I know that you move, in that you get from one day to the next (hopefully), but do you really move through your day?
As defined by the dictionary:
Move(verb): to pass from one place or position to another: to prompt, actuate, or impel to some action
Move is a verb – an action word. And if you’re like most, moving through your day is anything BUT action. You might get out bed, only to sit down to eat breakfast, to sit down to get to work, to sit through most of your day. To once again return home, to sit through dinner, a little tv and then horizontal in bed. This might be broken up with an hour or so at the gym or outside.
We arrive at work, turn off our bodies and let our minds run the day.
Which often leads to pain. As you sit through most of the day, you’re smashing your hamstrings. limiting your blood flow to you lower body, slumping in your chair and shrugging your shoulders. And one hour at the gym, will not combat eight (or more) hours of ignoring the body. And this is just the physical side – your body is also an incredible source of wisdom. It knows, way before your brain does, what would best serve you in most any situation.
Here are five ways to work a little mind-body connection into your day:
1) Get up once an hour. I know this is one you’ve heard before. Set an alarm for once an hour. Walk the halls. Get a drink of water. Practice some simple stretching or desk yoga. Schedule your meetings walking. MOVE. Get outside whenever you can.
2) Vary your positions throughout the day. Don’t sit in the same chair at the same desk all day long. This goes for standing too. Squat. Sit on the floor. Use a barstool. Engage with a walking or standing desk. Vary how you sit/stand through your day. **and don’t go from sitting all day to standing all day (or you’re begging for injury). The key is gradual progress and variety.
3) Seek out your tension. We all carry tension in our bodies. Where do you carry yours? Perhaps your shoulders creep up as the day goes on. Or your jaw gets tight. You may hold your breath. Tension in the body is inefficient, not to mention painful. Once a day (or more!), do a full body scan. Start at one end of the body, tense up piece by piece, and relax. Grip your toes as tight as you can. Then relax, and wiggle. Twist. Shake it out. Tense up and release. Ahhhhh……
4) Check in with your body. Have a decision to make? Slow down. Stand up, and get quiet. Feel the ground, lengthen your spine, find your center and check in. Use your body as part of your decision-making team. The more you listen to the wisdom that it provides, the easier it will be to hear it.
5) Begin with ten minutes. Five minutes at the start of every day, and the end. Pain often starts as a niggling (whether it’s physical or mental). We brush it off, and ignore it. Move through it. Which leads to bigger signals, and bigger. Ever heard the phrase, “hind sight is 20/20”? Don’t use hindsight. Pay attention now. What is your body telling you?
How will you move through your day? Not just your mind, but your body too – as one. I’d love to know: beth@bethcline.com
