Patterns

If we do something there a good chance we will do it again. If we do it again there a good chance we will continue to do it. The more we continue to do it the more influence it will hold over our lives, and the more we should pay attention to the details of what we are doing.

Our habits begin as cobwebs and over time become chains. Whatever we are doing, we are doing it in the ways that we previously have done it. The postures we hold, the way we breathe, the emotional sensations we feel are influenced by our past patterns. Conversely, the patterns we manifest to what we are presently doing will inform how we perform these same tasks in the future. Like water seeking a path downhill, we carve the same grooves day after day for both good and bad.

I was reminded of this working with a client who was experiencing shoulder pain from playing the piano. She was an older woman who has been playing her whole life. While nourishing a skill throughout our lives is greatly rewarding it can be unnecessarily taxing if we fall into poor patterns. While I can’t attest to her musical ability I can say the way she hiked up her shoulders when playing was damaging her health.

When we first learn a skill we have plenty to concentrate on. Having so many tasks vying for our attention it is easy to block out pain signals from incorrect posture and form. I'm sure when she was learning piano whatever pain that radiated out from her shoulder was of minor importance compared to getting the notes right. I would not be surprised if she went for many years without any real pain.

There is also the reality of learning many of our patterns when we are young and physically resilient. As we grow, old our bodies which can remain healthy throughout our lives, do take longer to self-heal. At the same time the toll we pay for spending time in stress positions accumulates.

Which is to say whatever we do in our lives generally becomes more difficult. The hairline fractures in our patterns will only grow, so it's worth developing an awareness of how we can improve as soon as possible.

The tragic part of this is for me is the needlessness of her pain. Anyone that can develop enough neuromuscular dexterity in their fingers to play the piano (even poorly) has more than enough ability to practice good posture. But I get it. As I type this, something that also requires a fair amount of finger dexterity I’m looking at my posture. When I started writing this blog I wasn’t spending much time typing. My slouched over posture was not much of an issue. Nowadays I spend much more time hammering away at the keyboard. I am all too aware of how we all fall into sub-optimal patterns and becoming aware of the price for those patterns.

So let's examine our habitual behaviors. Let us not just see the momentary effect of what we are doing in the moment but of the cumulative effect of the pattern, we are fortifying. What slight changes can we make that over time will relieve us of a great burden?

Anthony Bruni