Integrative Bodywork

Balance Rocks

Balance:  an active process of moving toward equilibrium, or alignment .  It's a process (not a static state) ever changing and moving, sometimes even taking us OUT OF balance.   And then, inside our human bodies, built-in systems can rock us back into balance.....naturally.  Like when we use both feet to stand, but shift from side to side. 

When we're feeling stressed, this can really help.

Rocking, back and forth, up and down, or from one foot to the other.  If I put a crying baby in your arms right now, you would start rocking.  Sure helps to bring comfort.  And you didn't even really think, just responded to what might work to quiet that child.

Even without the baby, you could try rocking right now in your chair.  Just allow the movement to come forth on its own,  letting the body go with it a little.  Stand if you want to try using your legs for balance, or continue sitting with feet on the floor.  Is it side to side, or front to back?  See what it feels like for you.

Feel OK?  If not, rest awhile.  Notice what IS still feeling OK, even the slightest bit, before going bac.

Springing Ahead

It's that time of year when I notice the sun is rising earlier.   If we're out  before 6, my dog and I sometimes catch a glimpse of the deer feeding on newly greened-up hillsides.   Or coyotes--- like yesterday, when we listened to a pair trilling at us from just a few yards away. 

It's the light.   Earlier in the season, I'm not out at this time.  But, drawn to rise even before it's light, my  morning walk is rewarded with wildlife sightings.

Because we've done this for years --- the early morning walk with the dog --- I know that seasonal change affects my behavior pattern.  Even without a walking routine, every year about this time brings a spring:  not only the name of the season, but a jump-y kind of spring.

A spring ahead.

Our brains lay down tracks that we call memory.  This invariant representation ("this is how it is") is then used when we later run into something similar -- a pattern like seasons changing.  The memory that goes with, "Spring brings with it earlier sunrises," follows a parallel track to "Summer comes after spring."

I like summer.  Summer is coming soon.  Spring is on the way to summer, so spring is positively associated.

I'm therefore more motivated, mobile, movement-oriented --- in spring.

Springing ahead.

Not necessarily springing forward; that would indicate too much structure.  Ahead could mean, to the side, or Up, Along, On, Over, and so many possibilities. 

And possibilities infers that I must look ahead in time. 

Hope for the future.