I know that in a perfect world My Body's Way would mirror The Body's Way. I'm certain I would have perfect alignment, perfectly even muscle balance and I would be able to execute every move I chose with such grace, fluidity and ease, that I would never have an ache or pain.
If you live in this perfect world, please write in and tell us about it! We'd love to hear how the other half lives!!!!
The Body's Way is the ideal. It is the body the way the body was designed. Check out Grey's Anatomy (the book, not Patrick Dempsey!!) and you will see The Body's Way.
My Body's Way is a mix of how I came into the world (bit of scoliosis) and how I have lived my life in my body. Hockey and a motorcycle accident between 15 and 19 gave me chronically painful knees resulting in 3 knee surgeries. Teaching aerobics and dance initially resulted in hip tendonitis. Dance and Nia is healing both the knees and the hips. Not sure what caused a pelvis tilted to the anterior, but here it is.
My intention, now, is to not only continue moving for the rest of my life, but to move with pleasure, with grace, with ease and joy - for the rest of my life. I absolutely believe, without a shadow of a doubt that the only way I can manifest this is to uncover My Body's Way let it show me. In other words, I need to listen to what my body tells me and do what it says. (The fact that the descriptive phrase "obedient child" would never have passed my parents' lips, it has taken me awhile.)
I began to run at 17 to lose weight. I ran too fast. I didn't understand that I was running too fast (my body was telling me, but I wasn't listening). Previously as a track athlete, I was a sprinter and sprinters run fast. Sincerunning distance of any sort is different that experience began what was to be a wary love/ hate relationship with running.
Along the way I trained runners, I had marathoners for friends and I ran off and on. I appreciated the sport and the athletes who excelled it in and I loved to watch those built to run do what they were built for - beautiful! By this point I HATED running. Part of it was ego: I'm an athlete, dammit, why can't I overcome this. The rest was the way my body felt when I tortured it (uh, went running).
That was not My Body's Way. I was not listening. I can be extremely stubborn sometimes.
Some years later my daughter joined the cross country team at school and had to prepare during the summer before the practices began. I told her I would run with her. I'd never met anyone I could run with but I wanted to encourage her. First of all, I'd found a running partner. Second, I'd found My Body's Way!
My daughter is an intelligent young woman who is reasonable when she begins something (unlike her mother... we'll leave it at that), so we began to run at a very slow pace. My body began to speak to me in the dulcet tones of pleasure: mmm, breath is easy and even, "thank you for not slamming down on me when you land", cooed my feet, "hey, this is just the amount of tightening I need to balance the flexibility I receive in Nia" bubbled my tendonitis-plagued hip.
I honestly wasn't so proud of the pace. My daughter had long-since picked up speed but my body just wasn't ready. I resisted my tendency to push before I was ready. It took my 3 months to get there, but I gradually picked up my pace and learned that I was running at a similar pace as a marathon runner I'd read about. Cool. What was the best, though was that I'd unlocked the the treasure chest and the treasure I was rewarded with was my body!!
Unlike everything else I did, I was not in my body when I ran. Often running was a means to an end and I performed it like a chore, to get it done.
Now, my body actually craves the chance to run. "Can we, can we? Oh please, can we run today?" and I feel the sensation of longing and I love that.
This listening to what my body is telling me is Awareness. Every movement we do can be done with awareness. Opening the car door, reaching for the cup of coffee we ordered, getting in and out of a chair. And while we're conscious of what we're doing, why not sense the grace, the elegance, the beauty in each and every one of those movements??
In Nia we call this Dancing Through Life. Every move is intentionally full of ease, regardless of speed. We don't have to be in the studio to be dancing - why not dance all day long?!?
Importance of Awareness and Your Body's Way??? Let's see, if you're walking down the street with your eyes closed and there is an open pothole, there is a possiblility of bad things happening. If, however you decide to walk around with your eyes open (Awareness engaged), you will see the pothole and chances are far better you will not have those bad things happen. Our parents tell us, "open your eyes" - yup - Awareness is simply opening another set of eyes.
Open your eyes. Enjoy the body you're living in. Dance through every single day of your life!
Your Body's Way.
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