By: Kerrie Murphy | 07/08/2017

“I’m not sure I can do this” / “I’m too old to move that way again”… How often do you tell yourself this? Have you become wary of getting up and down off the ground, climbing a flight of stairs, or playing with your children or grandchildren? Not been able to get into the gondola in Venice on your vacation because you have lost the knowhow? Do you feel like you are missing out on life’s experiences?

Yet when you reflect back to your childhood, with that inner smile on your face, those feelings of happiness come flooding back.

As a child I remember being completely alive and in tune with our environment.

My mind casts back to times when I was lying on the grass watching clouds drift past creating shapes as they moved. Playing street football with the kids on the street and feeling the pain on my foot as I kicked the ball. Climbing bark tree and negotiating how I was going to get down. Walking through the paddocks and perching on a rock to eat peanut butter sandwiches with my friends. Watching every step we made stepping into the rocky and slippery creek to collect tadpoles.

As one of my childhood friends reflects, it was some of the best years of his life, and I tend to agree.

All of our senses were completely stimulated. We could feel our whole body move through space, and we had such a sense of liveliness! Being cold, hot, sweaty, feeling our heartbeat, hunger, thirst, pain, so many experienced sensations. When all our senses are stimulated, we show greater emotional awareness.

All these signals are an intrinsic part of being alive. Our contemporary culture, however, overrides this message and gets in the way of our leading a full life.

When you are more in touch with how you feel, you have that gut instinct that tells you what is right for you. You are more able to make lifestyle choices for greater happiness, whether in your occupation, relationships, and activities.

Our digital age is limiting us: we are not moving enough, we sit for prolonged periods of time, and we forget that movement is our primary function as human beings. Not moving habituates nerves and fascia and limits the path use of the body.

Mary Bond, author of The New Rules of Posture states that “The more we sit the less expressive we are in other areas in our lives.” We have limited movement and gait. Our attention in space is limited to what is in front of us, looking straight ahead or down as we stare at the screen in a quasi hypnotic state.

Our bodies are not designed for this. Our senses have become muted to the world and we don’t see ourselves the way we should. In hunter/gatherer times humans had to fully use all their senses for survival. Today we don’t need to use these senses to that extent. Yet they are what make us uniquely human.

As a consequence, our body’s support structure is compressed, movement is limited and we forget what it means to feel, we lose that precious mind-body connection.

Now is the time to explore more of how you feel and tap into what inspires you, what makes you tick.

To learn the skill of feeling again is a starting point.

In Pilates, we explore how our body moves in relation to gravity and space, and how that feels. Infinity Pilates Studio offers a safe and warm environment where you are encouraged to (re)discover your body, unleash your full movement potential and transfer all that you learn into your everyday life. This brings immense joy and a sense of fulfilment to our life experiences.

In my personal life, I feel more and more inclined to try new things and get out of my comfort zone. I love the sensations and feelings I experience during long walks in the cold, while catching waves down the beach, or clambering over rocks to get a great view across the seas. Age doesn’t define what I should or shouldn’t do. If I want to give something a go, I think about how I feel (am I strong enough, brave enough…) and make decisions based on where I’m at or set myself goals to get me there… and that is good place to be.

Re discover your body and unleash your full movement potential join us at our upcoming workshop on the Sixth Sense https://www.infinitypilates.com/news/workshop-live-a-fuller-life-through-your-sixth-sense/