The Internal Body and Kinesthesia

My interest in exercise developed slowly over the first 20 years of my teaching modern dance and pre-ballet to children and the dancers’ stretch exercise to adults.  Initially it was the observation that classical dancers live long, healthy lives in good, proportionate bodies because of the style of their exercise preparation – beginning with the slow, continuous stretching from the inside that uses the entire body in positions of full extension.  It was the growing awareness that I was functioning in both internal and external body processes that I had taken for granted without realizing.

For instance, say the word exercise to someone, and there’s an immediate vision of movement with muscle flexion aimed at encouraging the development of visible body power.

But coming to the study of, and involvement with, exercise from the dancers’ base, I’m more in tune with Kinesthesia – the feeling of expression of body movement, which leads me to interpreting exercise as more of an internal/external endeavor than a development of the large muscle groups that are so necessary in sport conditioning.

The bridge between mind and body is in the viscera, and the way visible and invisible forces connect for unity through the emotional interaction of music and/or the natural need to express through movement – much like the group dancing done by primitive people.

Think about words like unity, balance and symmetry within the body, and how important it is to be aware of the equalization of muscular effort at the weight bearing points of our structures – shoulders, hips, and knees.  Bilateral Symmetry is the way it’s usually expressed.  Keep it in mind whether you are a walker, a runner, a gymnasium/machine exerciser or a recreational exerciser.

Am I losing you?

Well, just teach yourself to think of exercise as total body movement and try to mentally connect your inner and outer body before and during whatever you do for exercise, and you’ll get much more value out of the movement.  No need to become obsessed by it though; you really need to keep exercise (movement) in its proper place as a natural, daily body function equal to eating and sleeping.

Osteoporosis: Is it really a disease?

For years I’ve had my own theory about osteoporosis but only voiced it to family and friends because I’m not a doctor – although, I did, during the period when women were being urged by the medical establishment to go on estrogen to avoid heart attacks, osteoporosis etc. etc., wonder why the doctors didn’t urge women to exercise and eat right instead.  (Pressure from the drug companies, fear of malpractice suits, or just plain acceptance of the fact that many people find it easier to rely on pills than healthy habits?)

There are girls who, in youth, grow tall early, before most of their peers, or they become shy about developing breasts and start slumping in their posture.  I can remember them as I was growing up, as well as other girls who started assuming various postural affectations that became habitual as they passed into adulthood.  Interesting though, that you don’t usually see girls, or boys, who’ve been involved in athletics and dance with those postural affectations.

Everybody – male and female – starts losing bone mass before midlife, just as we get grey hair and wrinkles.  Even people like me who’ve spent a life in dance and exercise, lose height through the spine.  So, technically, you could say that everyone over a certain age probably has some degree of osteoporosis.  Visualize, though, what happens to the people who grow up with poor posture, when THEY start losing bone mass.  Right.  They definitely have a problem.

Having been through grade school, high school, and maintained lifelong friendships with many of the same people, I can honestly say I only know of a few people who have “real” osteoporosis and suffer painful compression fractures, and they were all people who didn’t exercise and had bad posture.

These are just observations, but I think my theory has some merit.  Think about it.  Keep exercising and maintaining good posture.  You’ll be glad you did when you reach my age.

P.S. No, I never did take estrogen.  I just kept exercising.

P.S.S  A body with good posture has an invisible straight line from the top of the head down through the upper body and lower body to the floor with bilateral symmetry at the shoulders and hipline.