Move to Feel
Expanding the Map of Body and Mind
Human movement is most fundamentally the means through which we navigate the external world. But additionally it also plays an in our ability to feel as a skill in and of itself. I do mean this in a literal sense as in improving the ability to map out and interact with our physical structure but also that regular conscious physical movement is a way to become more deeply aware of ourselves as humans and for the purposes of this post, to probe the boundaries of our physicality in an effort to maintain a wider breadth of capability.
How can we know if we can do something if we've seldom or perhaps never exposed ourselves to at least a similar stimulus? This is akin to the I don't need to train self-defense because "When I see red bro..." versus the truly prepared individual who has exposed themselves to regular interaction with a resisting human being. The point is in order to understand an environment you have to interact with it, that just as true for the body you live in as it is anywhere else in nature.
This truth is not even remotely close to original to me or this post. Formal movement practices have existed for as long as there has been people. Yoga and Tai Chi are two examples of these kinds of practices that most will be familiar with if only through reputation. While deliberate movement practices like these are certainly beautiful ways to interact with your body consciously the type of awareness that can be gleaned from them is by no means limited to these systems of exercise. Rather, any exercise practice performed with focused attention can work to expand awareness of the entire internal map.
Attention
The key is during these moments driving our attention toward the registration of our internal state not necessarily in an effort to change it, although that is an option, but to more fully experience it as it is so we have a more total sense of what the heck is going on in there. In order to truly understand any environment, we must experience it directly. Reading about it or listening to others talk about it means little without effective practice. One down side of the prevalence of descriptive language in Western culture is that we mistake knowing the label of a thing for knowing the thing itself.
When it comes to the movement of our bodies this is not that kind of mistake we can afford and I mean that quite literally. Lack of purposeful interaction with our own structure sets the path towards being ignorant to the condition of the body and of the state of our entire being more generally. Finding practices that deliberately force us to confront our shifting physicality across the span of our lives will keep us in touch with the reality of the system and when used in the context of performance can keep too much rust from building up in places that may ultimately inhibit our best potential execution.
Get Moving
Here are some overarching thoughts on movement that have given me direction in the larger picture of movement in the context of performance longevity:
Insourcing <-> Outsourcing. The continuum of outsourcing (looking outside one's self for information) and insourcing (internal source of information) is something I've written about in multiple articles on the CEL Substack so I won't reiterate the general concept here. In essence it's good to look to practices, systems, exercises, and routines to find places to begin as well as metrics that can be explored and comparatively measured against. Progress is after all, fun. External values though should be played against internal sensitivity in regards to how the application works for you. In other words try things as written for the purpose of standardization but always keep in mind the bigger picture of what it is you are trying to accomplish with the exploration of how your body moves. The best exercise plan in the world can become a golden cage that builds every bigger blind spots.
Challenge thresholds (carefully). Create goals or challenges that may test the limits of your capacity. Of course don't be reckless or the price you pay may be beyond your bank account, but still you are not made of glass. Many times in the course of my time working in the rehabilitative setting did I find that not only patients but practitioners too would shy away from looking over the edge of the cliff. Even if for just a moment. Putting ourselves in these dark corners is essential for knowing where we are missing qualities and capacities in our movement that if not exposed by us on purpose will most assuredly get exposed by the environment that does not care the least about our goals and desires. The world, Nature, the Universe is moving on all the time and if we aren't fit for that movement we be able to neither seize opportunity nor avoid calamity. With all of that said, go do hard things that you're not sure you can do.
Get exposed to novelty. Try new movement patterns by going on hikes or walks that force you to navigate external world. Use foam rollers and other massage type tools to listen closely to your tissues. Explore a variety resistance training exercises to know how your body handles high degrees of tension. Stretch and breathe to experience how your nervous system responds to being in end ranges of motion. Lie still and learn how your body reacts to a lack of direct input. The wider of a network of communication you'll have with your body and by extension yourSelf. Poking, prodding, and probing different aspects of your physiology will help you manage the level of sensitivity to different types of input and in effect, continuously tune your nervous system and thusly your perception. In other words, try new stuff and see what happens.
Feet to Dirt
This paragraph is not about grounding. Let's bring this discussion back to the practical. Much of our sense of how it is we are "doing", our perception of our internal state (interoception) has co-evolved to continuously co-mingle cues from body and mind, if these are in fact separate things at all. That means by getting better at feeling into the body we can expand our sense of what is going within us entirely and by doing so nudge things in a different direction if we deem it necessary. By being more physically in tune we can refine our relationships with pain and discomfort as well as pleasure and joy. The body can be certainly be a path to the hedonistic and indulgent but it too can be a source of truth and clarity. It's all where we put our attention.
Now get moving.
Thanks for reading,
Rob
P.S.
If you want an easy place to start expanding your ability to feel check out my previous article - Function Check. This is a very simple introduction to the Sun Salutation, a core practice I've used for myself and with clients for many years with success.