Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Control Freak? You wish!
Some of us think we're control freaks; in charge of everything from when the dog goes for a pee, our multi-tasking multi-tiered schedule and influencing everything that moves. You wish! It's my bet that we're not anything like in control as we think we are. We are simply a host for a million habits that affect everything we do. Is it your intention to stiffen yourneck every time you answer the phone, pour a coffee, stroke the cat, peel a banana or type a text? It's our habits that are in control of our lives. They grip us. But we can change all that.
We all have the ability within ourselves to be more in control than we are. I've often mentioned how postural habits can become ingrained so that they influence virtually everything we do. It is possible for us to extend our ability to control what our body is doing, to controlling ‘how’ our body is doing things.
Our body and mind are beautifully integrated and it’s hard, if not impossible, to separate what is mental and what is physical when it comes to movement and bodily functioning. Think of all of those millions of electronic signals that are constantly communicating between brain and body. Is picking up a pencil simply a function of our muscles? Of course the idea and command originates in our brains. And just as we can choose to perform an activity like send a text message from our mobile phone, we can choose ‘how’ we do it. In other words, we can lift the phone higher to see what we’re doing rather than stooping downwards, stiffening our neck and shoulders. We can choose to free our necks when we look at the screen, and avoid holding our breath.
We can use our ability to control ‘how’ our body is functioning to ensure that the wrong thing doesn’t happen. Our body will function beautifully well if we let it; in other words, if we can avoid the habitual interferences that disturb it. Let’s face it, we were probably fine as a young child when we were free of habit. And now we can use our ability ‘to control’ in a positive way to help ourselves, and prevent the wrong things from happening. The right thing will take care of itself. It just requires us to have the presence of mind and to give ourselves time to think....a fraction of a second can make all the difference. If I hear you say, that all these fractions of a second add up to hours of lost time over a lifetime, then I'd ask if it's your preference to shorten your lifetime by allowing or ignoring such excessive and unhealthy wear and tear?
We can avoid causing unnecessary wear and tear and ensure that things don’t go wrong in the future. After all, prevention is better than cure. It is never too late to start. And when people tell me that it’s not possible to ‘teach an old dog new tricks’, I firstly just remind them that they are not an old dog. Nor are we doing tricks. We are reviving an instinct that we’ve had from birth for good poise and a healthy use of ourselves. As humans we all have the ability to choose in ways that other animals cannot, and we can do it right into old age. And if we have more awareness of ourselves we can help ensure that we are functioning well. Even when we’re over a hundred years old we can make significant changes to ourselves.
Control need not be seen as being harmful, limiting or restrictive, but of being positive; of ensuring that we allow ourselves to function well. In order to be in control, we need to develop our awareness so that we are more conscious of what and how we are doing things. I am often asked when will the new way become automatic and when can they stop thinking about it. My answer is that every single time we think as we act and change the way we’re doing things, we are breaking down and weakening the habits. Gradually the new ways become ingrained. Just as every time we repeated our bad postural habits they became more ingrained. We can change this cycle right now. However, even when we’ve made good progress and changed significantly, it’s dangerous to rely on our subconscious to maintain this for us, as our habits are well established, and we want to ensure that they don’t creep back in when we’re not looking!
So you can help yourself right now. How are you sitting as you read this blog? Are you hunched over your computer or could you give just a little thought to freeing your neck, letting your head balance more freely on the top of your spine. Now you could 'send' (by thinking...no effort) your head upwards. Think of your head going upwards and gradually you will find that you are straightening up. Now you're sitting differently, and if you intend to be free and loose in the process you can avoid unnecessary effort. Your postural mechanism will work as it should....as it did when we were young. You only need to 'wish' to be up tall, for you to actually come up to your full height.
When you hold a cup or glass, are you gripping it with tight fingers and hunched shoulder or could you 'let it' all relax a little? When you use an iron to press a shirt, are you hunching over the board or could you relax your neck, think a little taller and let the weight of the iron do the job for you rather than pressing downwards with so much effort.
If you burn less energy in simple tasks you'll have more of it for later in the day. :-) You'll also avoid wearing out all your working bits so you can stay healthier and fitter into older age! Double :-))
