Live, Laugh, Be Contrary
Movement is life
Life is about the beat, it is about movement. Life probably started in the primordial soup with a burst of electricity and enough atoms present to start a cascade off that sets the earth apart from every other planet in our galaxy. Movement is life, to be still is to rot. Notice how the decaying organisms only began their work once movement has ceased.
Movement also beings joy, its gets rid of my body’s energy and gives me that oh-so-needed hit of dopamine. When I do a twist in yoga it feels like I’m wringing out my body, like a wet towel. Getting rid of the excess so I can return to my normal state. Bharadvajasana, that’s what it’s called. I love how the body is all contorted and it just feels so good.
I also love to dance, I grew up square dancing out west, but now I just do it from my own living room. I’ve had a thought about myself for a long time. When I was younger I had a dog, a lovely little black and white thing, but boy did she have energy. Especially when she was little. I needed to take her on a walk three times a day. It was a chore based in devotion to her, but as I got older I realized something. I also needed to have my energy depleted. I couldn’t stay still and when I started running I realized that I needed more movement in my life, not less. At the time I was working outside mostly, but I would still have energy at the end of a day to run at leas 2.5 miles. Now, come to think of it, 2.5 miles was my warmup, it was only after those steps would my body settle into the movement. In those days I was averaging six mile runs, (9.6 kilometers for you Canadian folx). I loved that distance, long enough to get some serious feel-good hormones from the movement, but short enough that I wouldn’t injure myself.
But now I have moved away from movement like a fool. I don’t know what happened, because it use to take such a prominent position in my life. But as I’ve gotten older it’s harder to find the time to carve out time only for me. And my body is suffering from it. I now have issues with my rib popping out of place. It never used to do that. My flexibility is shot too.
But thankfully I’m enough of a contrarian, stubborn to a fault, that I know I can start moving again. I know it’s important. I know life feels better with more movement. I just got to get back in the saddle again.
MOVE
Shake it off
Movement. Change. Space. All of these are my intentions for 2025. Dancing too, but privately in my kitchen to some Taylor Swift. I need to shake it off, 2024, 2023 hell, even 2022. It’s been a long and dark three years and I hoping for a change in 2025.
Now given the recent news, I’m pretty sure everyone is hoping for a better 2025. I look down south of the border and just shake my head. Well, actually I am furious. I am furious with this orange Cheeto and his controller who are wrecking my country. It’s become a bit overwhelming, and thus I’ve decided to stop reading the news constantly. It was only making me more upset.
So, onto a better year: movement, change, space. My theme this year thanks to my business coach is… Space. Let me unpack that for you. To me, space means openness, especially in my mind. I’ve been working on mindfulness now for over five years, and when I can observe my mind, I notice how much of a tight, small space it can become. I ruminate and stew. It does not feel good. And I have been working on changing my internal working order ever since I started therapy back in 2017.
I knew, even back then that I was stuck, that there was so much more that life had to offer than what I could fathom. I was stuck in the same way of thinking, the same way of processing my experiences and I did not like it. But after months of therapy, I started to have this embodied reaction to the work we were doing in my sessions. It felt like space, it felt like opening, it felt like broadening, it felt like there was breath and light cascading into the forgotten corners in my mind and opening everything up.
That same feeling happened today when my business coach asked me what my theme was going to be for 2025. Without a doubt I said, “Space”. Ever since 2022 I’ve been writing myself off and now, I’m trying to create a new life within the confines of my reality. I’m tired of clawing out of the hole of despair I’ve found myself in. I think I’ve reached a good ledge to start working on thriving again, instead of just surviving.
One thing I know that will help is movement: dancing, running, lifting weights. Any sort of thing that will help to wash my body in good hormones, to work out the kinks of my stationary body. To lube up the joints and to change my perspective. Move!! I need to move more, onward into space.
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MOVE
I did not know prior to becoming a parent how value movement was to the whole process of pregnancy, birth and recovery. It makes sense for pregnancy, it’s good to keep doing what you are doing while pregnant, movement is health. Even if you haven’t been all that active, almost everyone recommends walking for as long as possible to help you in recovery.
I was extremely active prior to pregnancy, but once I got pregnant… BAM. The exhaustion hit like a brick. I went from biking and running (all in one day) to simply walking. Also, I was working on my inversions: headstands and handstands. But these types of movement grew increasingly harder even in the early stages of pregnancy. Running especially. My body could not take the up and down movement, even in the first trimester. Whenever I would try to go for a jog, it just felt wrong. So I had to stop.
This was difficult because I relay so much on movement for mental health. But once I became pregnant, I was so exhausted that I was falling sleep on the sofa after a typical day’s work. I am grateful though for being in shape prior because I think it really had an effect on me during delivery.
What they don’t tell you before trying to push a baby out of your body is how important movement is for this process. Even at a cultural level, we can all attest to movies and shows showing us that labouring women lay on their back and push to give birth. Trust me, that is not the way to do it. In my case it didn’t even feel right!
I was talking to a home birth doula about the importance of movement in labour. Did you know that the baby as it descends through the birth canal that it twists so that it is looking toward your butt? Have you heard the term, “sunny side up”? That refers to when the baby doesn’t face backwards but instead faces toward the ceiling during birth.
The birth parent’s ability to move in labour helps their baby descend into the pelvis and to turn how they should for a typical birth. Squatting, hanging, bouncing, and swaying are all so important to help the baby navigate your pelvis and birth canal. It can reduce stress on the baby and reduce complications like tearing after birth.
Personally, it felt so weird to lay on my back and push my baby out. My baby didn’t like it either and we ended up with a c-section for various reasons. Now, due to my experience I now know how vital movement is in ever aspect of life. I only hope that more people are aware of its importance for birth.