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.
