow up and leave home then life can become less active again, as there is less to do for the household. Once grandchildren are born grandparents may be required to play a more active role in helping out, but by this stage are you ready for that?

Taking Responsibility for Your Physical Health.

Are parts of you stiff and sore, or has an overlooked problem got worse as you continued to push ahead? How is your diet? Healthy or could be better? Now is the time to take responsibility for your health if you haven’t already. To start moving again, to rekindle your body awareness, to bring joy back to your body again.

Hatha and Somatic Yoga with Janet

The Yoga I teach, Hatha and Somatics, is ideal as you relearn the developmental patterns of movement, in class, in an appropriate way. These are held in your muscle memory from birth. So once relearned your body quickly remembers them and by developing body awareness you will begin to move with more freedom again. These exercises can help you learn more efficient and effective ways of moving and replace older, less helpful patterns of movement.

Unlike with typical workouts, you’re not trying to do as many exercises as possible. Instead, you’re trying to perform each exercise in such a way that it teaches you something about your body and its movements. All the movement, breathing and meditations are nourished and intertwined with a Mindfulness ideology.

Embodying Movement

You learn to not just keep on moving but to embody movement with an awareness that makes you strong, and empowered. Without a doubt, Yoga and mindfulness are how I got through all physical and mental challenges that presented in my life. To keep on moving with awareness, as you get older is one of the most important things you must do for your body and mind. Once you embody movement you know when you’re doing too much and you know when to stop!

Overdoing Movement can Lead to Problems.

It’s good to be active but you must also know if your body is seizing up, then something else is required and that is Hatha Yoga and Somatics. If you are getting stiffer and stiffer then there will probably be issues to face later in life. This type of yoga will help you to loosen your body but in the loosening there is also a strength, as Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen calls it a ‘soft strength’. Learning the developmental patterns of movement will allow your body: your muscles, bones, fascia, and organs, with practice, to move more freely again.

Feeling Joy in Your Body

Who doesn’t want to feel joy in their body? I have had to overcome challenges with my body and to feel the joy of being able to move freely again is a blessing. Your body moves from the inside out, it’s the inside you must pay attention to now. By embodying movement you can break old habits and move with joy and ease again.

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