Our anatomy is, paradoxically, both enormously complicated—volumes of scientific journals continue to pour out with newly discovered information about neurology, sports-related injuries, cardiology, how the brain works, the role of the pancreas, on and on and on—and very simple. It’s simple in the sense that if we as humans tend to do basic ancient human stuff, like moving around in simple ways like walking, that tends to alleviate if not solve a lot of modern human maladies.

We ended the class on the note of simple: a few thoughts for you to take through your life to help support an innately thriving structure and function. In other words, keep this in mind, or even better in your body, to drop further into the simple, ancient truth of who you are.

I called it the Functional Anatomy Integration Process (no trademark … yet ;))

1. Break the trance.

Step one is probably both the most simple and the most difficult. Step one is to just stop, fully, what you’re doing. This gets more difficult as the trance gets deeper, like when you’ve been sitting at a computer for four hours straight.

It might even help if you expect breaking the trance to be difficult, to encounter some resistance (like “I can’t stop; I’ve got to get this done asap and can’t spare two minutes”). Acknowledge that resistance and, unless you actually can’t stop, do it anyway.

It takes less than no time, and now you’re ready for step two.

2. As best you can, feel your whole body.

We spent a fair amount of class time on the ability to feel your body from the inside out (perhaps as opposed to seeing it, from the outside). Taking some time to feel the sensation in your whole body can be a very powerful exercise in itself, and is even more so when coupled with a movement practice.

Interesting anatomy tidbit: for every one nerve fiber that’s about your brain telling your body what to do (called efferent fibers), there are 10 coming back in, or communicating amongst each other, about the feeling and positional states of your body (afferent fibers and free nerve endings; for more on this, read my article on Interoception).

This can take from two seconds to several hours, depending on your schedule and desires. 45 seconds or so is a good workday dose.

3. Walk, and other ancestral clues.

Good movement is just as much a process of unlearning than it is learning in most cases. One of the best ways to remember your innate, healthy movement is simple activities that humans have been doing for a long time. Walking is definitely one of my favorites. Other examples would be sitting in a comfortable squat-like position, opening up your arms and chest like you were about to throw a ball … the list goes on. But, remember, keeping it simple is best.

Also, notice the difference between walking on a treadmill while on your cell phone, and walking without distractions—without also doing something else—in a quiet neighborhood or park if you have the luxury.

4. Enjoy. Don’t wait until it’s time “exercise” or even “play.”

One of my teachers said he doesn’t wait to call something exercise to take care of his body. I really like that. Exercise is to healthy movement as dieting is to healthy eating: it may be necessary, and even really fun (I love going to the gym), but we’re not seeing the whole picture if we don’t also carry that gentle, careful attention to how we move into our daily lives. At worst, this full-time awareness can be suppressing and neurotic. At best, though, it’s an expression of your care for your body, for the dying art of attention to detail like a fine craftsman, a reverence for life itself.

[These last two are more about big-picture thinking about your body and movement, less “throughout the day” and more “guidelines for what you might choose to do with your time.”]

5. Regarding exercise, fitness, movement of any intentional sort: If you’re unsure, give it a try.

This gets into potentially dangerous territory that’s hard to make a general rule for. To the question “Is running good or bad?” I would ask “For whom?”

I’m not suggesting that if someone’s unsure about running, they try it by hitting the pavement for eight miles. That said, it’s potentially just as dangerous to not try a yoga class because you’re not sure if yin or vinyasa would be best. And who’s the better instructor, Kelly or Jim? And I’ll be five minutes late, so …  It’s a pretty common tendency to stay on the fence much longer than we need to, wanting to get all the pros and cons and for all the studies to come out, before we decide. To cut through this Gordian knot of indecision, try the sword of “Yes, let’s give this a go, maintain my bodily awareness throughout, and see what it’s like.”

The same goes for overtraining. Think you’re running too much, and maybe less would be better? Give it a try.

Lastly, I’ve found the following an extremely helpful little trick to cut through the noise of decision making: notice how you naturally frame the question to yourself. Remove the question mark, and there’s your answer to try out. Say these two sentences aloud: “Should I just go to CrossFit tonight?” and “Should I not go to CrossFit tonight and just rest?” They have a different feel, no? In the first one, going to class would be the result of the exercise; in the latter, not going would be.

Of course, you need to notice how you’d naturally say it; if you want to fool yourself to produce a particular result, there are more direct ways than going through this process.

6. Remember, regarding any workout, rehabilitative exercise, guided movement practice, yogic mantra, map of the Chinese energy meridians, etc etc etc: Someone made all of this up.

