While recently vacationing in Florida I made an interesting observation while doing some movement exploration on the beach. I made it my morning ritual to get up and go for a walk along the beach just after sunrise. During my walks I would purposefully, and discretely, observe other people as they participate in their version of a morning ritual. Some walk in deep contemplation, others have more intention and focus on their gait speed and tempo based on their calculated arm and leg cadence. Some were out for their morning jog.

The thing that stood out the most to me was how these morning activities were executed with what appeared to be a “routine” mindset. What I mean by routine mindset is there was a body/movement awareness deficiency present. The reason I can say this is that I observed these people everyday over the course of my seven day stay. These people demonstrated the identical body carriage from the preceding day(s). Body carriage is a reflection of how one uses their body on a daily basis. This applies to the common daily activities of sitting, standing, walking, bending, reaching, etc. For these people, they were, as I can only assume, on a mission to accomplish a goal. These goals will differ from person to person, and mean different things to each one. For some, the goal may have been the number of steps taken, distance walked/ran, exposure to morning sunlight, how long it took to complete their morning walk, etc. They had a goal to accomplish and once completed they could checked off the box in their mind.

The point I’m making here is many people place minimal intention to HOW they move day to day. Part of the reason for this is they have no motivation to do so; another part relates to not knowing what to focus on . After all if you don’t know you have poor body posture, and you are comfortable executing your daily activities with its associated structural imbalances and disorganization why would you have any intention on changing.

I have taught myself over the years to use observation of people and how they move within their environment as a “visual” cue to check my body use and carriage. To enhance this process it helps to have a basic understanding of what makes up good body use. One key ingredient is an understanding of how the human body is structurally organized. Allow me to share an insight I had during one of my morning ritual beach walks. To make my point I’ll have you view the following photo:

The question I have for you is: how was the circle in the sand made? Think about it and use your body to explore how it was made. I’ll give you a hint. To make this circle requires physical balance, control, and mobility.

Give it a try, and email me your solution to this movement puzzle; and what you noticed about your body as you explored your solution. In return I’ll forward a solution.

Until next time,

Rick