Daily Maestroism

DM #79

Wednesday, August 10th, 2016

DM #79: When was the last time you heard a little kid say that their back hurt, or that their knees were sore, or that their feet were swollen? Clearly they’re doing something right that the rest of us decrepit adults haven’t figured out
Now, jobs, bills, and the general stress of adulthood definitely have something to do with it, but when it comes to movement, a quick scan of any playground, sandbox, preschool, or any other place were little ones congregate will quickly reveal one of their secrets…they’re on the ground!

Prior to starting my movement practice about a year ago, the last time I had been on the ground was when I tripped while training for the marathon. Highly unpleasant. I, like many other adults spent time in positions I knew well and positions that were easy: standing up, sitting down, or asleep in my bed. While this wasn’t the only thing that caused my various physical ailments, the fewer movements and positions that you expose yourself to, the smaller your movement library when it comes to navigating the tasks of daily life. This can lead to repetitive stress injuries or simply compensatory strategies put in place because we have no other movement options of how to complete the task at hand.
Adding ground work into your movement practice brought with with a host of benefits, as it challenges all of your systems in a different way, forces you to overcome or accommodate to gravity in a different way, and, well, it forces you to look at things from a different perspective. Crawling and rolling have been two movement patterns that have become integral not in only how I treat, but how I maintain my own mobility and physical health.
Don’t believe me? Find a child around the age of 1 (please don’t be a creep?) and mirror their movements for 3 full minutes, 5 if you’re feeling brave. If you can’t roll, crawl, or get into a deep squat, you lose and you owe me 5 bucks. ?

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