What Is Efficient Body Movement and Why Should You Care

Why you should care

First things first. First things first. Unusual way to start a blog but bear with me.

Your body and your mind are always connected. No matter what you do or when, they will always work together and influence each other.

When I began the journey of studying movement and teaching it I realised that the way I was using or carrying my body, my stances and my general physical state were influencing my state of mind and my emotions.

The same with some of my clients, particularly when we talk about stress caused by lifestyles, work environment, life events etc.

And this is more often than the opposite, although the mind influences the body as well.

However I noticed from experience and working with my clients that the moment we release physical stress release, psychological stress release takes place as well. And often this happens in a matter of seconds.

What is efficient body movement

I often speak about efficient body movement or body use. While my clients have a good understanding of what this means and most of them begin incorporating the elements from our sessions into their daily life, others don’t work with me so they do not know.

Everyone can move, everyone can run, everyone can breath, sit, stand and walk. No doubt about that. We do these day and night.

However efficient body movement or use is a healthy type of movement that nurtures the body, mind and spirit. It is the movement that enhances creativity, allows the mind to flow and the body to move with less restrictions.

It is the type of movement that allows all the functions of the body, internal and external, to function with as little resistance and restrictions as possible. It is the movement that allows you to thrive.

Your body is just like a musician’s instrument. You play that instrument. But unless you look after it and fine tune it you will not be able to make great music. It’s the same with your body, fine tune the way you use your body and it will function smoothly, with less problems and difficulties. And so will your mind as well.

[tweetthis]Fine tune the way you use your body to function with less problems and difficulties.[/tweetthis]

Is movement only about the body?

No. It is my belief that a relaxed physical state will allow the body and mind to function at their best. When we do not use the body in a healthy manner there is a lot of pressure and many restrictions at all levels. Movement impacts everything else, it is not only about the body.

There are 3 reactions taking place in our bodies at any given time: PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL and CHEMICAL (i.e. digestion).

[tweetthis]There are 3 reactions taking place in our bodies at any given time: PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL and CHEMICAL[/tweetthis]

Whenever there is an “emergency” in one of the systems (i.e. stress) the brain directs most of the resources to deal with that problem.

The downside is that it takes the much needed resources for other functions. For example it takes the resources, the energy which deals with proper digestion. So stress leads to poor digestion, which leads to poor nutrients for the body, weight gain and so on.

Can you see what’s happening here? Any imbalance of any sort, in the body or mind, will cause the brain to focus on that particular function more and leave the others aside until that “emergency” is fixed.

But what about the body?

Here I’d like to give you an example using posture.

When we slouch and/or tense our bodies we compress our torso and place unnecessary pressure on our internal organs, as the body collapses forward and head hangs backwards. And so the internal organs functioning is restricted.

And with restricted internal functioning, digestion is restricted as well as many other functions, but let’s stick with digestion, it’s easier to explain and understand.

If digestion is restricted then the body will not be able to extract the resources it needs from the food we eat.

When this happens our bodies cannot recover, nourish and thrive. And if our bodies cannot thrive then our minds will not thrive either. Besides what we eat and how we digest the food directly impacts the mental functions as well.

With restricted internal organ functioning, because of all the stress we place on them by slouching, many other problems arise at a physical, mental and emotional level.

What to look after

To achieve this balance, or rather to go back to balance, because your system will always try and get back to that, we need to look at the body and mind as one whole unit. They are not separate.

We need to address all three reactions taking place in our bodies at any given time: physical, mental and chemical.

So here’s a simple example on weight loss, because many people struggle with this.

“What is the reason I gained weight?
Is it lack of exercise – physical reacion?
Stress or depression – psychological reaction?
Nutrition – chemical reaction?”

Find the real cause. Because, for example, if your imbalance is caused by a psychological reaction you can tackle the physical and chemical as much as you want, you may even see results, but if you do not address the real cause, nothing will change, and the experience will perpetuate over and over again. Same goes for the other systems.

The brain will send all its resources to take care of that problem and that means it taking resources from the other parts. There’s your imbalance. Bring your body back to balance.

Allow yourself to thrive. Book a free call and I will help you with the first few steps.

Finding Balance In Life

I am the Coach who helps women find the right balance in their lives. The physical-mental-spiritual balance and the family-professional-personal life balance.

