Reclaiming Movement

“Movement is life, life is process, improve the quality of the process, and you improve the quality of life itself.”- Moshe Feldenkrais

 As infants, we gleefully wake up. We are bursting with joy. What new adventures will delight us today? There is so much to explore, experience, and learn. Perhaps today will be the day we will roll from the back onto the belly. If not, we can spend all morning trying to figure it out. No agendas, no goals, no vision boards. Our parents proudly cheer every little achievement.

Fast forward the years and every movement is labored and difficult. We grunt as we get out of bed, we crash onto the toilet seat, and moan as we get out of the shower. We silently pray all day that we don’t fall and hope that there are children around to pick up the loonie dropped on the floor.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -George Bernard Shaw

I worked at the Center for Activity and Ageing while at graduate school. There was a photo of a senior jumping a hurdle. As long as you keep active throughout your life, you can maintain full movement.

“Life is movement. The more life there is, the more flexibility there is. The more fluid you are, the more you are alive.”-Arnaud Desjardins

 Most of us don’t have to move at Olympian level but can reclaim the pleasure in movement. To joyfully roll out of bed and say to yourself “today is a beautiful day,” is a fabulous way to wake up each and every marvelous day.

“Movement should be approached like life – with enthusiasm, joy and gratitude – for movement is life, and life is movement, and we get out of it what we put into it.”-Ron Fletcher

Come and explore movement possibilities with me on Sunday, April 28 in the Transition Workshop at Janati Yoga School, to learn various ways to roll to your side, to your stomach, to sit up and eventually able to stand from the floor position.

To know more & register, click here.

Susan Yee