it would look like this... As far as your brain is concerned, your hands are bigger than your entire torso and legs. No wonder a paper cut can drive you crazy, but you’ll ignore that aching back for 20 years. There are a number of reasons our knees, hips, spines and shoulders break down before their time, but this is a big one: we just don’t have enough awareness of them built in. We have to train it in. Your brain pays attention to whatever you decide to pay attention to, and if that’s your body, your brain will map more of that information in. Becoming more aware of how you move builds your brain and protects your body: a win win any way you look at it. Changing up your movement patterns is a great way to build the body map in your brain, but concentrating on your breath does it too. Spend 5 or 6 minutes breathing deeply and slowly today, and explore the whole inside of your torso with your mind while you do. Feel the rib cage move. Get under your shoulder blades. Trace the spine. Circle around the inside of your pelvis. Just notice yourself. Map yourself. And have fun! Your brain doesn’t know what it’s missing. If you want to know more about this, download this file from my teacher training program... ![]()
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Here's an explainer video I made to give you a short, easy way to understand why you hurt.
You’ve got to work at keeping the back foot facing forward - that’s the hard part. Lifting your arms isn’t required, but it makes your legs work harder automatically. You’ll wobble and shake at first, but stability builds quickly - your body wants to do it right. When you get good at it, close your eyes. A minute or two per day on each side is a good practice; longer if you like.
If you want to live with your own happy hips for the long game, you’ve got to practice having happy hips now.
Gravity is the science that keeps you from floating off planet; they teach you that in grade school. It’s also the science that crushes your bones if you don’t resist it, and maybe they didn’t teach you that.
Homeostasis is the science of your amazing body’s constant effort to be healthy, and you might not have learned that either, because so much of it is happening deep inside without you needing to think about it. Life without back pain (or hip, knee, neck, and shoulder pain) requires you to think about it. You must think to seek muscular skeletal homeostasis, by resisting gravity and moving without unnecessary force. That, my dears, is the whole point of The Yoga You Need, and yes, it’s a science. |
Life HurtsBut your body is designed to heal, feel good, and function without pain for 100 years. We blame the body when it breaks down, but mostly it is the world we've created, and the way we live in it. Your body does the best it can, until it can't anymore. ArchivesCategories |