2nd Gear

A few weeks back I talked of a way we can break movement down into 4 gears each of which can intensify one of 4 intentions I feel we should have when exercising. For the next few weeks, I want to dig deeper into this concept by giving each of these 4 ways of moving its own write up.

So I want to start with what I labeled gear 2 or the slow-motion, tai chi speed of moving. Why do I not start with what I labeled 1st gear in which we hold poses and find stillness? I feel both 1st and 2nd gear are great places to start a movement practice at, but I wanted to break up my concept a bit. I can and will make a case next week about starting a movement practice in 1st gear. This week though my intention is to explain why gear 2 is a good place to start a movement practice if you don't have one. Slow motion rather than stillness is possibly a better place to start whatever intentional movement practice you want because we are already used to moving our bodies. Gear 2 slows us down but we don't have to learn to be still as we do when we are in gear 1. No matter how sedentary we have become, trying to find our stillness is always a challenge. Because there is less of a mental firewall to slow down than there is to be still, we may find this an easier entry point. Since whatever movement we do is far better than the idealized moment we only think of doing this can be a good place to start for anyone whos having difficulty holding poses

That said I would recommend to anyone who wants to start a movement practice to explore something that fits into what I labeled gear one or gear two, or both some combination of the two. It is in these two gears that we grow our proprioceptive powers. By developing our spacial awareness we allow ourselves to establish better body mechanics. The more attuned our movement is with our biostructure the greater the physical, psychological, and even emotional gains we will find when we get to gear 3 and 4. Also, we will be much less likely to hurt ourselves.

So let's get into it, how slow can we move. Even doing simple routine activities can become quite difficult when we slow ourselves down. There an old adage that says once you mastered a movement try doing it slower. When we slow our movement down we spend more time in each phase of that movement. Some of these phases we will find ourselves off balance. When we are moving at a normal cadence these micro-moments of instability are not a practical concern. Often we will not notice them as they pass in a fraction of a second. When we slow ourselves down we can expand these slivers of seconds where we are warbly. In this decompressed time these micro instabilities in our gait, become highlighted.

When we find places where we have difficulty staying in balance it's a sign that we are deficient in some of our stabilizing muscles. I say deficient because at least in theory unless we have an injury our bodies are capable of balancing in any position they can be put into. I doubt anyone has fully mastered this, but our bodies are capable of generating sufficient muscular force that to counter the strain gravity is putting on us.

So as we find areas where we are off balance we will find areas in our bodies that need to be strengthening. When many of us think of strengthening a muscle we envision lifting heavy weights or doing multiple repetitions of action. What I want to convey here is something more subtle. These areas of weakness can be quite small. We can just have a few strands of neuro-muscular tissues not firing when we move a certain way. Often just consciously engaging certain muscles fibers after observing them not firing is enough to establish a smoother neuro-muscular pattern in our movement. This practice will expand where we can find stability. Over time this will provide us with much more movement potential that we can play with when we are in gear 3 and 4.

Another thing to consider is that whatever glitches or compromises we find while we are moving slow in 2nd gear are most likely always there. This gear is all about observing the patterns we are perpetually falling into when we move. Whatever kinesthetic grizzle we find in our movement may not have a felt consequence in the moment itself, but we need to remember these are patterns we are forever recreating day after day and year after year. Over the course of a lifetime the smoother more fluid our movement is the easier our body will be able to move. The easier our body can move the more it will move which will lead to a healthier body.

Finally, I want to talk about breath while we are in this gear. Regardless of how slow or fast, we move our movement should always begin with our breath. As we inhale we contract our diaphragm which causes the ribs to expand. This should be the catalyst for all our expanding action. As we breathe out our diaphragm relaxes and our ribs compress. This should be where we begin any twisting, bending, contorting action. As we move slower it is tempting to lose contact with our breath as longer movement cycles require longer breath cycles. While not moving slower than we can breath may put a temporary barrier on the progress we make in this stage, I feel from my experience we gain far more by not trying to rush this process. There a certain sensation of flow or being one with the movement that I have only experienced when I am synched up with my breath. Through this practice, we can learn to slow our breath which slows our mind enough to sync up with our movement.

As well as restoring and relaxing the body this slower breath pattern gives us the ability to fully concentrate on our body to see where exactly we have glitches, instabilities, and deficiencies in our movement. By slowing down, concentrating on our balance and working to build stronger neuro-muscular patterns in precise places we can easily find ourselves in a heightened state of awareness that I can only describe as magical. Playing with this practice we can restrain ourselves out of maladapted movement practices. We can paint new whatever new movement patterns that we can think of as long as it is physically possible. Athlete, dancer, physical performers all have much to gain by slowing themselves down, but so does everyone else. We are all physical creatures who no matter how sedentary we think we perform endless action over and over again. Should we not take a moment to learn to perform this action in the most efficient least impactful ways?

Anthony Bruni