I had a rough spill a few days ago - entirely preventable. I had been admiring the huge, rough, romantic waves on the beach here in Provo and underestimated their force. I was ok getting in the water but was trapped in a huge wave getting out and essentially put in a spin cycle with some rocks. Again, I should have known better. Thankfully, I emerged with just a few scratches and bruises, but awoke two days later achey all over and tired all day. This phenomena reminded me of a time I once went down a flight of marble stairs on my butt, and I've heard similar complaints from friends and students, so I felt it merited some research.* This is called delayed onset muscle soreness. It is a result of us instinctively and protectively contracting our muscles at the moment of injury and overall soreness (beyond localized injuries) is due to the toll this exertion takes on both our musculoskeletal and nervous systems and also on our brains and our bodies being flooded with stress hormones. Not only are a plethora of muscles recovering from this violent spasm, but the system also has to cope with redressing this chemical imbalance. This morning I felt tired, but I was ok teaching - probably being absorbed in other people's issues distracted me. But I was intending to do an afternoon Pilates session and found I could do little more than lie on the machine. My regular run was out of the question. I could have pushed myself to swim, but a night in felt more like what my body and nervous system needed. After a physical trauma, tuning in and relieving physical tension is paramount. Of course, it's ideal to be as active as possible, but if your body is extra achey, give it some TLC. Probably for many of you, this is a no brainer. But it's taken me some time to be this kind to my body and I feel extra justified in it knowing the science behind why. May it be of benefit to you as well. *Waking the Tiger: Healing From Trauma. Levine, Peter. 1997. copyright © cicely nelson 2016
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I'd heard of Glennon Doyle Melton but not really followed her, as I didn't really consider myself her target demographic. But she's recently published a memoir which is getting a lot of press and I'm realizing all of humanity is this wonderful woman's demographic. I caught a caption that enticed me to watch most of the above interview (recommend!). The caption was something to the effect of pain and reactiveness being a sort of "hot potato" that we are eternally shunting off to somewhere or someone else. That we so rarely sit with feelings before we react, deny, or suppress, and thus end up kind of backed up and blocked. I sometimes catch myself and my students (both music and Pilates/Yoga) holding our breath, which results in constricted lungs and diaphragm and increased physical tension in general. And, in the context of GDM's hot potato metaphor, it is clear that this is the somatic (bodily manifestation) effect of shunting off not just pain, anxiety, and shame, but even simple moment-to-moment awareness and presence. It's so easy to get ensnared in doing, going, and getting throughout our days, thinking of our next task or reflecting on a past conversation, even in moments where we truly can pause. It's often in these moments - washing the dishes, for instance - that I realize my mind is still going a mile-a-minute, planning, rehashing, and the physical effect is that my breath is shallow and thus that I am not truly inhabiting my body, in which this lack of awareness manifests as tension and/or counter-productive movement patterns. This somatic signal of breath awareness can be not only a canary in the mine of our emotional life, but also an anchor. By heeding our breath more often, and holding the hot potato, we can be more present both physically, emotionally, and spiritually, which allows our bodies and minds to heal and remain healthy. At the very least, our bodies will be less constricted, which has pretty profound implications for mental and physical health and conditioning. Thank you, Glennon, you have a new fan! copyright © cicely nelson 2016 |