Changing your thoughts, changes your body.
Our thoughts are directing our physical body without our knowing it. Its why our body won’t always do what we are asking, it’s listening to that silent boot camp I spoke about in Part 1. Those thoughts have been working out in our minds for years and are very strong. We are trained to age, by this silent Boot Camp. We march right along with everyone else. It’s listening to what others tell us about our body, and how we feel about our circumstances, but it’s not your body. Making that distinction means actually recognizing the thoughts when you have them, and responding, differently. It’s not hard to do and your body will begin to respond to a very different message. Otherwise, we keep repeating the same patterns of movement and we justify the results, we’re getting older. Do it different!
Part 2: Do it Different!
Thoughts, vs. physical feeling!
I want to clarify what I mean by distinguishing thoughts from the feeling of your physical body. Most people take it as a criticism, if I say you’re not feeling your physical body. Let me explain a bit. Think of a coach, or a teacher. You have a singing coach let’s say, and that coach is pointing out that you may be singing, but you’re not exactly hitting the notes. Your love of singing; makes you desire to understand what they hear. Just about anything you are interested in, you seek out those who know something you don’t. In this case it’s your physical body that will point things out for you, through this process. Then you can, do it different. You can choose how you want o move. You can’t move what you don’t feel.
I’ve gone to teachers for years, with what I think is a great ability to feel my body. But good teachers, even mediocre teachers, can bring your attention to things they see. They can make you realize there is always more. Learning is not always getting the feedback you “think” is correct. Get used to that, especially with your body. It cannot send you an email. It talks to you through pleasure and yes pain. But trust me, it is saying something about what you can do to improve. The confusion of what to do sometimes takes us quickly into only responding to our thoughts. Especially when it relates to chronic aches, stiffness, anxiety, or pain, we tend to respond to these thoughts in an almost haphazard way.
Discovering your own way of moving.
Many of us, as we become adults, and continue to mature, develop a lot of physical habits, that prevent us from improving the way we feel. We become stuck. Sometimes we get sidelined with illness or injury. Perhaps our jobs are extremely stressful, and we find ourselves sitting or standing long periods of time developing pain in the feet or the back. Our bodies can become somewhat of an enemy. We need them to support us through our life. Getting relief, and having your body be your ally and not your enemy is essential. We can’t fight with it. There are things you can do that are very easy, but you have to work with the instrument. Knowing how to do this is realizing the body works through feeling, or your kinesthetic sense. Just like your vision is a sense, and your sense of hearing, you have a kinesthetic sense, to feel your body.
Thoughts alone can interrupt our body’s ability to feel and be responsive.
That’s where understanding your thoughts comes in. Thoughts can come from a long history unique to each person. Many of us decide the way we feel by how we look, what others tell us, and if we can move in the same way as the person next to us. Fortunately, our body is much deeper than that.
Our fears, that we will be like our brother, mother, the guy up the street are familiar to most of us. Back pain is so common that most people feel we are completely at the hands of someone else. Its not just back pain, it can be anything that doesn’t feel right. Many are scared to death if they get a twinge in the body and interpret it with negative thoughts that can go very dark. This is not just one or two people, this is most people. We have really let our thoughts, from our own emotions and others trap, our body’s natural ability to move, to realign adjust and heal.
Our thoughts kick off physical responses. Our muscles get tighter, responding to these thoughts, which create anxiety, and then our breathing begins to get affected. Its what I call the cycle of pain.
Once our muscles tighten, our breathing gets affected by our thoughts, you’re in that cycle where it becomes a knot difficult to unravel. So, here’s what you can explore.
What you can do!
Thoughts:
You might even want to write a couple of things down. When you sit, take notice of what your body feels like and possibly write down a few lines about what you notice. For example, you could respond I’m very tired. Or, my back is tight, I have things I need to do. My physical therapist told me I should hold my shoulders back, but they’re rounded forward. I can’t feel my breathing, this isn’t helping.
All of those would be thoughts and you want to be clear that that is you thinking about your body. Even the tightness in the back, you’re probably more responding to that tightness, than feeling it. You can’t get rid of your thoughts. But your physical body can change your thoughts.
Try to be specific using a sense of your parts and breathing:
These are examples of feeling the physical body. I noticed my right shoulder feels like it’s rolling forward. My head is forward, and the back of my neck is somewhat arched back. I can feel my left hip and not my right. My breathing seems to be in the upper chest. My ribcage is sunk. Even saying, you don’t notice certain areas is helpful.
Here’s a way to look at it. You look at a statue in the park. It gives you a feeling of some kind. You are describing it to a friend. If you say to a friend, “I love this statue”, they will most likely ask “What did you like about it”? Describing it to your friend requires something about the statue, not just whether you like it or not. If your response continues to be “I love this statue, or it’s a terrible statue” your friend has no idea what you see. It’s the same with your body. You might have a lot of emotion about what you feel when you first sit down, or thoughts distracting you, but your body knows the difference when you describe it through feeling, or just describe whether you like it or not.
You might get more specific to help your friend understand what you are seeing, “I love the way the arms are folded on top of each other. There were birds sitting on top of the head of the statue……. ”
Finally, why is this important?
This is important because this is feedback to your nervous system. That is central command for how your body can make adjustments that will help you and regain confidence that you can move. Yes, your body makes the adjustments, that’s what the difference is with The Miracle Ball Method. Just like learning anything there is a mystery to what is most amazing in life. We don’t quite know how it works but somehow babies are born, we can see or hear. We feel touch and dance. We don’t have to over-analyze. But when it comes to bodies, we have lost the ability to sense them freely and to trust. They will help free us to a much richer way of living. Don’t Get Old, means live your life. You can move. But you can’t ignore this ability your body has to feel and feel amazing. Your body wants you to describe the statue. It wants more than random thoughts.
All day, every day!
Through the years students have often asked how long should I practice when I get on the balls? All day every day is how I would respond. You wouldn’t lie on the balls all day, but you can check in as I have suggested today. Why not? You are in your body all the time, at any moment you can use this ability to notice if you have been holding your breath, stiffening your back. Your body will begin to respond to new directions. It will more easily give you feedback. How silly of me to ask you to feel what you don’t feel??? You will!
Using this ability to feel the physical body more, is like developing any skill. In March here is what is coming up:
- Membership: Join 3 months for $75. Take advantage of live classes and recordings and more.
- Free Webinar: Finding your Core using The Miracle Ball Method. March 30th 1pm ET click here
- Interested in learning more and teaching others? Online Training: click here
Consistency is the key to change.