Movement and Quiet Mind

Moving Symphony

“We exist in a body.  You can drag it with you as dead weight, as a series of problems and impediments, or you can fill it with humanity and live in peace.  I have found that without moving vigorously, I can’t be still or peaceful.  The more intense and vigorous my day of training, the more silent I am within.  The body has an impulse for movement and an impulse for stopping.  Most people live in the middle ground, neither stopping nor moving vigorously.  But if you can be truly quiet, or if you can be 100 percent engaged in action, you will find that these two states are very similar.”

                                  Jeffery Brooks (Martial Arts Instructor)

         I have a friend who will compete in the Iron Man Triathlon this weekend.  He’s been training for a year, running and biking in the hundred-degree heat of Atlanta.  After that competition, he will do a sixty-mile, mountain terrain bike race at the end of September.  This young man is not a professional competitor, he’s a CPA, but he pushes his body to the very limit of its capacities seven days a week.  I wonder sometimes whether this is how he compensates for the inactivity of a CPA’s life, sitting at a desk, crunching numbers.  While I don’t fully appreciate his motivations, I do salute him for his discipline and stamina.

         Movement is what the body is designed to do and what is necessary for the healthy functioning of all our bodily systems.  Take the lymph system for instance: the contraction and relaxation of the skeletal muscles pumps lymph fluid through the body, through a series of cleaning stations, and back to the heart.  When we don’t move enough, that fluid, which carries all the debris from our cells, gets clogged up and pools in the extremities.  Think of it as a storm drain that’s gotten stopped up with leaves and trash, causing water to back up and flood the street.  Because our lymph system can’t work efficiently, we are more susceptible to diseases of toxicity.  Movement is not just necessary for weight control; it is essential for general health as well.

         I can’t recommend that everybody compete in a triathlon, or even jog in this heat and bad air, but movement with intention is critical.  You can use your chores—running the vacuum cleaner, dusting the book shelves, doing the laundry (My chores for today!), mowing the grass, etc.  Or, if you want to make it fun, put on a Tina Turner CD (or Lady Gaga!) and dance for forty-five minutes.  After a vigorous workout, you will feel calmer, and also proud of yourself for taking care of the magnificent creation which is you.

                                  To your good health,

                                  Jane