My four concepts of movement

Welcome to this blog. I have taken these writings directly from the Dojiva Online Studio. I feel it's important reading for all those that are new to me or have purchased my courses but have not yet signed up for the monthly membership.

Please read on for my four concepts of movement:

1. Honour Your Body

Before and during each of our workouts you will notice periods of guided stillness. This is your continuous opportunity to listen to the physical facts of the moment. 

Listening to your body in the moment of any exercise will not only improve your safety and efficiency but also guide you to the right intensity. Sensing is your ultimate guide.

So, how often and intense you exercise is governed by the reaction of your body. Just keep listening. This extends beyond formal workouts and is true for healthy eating patterns and even chores around the house/garden.

And this is not a linear phenomenon and dependent on sleep, stress, food, metabolism, medication, hydration and exercise experience. 

In other words, it's hard to plan for next workout too far ahead of time because you just can't know. Your mind might have a preference and want a precise session and at a specific time, but that might conflict the message from your body. 

There is only one guide... your body. And that includes intuition; which is something you can nurture and develop.

2. Move with nature

Let's think for a moment about the millions of years the human form has been evolving. And evolution is still happening. It's been a long time since our primary movement was based on survival. Sure, there would have been play, chores, gentle foraging and dancing but much of our time was for survival.

We built, lifted, ran, climbed, threw, jumped, swam and wrestled.

During any of this do you think your ancestors aligned their spine, put their feet parallel, pulled in their abs and tucked in their chin? Of course not, they just moved with nature.

Ok, they didn't have the modern conveniences that have brought our bodies to such imbalance... chairs, cars, screens, travel, work stress, pollutants, etc.

So it may be that we have just lost our connection to nature. The movement and postural videos on this site are designed to help you return to a more natural, fluid and efficient body. I believe your body will say thank you for it!

Martial arts and yoga are at best only several thousands of years old. A mere blip of our time here. And now we have gyms, bicycles, hundreds of sporting disciplines, Pilates, riding, dance and more. Each of these have their own etiquette and postural cues and during the event these are fine and will help with gradings and self development. However, can we drop the cues from our discipline the moment the class/event has finished? That way we can return to being human as quick as possible. 

This can be tough to stomach as it may be you have built much of your movement around unnatural concepts/opinions. Our goal here is to be free from conditioning so that you and your body are free to express what's true.  

Note: This may spark some interest in further learning. Are you a movement teacher or an enthusiast who would like to be better at a chosen sport/activity? And you want to learn how to apply natural movement for your own body and those you teach... then please consider studying with two key schools. 

• Aston Kinetics/Patterning - Judith Aston
• The Franklin Method - Eric Franklin

Gaining movement knowledge and embodiment practices from Judith and Eric (and their faculty) will help you develop your natural human design.

3. Enjoy your movement

Which of the many forms of exercise is the most important? It's a tough call... we've got cardio (HIIT's) for our cardio fitness and general health, strength training for muscles, bones and metabolic health and suppleness for good posture, releasing tension and becoming more flexible throughout.

My answer - "do the exercise you enjoy".

That way, you're more likely to turn up and do it. Ok, this doesn't mean you neglect any of the main components, it's just about finding the right level. Start gently, embrace and enjoy what you can do and set up a curiosity about what you cant!

Embracing where you are is not easy if you have a chronic (long term) or acute (more recent) injury. Your body has a time line for healing. Your mission is to listen to your body and support it on this journey.

In my group movement classes that I teach in my local town, I often joke by liking fatigue to a spicy curry/chilli. Are you ready for a five out of five level of spice for this workout/muscle group, a three, or maybe its a zero and you pass on an exercise.

Until you sense your body and start moving with the warm-ups, you don't know how your body is going to respond. It has to be a moment by moment present experience. 

You might expect your knee to hurt on a one leg squat, but it doesn't and your body is telling you that you're ready for the next level. Or, you are totally blasé to that shoulder injury and push yourself to the limit - soon after regretting it.

4. Keep it balanced

This is simple but can be overlooked. It's tempting not only to do what you are good at, but to avoid the areas where you are lacking. I remember a conversation with one of my sensei's...

"Don't teach them what they know, teach them what they don't know. I am here to show you your holes and help you fill them".

It maybe that you have strong legs, can do great squats and hike for hours, but you lack the upper body strength to lift plant pots around the garden or pick up a grandchild.

Or that your body is very supple, can bend in half at the yoga class but lacks core strength or the ability to produce power. 

Or that you are strong throughout but have limited cardio vascular fitness. The classes on this membership site are designed to help you develop a balanced and efficient body. 

* * * *

So there you have my four concepts of natural movement.