I have met many many people over the years who have come for rehabilitation from injury that is the result of misuse of the body and a paucity of preparation for the practise to be undertaken.
There is an increasing problem for people who exercise or perform which has the hallmarks of two extremes. Not listening to your own body and over thinking and ego striving.
One is the over thinking of exercise and the opposite being the complete lack of thought regarding your chosen practise. The over thinkers are often people who are voyeurs, like those people who watch sport and never practise anything, they may even become teachers who lacking the prerequisite level of skill substitute rhetoric for practical application. People however who share direct experience of a road well travelled are of a level of skill far above that of people who can talk but not manifest a skill. Of course the doers can often have no skill to explain their experience!
Remember that any map looks nothing like the terrain you stand upon. Your own two feet touching the ground right now is your only point of reference to here and now. The feedback from your own internal dimension must take precedent and be the basis of your learning.To approach from a rhetorical view such mind body arts like Yoga, Qi Gong etc can simply suspends ones own innate capacity to experience directly and the herd mentality takes over.
Lets take the first extreme, over thinking. One can break down exercise into myo-fascial lines, acupuncture meridians, access points, levers and chains. You can talk endlessly about body control and the core, free movement and flow states infinitum. Yet in the final analysis non of these things are your body, they are just mental constructs. They are ideas that must not exclude experience that comes from actual doing and sensing. Over thinking creates practitioners who can talk but not manifest. The Internet is littered with Dr this and Professor that who most often are about as removed from a functional body as we are presently from the moon. In the realm of exercise, sport and performance you must at all costs learn about your body not merely from an academic view point but from a practical and experiential vantage point. Without increasing your personal neurological efficiency and sensing skills you will not get the best from your investment from your movement or art.
Point two is the total disregard for analysing your own performance and breaking down to key components that drive your movement and stability. This unquestioning ( poor sensing ) monkey see monkey do scenario leads to the manipulation of you by others. An important consideration for you is to question your experience as to whether your body is suitable for your chosen endeavour from the onset or whether you need to address imbalances prior to exercise to promote a solid and efficient learning curve. Find out as much as you can about your chosen activity and always, always question what, why and how.
This unquestioning ( poor sensing ) monkey see monkey do scenario leads to the manipulation of you by others. An important consideration for you is to question your experience as to whether your body is suitable for your chosen activity from the onset or whether you need to address imbalances prior to exercise to promote a solid and efficient learning curve. Find out as much as you can about your chosen activity, never follow the herd.
To bring integration into the equation and to balance the two extremes one must understand the vital importance of self reflection, sensing and the creation of a fertile and receptive state of mind conducive to the graduated progression of somatic information that releases you from ego states and into the state of intuitive live sensing.
This form of deep learning is not open to ordinary thinking, it is a non verbal, somatic and visceral and is the hallmark of an integrated approach to exercise and performance. Progress is made when one works with inspired analysis arising out of the experience of participation. Mind and body must integrate as a relaxed and seamless experience, that exists beyond thought, competition and is not subject to self criticism or the opinion of anyone.
Hi Chris, Alex here (EMA). Hope you are well and managing to cope with these “interesting times”. Just browsing and came across this blog -oh so true. Also I find often that peoples interpretation of their own practical ability is often inversely proportional to their actual ability!!! All the best mate and keep safe – looking forward to get some Jo in. Alex