Shouts & Whispers – Listening to our bodies
Have you ever been in a movement class and either said or thought “I don’t feel anything” or “Where am I supposed to feel this?”
As an teacher I hear this all the time. My response is generally that not every BODY is going to experience every movement in the same way – and that is perfectly normal and perfectly fine. Things don’t have to hurt to make an impact. Pain is the result of our nervous system shouting at our brain. Why do we think we need our nervous system to shout at us, when really a whisper may be enough?
What I would like to propose to you is that perhaps we need to listen a little more closely to our bodies. Maybe, instead of waiting for them to shout at us, we should listen to the whispers and murmurs that they offer us. Is there a slight sensation in your low back when you drop your chin to your chest? When you reach your arm overhead, do you feel a lifting in your side waist? When you pull your front ribs in is there a slight expansion in the back of your rib cage? Every time you move a part of your body, there is a repercussion, an echo, a response in another part. That response does not have to be loud, it can be soft and gentle. We often think of our bodies as compilation of many pieces, but what is most important is how deeply connected and how intertwined our pieces are. One way we are connected is through our fascia. Fascia is the connective tissue that serves as the scaffolding for our bodies. One of my teacher’s, Jill Miller, describes it as the “aqueous knitting fabric that interconnects you to yourself.” Working with our fascia is a great way to offer release and relief to tight tissues, it’s also a great way to be more connected and in tune with our bodies. Understanding how connected we are will help us learn how to listen better, to hear the whispers, the murmurs, the important truths that our bodies need us to know about how we function and move. If we can tune in to these quiet messages we can avoid having our bodies shout at us. We can learn to know when we have had enough, when we need to back off, to rest and to restore. If you’d like to learn more about how to listen more closely to the messages our bodies are sending us, join me for my upcoming live stream series; The Roll Model Method® Tip-to-Toe Self Care via Inlet Yoga. It starts on Tuesday, May 19th– go to www.inletyoga.com under the workshop tab for all the details.