EXPLORE! Applying an Holistic Approach to Movement Training

As Wikipedia describes it, holism is the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its component parts alone. Instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave. Certainly we've seen a rise in the number of people looking beyond allopathic medicine to find professionals who espouse holistic practices. The increasing popularity of so-called "body-mind" practices speaks to people's desire to find a more integrated approach to movement as well.

For most, those body-mind practices tend toward activities like yoga and tai chi. Activities like these have given us a language to use in connecting to movement in a holistic way. They have opened a door to modern fitness enthusiasts into moving and thinking about moving in a different way. The quality of breath is important, not just the speed with which respiration returns to normal after exertion. Finding a degree of ease in movement, no matter what the level of exertion, is important too. With a little awareness and a little practice, one can begin to apply a holistic perspective to training movement of all kinds.
That being said...Where do we begin?

1. Breathe
Probably one of the easiest places to start is with breathing. Notice the quality of your breath. Where do you feel it moving through your body? Is each breath free and deep, reaching down in to the bottom of the lungs easily? Do you feel any restrictions along the pathway of your breath: in the throat, the shoulders, the spine, chest, belly, pelvis or tailbone? As your level of exertion changes, how does your breathing change? What does your breath sound like? Different movement modalities often teach different breathing techniques. Play with some of them in your day to day movement and notice the effects.

2. Feel Your Skeleton
Our bones provide a solid structure which enables us, with the assistance of the muscles, to move our way through space. We tend to focus so much on muscles, that we often forget that the bones are supports and levers that we can use too. A simple way to play with the skeleton is to feel, in a variety of positions, the stacking of your bones in relation to each other and to gravity. How does gravity move through the bones into the floor? What feels supported - and what doesn't? As you release your bones into gravity, can you feel the support of the floor underneath you? Does this have any effect on the sensations in your muscles?

3. Layer the Work of the Muscles
Play with feeling the layers of work that exist in the muscular system. There is one group of muscles that essentially snugs the bones together (local stabilizers) and another group that moves us through space (global mobilizers). Coordinating these muscles in different ways creates different qualities of movement and sensation. How different can it feel doing a pilates class or walking the dog, or playing a shift of hockey, skiing a slalom course or dancing petit allegro variations in a ballet class? You can tweak your coordination of these layers of muscles to find the optimum support for YOUR body in any of these situations. Your activity will determine to some degree how you use these muscles - but a conscious connection to them may offer possibilities you hadn't considered before.

4. Connect to Other Systems in the Body
Practice making connections to other systems in the body while you are moving. Feel your heart beat. Can you find a sensory connection to your ciculatory system anywhere else in your body? Can you feel the blood moving through the arteries in your arms or legs? What is the quality of that sensation?

Visualize your major internal organs. They are densely packed within the trunk, and in their own way provide a kind of support for the structure of the body from the inside out. Each organ has its own mobility and motility within the body. Can you begin to differentiate different organs by their feel: weight, quality of suspension in the body, vibration?

Imagine the intricate web of your nervous system: the brain, the spinal cord, the nerves themselves and moving further down the scale...the nerve synapses themselves. One way to begin getting in touch with this part of the body is to become aware of the overall "vibration" in your body at various times.

5. Cellular Movement
Yeah, right. Right? Believe it or not, it is possible to get a deeper sense of movement on a microscopic scale in the body! This is movement that may or may not register as "movement" to the eye of an oustide observer, but that can be perceived as movement within the body. Often times, these kinds of movements are felt as waves or undulations in the body - a flow of spirals, whirls and eddies that wind and unwind within. No doubt it is best to begin tapping into this kind of thing in a more meditative state, graduallly allowing your growing perception of these flows to create "micro-movements" which may or may not inspire larger movement. Let go of any preconceived ideas about what "should" happen, and just feel what is there.

These few steps are a very brief overview of some of the ways you can connect to a more holistic view of your own body in movement. At first, you may want to explore each of these pieces on their own. Be aware though, that our bodies are much like holograms and that all of these pieces exist in the body at the same time. Our sensory awareness becomes an ongoing stream of information. As we develop our skills in embodying the information, we improve our ability to understand our bodies and can make better choices about how we are working them.

A body working with attention to the whole is a little like a moist sponge; supple and resilient. This sponge is able to absorb from without and release from within. One can twist it, bend it, squish it - and it simply returns to its original shape. Every cell is included - not just the ones outside we can see and touch. This sponge has a huge potential for movement! Take the time to begin to know your body in a new way. The simple act of exploring a new perspective can open a vast array of inner resources on which you can draw for living a vital, healthy and moving life.