So many of my clients come to me seeking this. And I give them the tools, knowledge and support they need to grow, develop and nurture the seeds of wellbeing.

Everyone is seeking balance. Whatever that may mean to each of you. But what is this balance I am talking about?

Teach your body and brain what balance is

This is how I see things, and as I said in other blogs don’t believe me, think for yourself and decide.

We run from one corner to another, always in a rush, always looking at the time and always under some type of pressure. We seldom, if ever, stop to breath and look around.

Some of us seldom pay attention to the world around us and the one within us for longer than a few minutes, if that.

Under these circumstances is it really possible to be or find “balance”?

And are your body and brain able to recognize balance at all?

Teach your body and mind what balance is and how it feels first. How? By doing, throughout your day, small things you qualify in your mind as being balanced: balancing your backpack on both shoulders, balancing your body weight evenly on both your feet when standing, uncross your legs when sitting and place them flat on the ground.

The more you think about balance throughout the day the more balance you will attract in other areas of your life.

It’s the small things that make the difference. It’s the details that we, as society, are failing to observe. And it’s the details that make the whole….always.

Think balance and you will receive balance.

But the reality is…

Philosophy is so easy. Everyone gives wise advice, including myself, and they are all true….in theory. When you actually get to applying them that’s the challenge.

The truth is you will always lose balance. It’s not something new. It’s not a shock to you. When you have an awesome day something happens and throws you off balance.

Some are thrown off balance by something like a sudden rain when they are at the beach. Look at your life. How many times are you thrown off balance?

And how many of these events are actually real enough to be taken seriously?

The reality is that unless you learn to see the other side of the coin you will always feel miserable because there will always be events to throw you of balance.

The other side of the coin I’m talking about is the one that helps you develop further and grow, and grow and grow some more from these unbalances.

Actually balance comes from unbalance. How are you suppose to know what balance it if you never experienced unbalance? It’s like night and day, you see what I mean?

Be grateful for those moment when you feel you lost balance because they guide you to the path of balance. If you learn to see the other side of the coin that is.

Unusual experiences

As a professional woman do you like to walk through muddy puddles, walk in pouring rain and stay for hours outdoors in the cold winter doing balance exercises? In most cases the answer is no.

All my clients experience mud, rain, cold winds and winters at some point in their training programs with me. Normally they would all pull back and give up their training day because of these obstacles.

Yet, when they train with me they know that everything (particularly breaking the rule of being clean, ha ha) makes them push boundaries for physical and mental growth and development.

It’s unusual, different it’s exciting and exhilarating. It’s liberating.

Being out of their comfort zones makes them grow. You see, after they train with me they feel liberated. This is how some of them describe the experience they have. They see the other side of the coin, the other side of cold, wet, muddy days. The side that makes them grow.

Injuries

The most recent experience I had myself was yesterday, Saturday the 7th of March.

I competed in Bracknell Legends Shotokan Karate competition. I went there convinced I’d leave with 2 first places.

Instead, I left with 2 third places, a sore eye and a severely sprained middle left finger. It’s all purple and swollen as I type and it makes writing this blog bloody difficult. It’s not fractured though.

Today I went to my regular karate class. And I immediately saw the benefit of the injury and of not using my left hand.

I usually fight with my left leg and hand forward. That’s my strongest, fastest stance. Now I am being forced to change that and use my weakest side of the body. Now I block and attack ONLY with the right hand and arm and legs.

By damaging my left hand I am actually strengthening the weaker side of my body. And that will only make me stronger. Being ambidextrous has many benefits but that’s a topic of another blog.

Conclusion

No matter which example you take, in each of them you see BALANCE. In the first one is balancing the adult and the child.

In the second example you see balance between the left and right side of the body, left and right brain hemisphere, Ying and Yang.

Advice

I cannot give you advice through a blog. These things are so individual. I’d need to know more about you and your life and then point the path for you to take.

There is always something that needs balancing or re-balancing in everyone’s life. Because no matter what we do we will always be thrown off balance sooner or later.

What will make you grow is how you interpret these unbalances. How you will grow from them. There is always a way to grow from an unbalance in life.

So are you seeking balance in your life? If you feel what I wrote here is something that resonates with your please email me and let’s talk about it more at alexandra@urbanwomenfitness.com