When My This Does This, My That Does That

A playful guide to body conversations you may not know you are having.

Ever notice how your body seems to talk to itself — when you're quiet enough to listen?

One body part moves a certain way and elicits an unsolicited (almost reflexive) response from another body part. Inner physical strength doesn’t only come from purposeful core engagement — sometimes it 'just happens’ when for example your hands (pressing down) respond to something your feet are doing (pressing down).

Try this:

• Lengthen and spread your toes as you press your feet ‘into the clay.’

• Notice any other body part responding? (neck? abdominal muscles? hands/fingers? knees?)

And try this:

• Press any two body parts into each other.

• Where else do you notice a response during that pressing?

This isn’t about mood-triggered movement yet. :) For now, this is mostly about the geometry of the body — with a little help from the nervous system — and what happens when we surrender to what is natural. There are some very cool tips and tricks that are fairly reliable physically.

A Personal Sample:

In my body, when I'm standing and I lengthen and spread my toes, my knees unlock, my inner belly becomes a bit more dense than usual, my buttocks unsqueeze, and my breathing becomes a bit softer and longer.

This may be subtle — especially if you’re unaccustomed to spreading your toes and you don’t tend to lock your knees. — but when we press into the ground, we get lifted up due to gravity. That’s core work, however subtle and ‘reflexive’. And those subtle shifts? Just as worthy. It’s these tiny, inside-out adjustments that build subconscious self-empowering care.

And yes — my knees still lock when I don’t tend to them a bit. I’m used to spreading my toes which helps, and if that’s tricky for you, you might try toe spreaders in the evenings to loosen them up. Toes are more trainable then you think.

Try This in Your Body:

Stand in your natural two-footed stance — the same way you stand at your kitchen sink.

1.     What happens to your knees when you purposely lengthen and spread your toes, especially as you press your soles into the ground?

2.     If you tend toward super-straight knees, do they soften with that footwork?

3.     If you don’t tend toward extra straight knees, and you purposely soften your knees a touch,  these secondary shifts are all possible: hips relax, buttocks unsqueeze (untuck), belly contracts, breathing pace lengthens — and even your jaw may release..

Now try these same three questions from above:

• In Mountain Pose (or any hip distanced two-footed stance).

• Then in a wider posture like Warrior II or a lunge (if you're not a yoga practitioner).

Next, in that wider stance:

• Raise your arms to or near shoulder height.

• Press (send) them gently away from each other — like your fingertips are moving through molasses.

Again, ask yourself the same three questions above. In this case, your arms create a 'play of opposites' — a kind of resistance — and when any two limbs work like this, it tends to elicit grounding, inside-out strengthening, abdominal work, and often a more expansive breath.

And here’s another this-to-that tip: These effects tend to grow stronger when you choreograph them with a relatively complete exhale. (Not required — just something to explore.)

And the deeper connections of ‘this to that’;

 For layering in our emotional nervous system response, please complete the following statements:

• When I place my hands specifically to feel the movement of my rib cage tactilely as I breathe, my breath slows down, which _______ my nervous system.

• When I choose to soften my neck, throat, and chest during inhales, it _______ my nervous system.

• When I complete my exhales to the point of a tiny pause before the next inhale, my nervous system _____________.

As you answer these, please take one more minute to notice any play of opposites in your body, (like feet to crown of head for example)  any place where body parts press into the ground, the wall, or the chair beneath you will have an opposite reaction. Let this inner focus help you articulate what’s happening mainly for your own self-awareness..

This inner awareness — is the heart of presence. <3