Do You Want to Move Better and Feel Better?

Categories: Blog Jul 24, 2016

We all want to feel good, right? No one wants to hurt, be stiff, feel sluggish or have low energy. It is probably safe to assume that most people want to be filled with vigor and strength, have effortless mobility, and be pain free. After all, the easier it is to move and the better you feel, the more you feel like doing and the more you actually participate in life.

We all know this. I think this is the reason many people get fed up and decide to suddenly do drastic things like run a 5k, train like a ninja, or join a health club. Yes, joining a health club can be drastic, especially if the only movement or exercise you are accustomed to is walking from your bedroom to your bathroom, or from your house to your car.... Unfortunately, these sudden changes of activities often bring with them sudden new aches, pains, frustrations and disappointments. The quest for feeling better becomes the journey of feeling tortured, and the hope of better health becomes the despair of physical aging and limitation. What's the number one excuse people offer for their current condition? "Getting old sucks." That's what they say.

No one should have to settle for the "perceived realities" of aging or any other excuse for not having the body you desire. It is right to want to feel good and move well. It is also a right to be able to do so. You have the right to feel good. You have the right to be strong. You have the right move well. It is your right. Why? Because you are here and you have a body. A body that you have a great deal of authority over. When you understand your authority and you understand what belongs to you, it makes it easier to own the process of obtaining what is rightfully yours.

Anyway, you have to take ownership of your health. You have to take steps to restore what belongs to you. There are no shortcuts. There is no "quick fix." But there is simplicity. The path to moving well and feeling good can start with taking time to breathe properly. Removing physical limitations, compensations and dysfunctions can begin with setting aside deliberate time to get down on the floor and remembering how to hold your head up, how to roll, or how to crawl. Complex things are built upon simple things. It is these simple natural movements, not complicated, abnormal exercises, that return your rightful physical being and allow you to enjoy the more "drastic" or complex activities of life.

For example, do you want to run a 5K? Great! Can you roll fluidly on the floor? If not, you may want to start your 5K training with rolling instead of running. How do you breathe? Are you breathing with your emergency, accessory breathing muscles? If so, do you really want to begin a running program with in a panic breathing mode before you even lace up your running shoes? Wouldn't it make sense to own diaphragmatic breathing to take in full, emergency free breaths that strengthen your core and free up the mobility in your shoulders and thoracic spine?

You should feel good. You should move well. You should age with strength and grace. You should also be good at the foundational movements that support all the wonderful things your body is designed to do. The first movements are the foundational movements. Without owning these, it becomes harder to own the more advanced functional movements like running, Olympic lifting, weight lifting, or even walking to your mailbox.

Again, you have a great deal of say when it comes to your health. Do not settle for your current circumstances. Do not settle for what other people say. Don't let your doctor tell you pain is part of getting old. Don't allow yourself to believe you are stuck in a body that doesn't allow you to engage in life the way you want to. Exercise your authority and your right to move well and feel well. Deliberately practice breathing, roll around on the floor until you move like a dancer, learn to crawl like a panther instead of a walking stick. Take the time to lay a solid foundation of reflexive strength. It will allow you to train or move or participate in all the other activities you want to enjoy - it will allow you to live your life better. It is not a short cut. It is the first step to owning and reclaiming what rightfully belongs to you. It is Original Strength, and it works.

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