Conversing With Your Body

If movement is a conversation with your body, how do you start the exchange? My whole life I have loved dancing – doing it, watching it, learning about it. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a dancer. To communicate through movement. Then, at a certain age I realized that I was already far behind, and far shorter than the industry required to be a professional. I turned to cheerleading, then running, and eventually yoga to satisfy my passion. Yet, with all that, it wasn’t until I spent five months in yoga teacher training that I really understood what it means to be embodied. When you spend sixteen hours every weekend and more hours throughout the week manipulating your body into different poses, breathing through the discomfort of positions your limbs and joints are not familiar with, you can’t help but hear your body in a way you never did before.?

I know that you may not be someone who enjoys dancing, running, or yoga, so I won’t tell you that these are the only ways to create a relationship with your body. I will, however, share how they help me to stay present to what I’m experiencing, no matter how uncomfortable it is, so that I can be my body’s ally instead of its destroyer. The bottom line is, every time that you move, you can build a relationship with your corporal self. You can bridge the gap between thinking and feeling and become more adept at both.?

When it comes to dancing, a beat will play and I’ll feel a flutter in my heart. Then, my head will start to move back and forth, and pretty soon, my whole body is involved. That’s why it’s hard for me to understand people who can sit still when in the presence of music. When I’m dancing, I don’t feel the aches and pains of my muscles. If unpleasant emotions surface, they’re quickly released with the fling of an arm, the kick of a leg. I’m not paying attention to anything but the music. It’s the movement I turn to when I want to shake off whatever is bothering me and turn back to joy.?

Running is different. There’s heavy exertion that occurs on all fronts. Your legs feel the reverberation of each foot hitting the ground. Your breath can easily leave you if you don’t stay focused and measured. Your upper body can start to tense uncomfortably if you aren’t paying attention. It’s an activity that takes focus, commitment, and humility. Run too long or too hard and you will deal with the consequences for too many days. But, in having to stay present and alert to your surroundings, as well as to your body, you have no choice but to let go of mental stresses. They arise and get slammed to the floor where your feet pound on them like a meat mallet pounding a piece of steak. The problems don’t dissipate, but they feel less heavy, and more manageable. Solutions have a chance to pop into your head as your body shifts focus to the stress being placed on the body instead of the mind.?

Then, there’s yoga. I used to think of yoga as getting into, and then holding, perfectly angled poses. Poses that my body with tight hips and even tighter shoulders would sometimes refuse to get in. That’s why it was so liberating when I finally felt the shift from “performing” yoga to “doing” yoga. Yoga is a word that means to yoke, or to join. When you are moving your body in conjunction with your mind and your soul, then you’re doing yoga. When I practice now, it’s less about the poses and more about bringing awareness to what my body is telling me. I move into a position and then, breath by breath, explore what’s there and allow my body to continue moving deeper into the pose, or coming out of it a little. Sometimes it’s a muscle telling me it wants some attention and other times it’s an emotion that suddenly presents itself and begs for me to express it. Yoga is where I don’t run away or fight what’s there, it’s where I accept what is and breathe through the discomfort or joy of what is uncovered.

"The body says what words cannot" Martha Graham

Different movements will provide you with various benefits and information. It’s up to you to figure out which bring you happiness, a moment of reprieve, and a time to turn inward. You don’t need to do anything fancy, or get special equipment. It’s all about noticing what occurs for you as you do it! What arises for you when you use your body in everyday ways? Notice your movement as you get in and out of bed, sit at your desk, walk to the mailbox. What action brings a smile to your face? What brings you into the present? What helps you to relieve stress? Along the way you might find some things that your body doesn’t like. I had a client who would wear a “Running Sucks” t-shirt to remind me that treadmill activities were off-limits. Another didn’t like compound movements. She preferred to keep things as simple as possible.?

Whether it’s roller skating, walking, lifting weights, or anything in between, each time you move, you have the opportunity to check in on your body. Make it a two-way conversation. If your body doesn’t like something, inquire why. If your mind is getting in the way, see if there’s something your body can do to bring it back into the present. Pause and notice what is happening for your body enough times and you’ll feel less like a floating head attached to a body and more like a person who is whole and ready to tackle whatever comes their way.