Chances are, if a system has more than a few followers and has been around for a few years, i.e. has market value, it has some good truth in it. It will be enormously helpful for some people, and pretty helpful for a lot of people.

And it’s not the whole truth of good movement. So, what is? As the golf legend Ben Hogan said when asked how an aspiring golfer might create his own optimal swing, “You’ll need to do what I did: dig it up from the dirt.”

Happy gardening to all of us 🙂

Below is an email I sent out to my bodywork e-list, and it’s been one of the more popular I’ve written, lots of people writing back to say thanks and that this was helpful. In that spirit, I’d like to share it here, for anyone to read. (If you’d like to be on that list, you can click here.) Hope this is useful, as always, LB

Let’s cut to it. This email is all about a handful of things that I’ve been finding really helpful, transformative even, in my life.

I’ve experienced more change in this year that possibly ever before in my life … probably a good chunk of that is just growing older, as you do, though this year for whatever reasons has felt huge.

And as we all know, I think, big change can be pretty disorienting. Every activity, person, website or thing I mention below has been an integral part of making this process as graceful as it could be for me in—if you’ll pardon the new age vernacular—body, mind and spirit.

Last pre-flight check-in: there are lots of links and information below, and if the magnitude feels overwhelming at all, that’s a great time to just skim and check out only what seems interesting. Let your genuine interest be your guide (now and always!).

Movement

Walking has found its place as my new favorite exercise. Seriously. I enjoy walking some every day. It’s a deeply integrative movement for the nervous system, for our whole being, that we’ve had as long as we’ve been upright to evolutionarily adapt to. My daily exercise now is always a walk, usually a 10-45 minute stroll through the neighborhood or a natural place like the arboretum or, if I’m lucky and have the time, the mountains. These walks may be in addition to, but are never replaced by, more strenuous exercise.

Exercise beyond walking: I run, climb and lift weights only as much as sounds fun. That’s my new barometer to guard against overtraining, and I love it. (Granted, for some of us, a certain amount of willpower is necessary to get the ball rolling. If that’s your case, I’d suggest by all means employ that willpower as needed, though also pay close attention to a feeling of heaviness, stiffness, boredom or disengagement once you’re moving … These are all signs that, to me, mean you should change something.)

Improvisational dance has been an amazing addition to my life the past few years. The unknown of the dance floor is like the expanse of the mountains used to feel to me. There is a unique moment-to-moment kind of focus in dancing, especially when you introduce a partner like in contact improv, where the next move can only come from—be created by—the body itself. I got my start into this world dancing here three times a week, and going to dance-centric, alcohol-and-drug-free events like this one.

Food

I love to eat. I also love the feeling of the nourishment I’m provided by what I choose to eat, when I have a choice. I think it’s unfortunate that so many “healthy” ways of eating are defined by what you’re giving up: no white sugar, no refined grains, no dairy … “Well?” It’s natural to think, “what’s left?“

What’s left is what we’ve been eating for most of our human evolution. What’s left, for me, is a kind of mental and physical clarity that I hugely enjoy.

My food choices now are mostly in the realm of Paleo, that is fruits and vegetables and meat from humanely-raised, open-pastured animals. I don’t tend to choose much beyond that, including alcohol, dairy, grains beyond occasional rice and quinoa. Those things just don’t do me right.

Again, all of this if I have the choice. If I can’t eat my ideal things, I adapt just fine, but also don’t use a little inconvenience as an excuse much anymore (because it’s not about following the rules and getting it right, it’s about how I feel in my body, right now, and how what I eat affects that).

Here are links to my new fave cookbook, and two websites I really enjoy on nutrition, movement and more: Humans Are Not Broken (which had me at the title) and Mark’s Daily Apple.

Also, here’s a link to the new self-care page on my website, which includes a few supplements I take on occasion.

The MindBody

The following teachers/guides/poets have been so helpful for my transition into adulthood; I’d whole-heartedly recommend any of them.

• Adyashanti: a CA-based, Zen-esque spiritual teacher.
   
• Tobin Giblin: also CA-based, does phone sessions that have changed my life, immensely, for the better.
   
• The Presence Process: a guide to emotional clarity that, among other things, really changed my relationship to what I thought I needed in order to be happy.
   
• Zen Habits: one of my favorite blogs, very tangible, humble, real writing.
   
• The poetry of Rilke, Hafiz and Rumi.
   
• … And all of my dear friends and family, no hyperlinks but immeasurable thanks for the closeness and care of community, no matter the size.

Liam Bowler, LMP, BCSI : Dynamic Alignment Bodywork