Movement, like a force of nature, is a vital component to overall Wellness & Nourishment connection!
Challenging Ourselves to wellness through movement and optimum health in the Digital Age…Best time to start is the summer, long bright evenings and stamina to kickstart and get yourself moving more!!!
Everything seems all too easy these days. Do you want something? Order it, instead of cooking. Want to learn a new skill? Look it up on YouTube and maybe follow the steps. Stuck for ideas? Search it on Pinterest. Bored? Stream a movie. With all this convenience it sometimes feels as though we are forgetting how to think for ourselves. Keeping our brains and bodies active and our minds mindfully content during the digital age where everything is literally at the click of a button, is one of our greatest modern-day challenges… Don’t you think???
Although it is much easier to simply look something up online, its the actual “experience” that infuses the mind body connection that is far more valuable. For example, there are now endless online yoga classes and instructional videos, which can be great if you are on the move and do not feel comfortable guiding your own practice.
However, completely replacing your studio practice or gym practice with an online one may not be entirely beneficial. For most of us, our studio is our community, it is a place where we can come together, and despite differences, they just seem to unify in the most beautiful way …… connecting and finding serenity and understanding in this ancient practice when we all come together to share it through a combination of movement and our breath…….. We have a instant safe space in which we can exist without judgement. The various yoga teachers that operate in this space all have something different and unique to bring with them. Each one can help us move past a blockage – whether it be emotional, physical, mental, or spiritual – and their assists allow us to recognise the ways in which we maybe misaligned in that moment on a particular day (not just physically)!!. The connection we gain in a ‘real’ class I believe gives a sense of healthy wellbeing around a beautiful infusion of energies that flosses around the body… … Leaving you feeling untimely jubilant (sometimes unkowning’ly so) and liberated to your daily stressors…..
What unfolds is maybe better sleep patterns, better postures, better functioning, better connection to living life……
Convenience (however convenient can be great!!!) can also take some of the real joy out of life….. When faced with a challenge, getting our thinking caps out and using our intelligences to solve it is half the fun and actually challenging the age process in turn!!!! Thinking and listening (following instruction), being social and connected all help with keeping optimal age function **
It may seem difficult at the time to get up and and embrace a movement class, but afterwards we are filled with SATISFACTION and gratitude for our abilities and endurance. What’s more, working through – and completing – a challenge gives our bodies the opportunity to balance. Once we have overcome a situation, we release dopamine and endorphins (happiness!) to counteract the effect of the cortisol (stress hormones) that our bodies release as a natural response to stress. If we are not able to find balance internally we may encounter decreased levels of happiness and satisfaction, issues with our digestive systems, and even have trouble sleeping…. etc….
I am not saying necessarily that convenience is bad… it is just that we have found ourselves in a place and time where convenience seems to decide ALOT, it has the ability to make other options unthinkable.
Imagine having to cook from scratch as it interferes with not being able to catch up on your favourite television programme because you were busy at the time it was on…… Convenience portrays physical work as a Chore….. This is a big part of it of the overall problem!!!! ………But actual going back to basics and getting connected gives soooooo much more meaning to feeling all the whole benefits both physically & mentally …. Small changes in the right direction lead to the most favourable conditions in the overall picture 🙂
It gives us purpose, it helps keep us nourished and gifts us with a sense of control over our lives. Learning a musical instrument, growing your own vegetables, or even taking the time to build a strong yoga practice with a community , are all far from ‘convenient’, yet they are still somehow valuable to us. They make us who we are as humans, and as individuals.
Sometimes we need to consciously create, and embrace, the inconvenient and the non-digital. GET Moving on this and If you want to be someone, who really learns from EXPERIENCES, you cannot make your life choices based on the most convenient option, but instead learn to find joy in the process that can really only give back in overall health and wellness of the body and mind… Me thinks 🙂
