Warriors Guide to Movement

Have you ever noticed how you feel after an extraneous workout or labor-intensive full day's work? There is a reason exercise can be addicting, and there's also a reason during tough times exercise or any type of movement feels completely inaccessible.

Considering that our bodies are made of mostly water, now picture something that remains still in the water- a metal pole, a large rock, even a boat that sits for too long- they all grow moss, algae, crustaceans attach themselves, etc. Or what about a stagnant pond, it's filled with all kinds of stuff that makes it not look so appetizing.  For the microorganisms and little ecosystems this cozy warm small, undisturbed body of water feels just right, but would you want to take a bath here, or drink from this pond?  The point is the stagnation of water allows stuff to grow on it.

Now picture a cool refreshing spring-fed river.  Those droplets evaporated from that stagnant pond, came down from the sky by way of snow, and were then filtered through the geology of the mountain ready to burst out clean and clear, and so pure it is even safe to drink.  Think of all the movement that had to occur to bring that water back to its initial state of clean purified water.  

Our bodies must also have movement to heal and cleanse and bring us back to our natural Selves. Real chemical reactions happen when our bodies go through changes in the autonomic nervous system. The debris from the biochemical release of messages through the body must go somewhere, so they rest within your body as little emotional pain deposits. There has been some exciting research about the relationship between emotional pain and how it is stored in the body that I highly recommend studying further. *Check out The Body Keeps Score by Bessel van der Kolk and The Molecules of Emotion by Candace Pert.  So, if the bits of leftover emotional debris settle into certain areas of your body, how is this relevant to a fishpond or river in Colorado?  Have you ever seen what a pressure washer does to a muddy truck or an algae-covered boat?  Movement cleanses.

Getting your heart rate up gets your blood moving like a fast river and cleans out all the stuff settled on top.  The intention of specific stretching poses in yoga is to get in there in the cracks and crevices and dislodge stuff you didn't even know was there.  Any sort of intentional (or even unintentional) movement, if you are honoring your body by listening and respecting alerts of pain) helps your body release and be relieved of emotions you have endured throughout your entire life.  

So why are the stored-up residual effects of emotional distress a problem for our health and well-being?  Have you ever seen the rice experiment? Our stored trauma remains reverberated in our cells and throughout our bodies. These cells hold the energy of the time they were released.  It feels good to clear these guys out of your system.