“ Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.”―Lao Tzu

Introduction:

Maybe it is a controversial headline to my blog post because we are told that we should be exercising more and eating less, but I am here to talk about doing the opposite which benefits the health of a stressed , tired, depressed, lost and exhausted human being.

Maybe its not a good thing to hear that a Pilates teacher with over 14 years of experience actually wants you to do LESS in order to be ready to heal and then be able to take on anything.

But here she is..and this is why

1. Following Every Repetition Mindlessly

When we exercise, we tend to watch what an instructor is doing, we follow the demonstrations. This means our attention is on the outside , we are not connecting to feeling whats working on the inside. To heal and be more present, with less pain, and more energy, you have to be IN your body.

2. Doing More Can Lead to Feeling Less

The most surprising lesson I learned from doing an insightful anatomy and muscle testing course, Neurokinetic Therapy, was to do LESS repetitions for a private client who was in pain, regardless of what is was they came to see me for: back pain, shoulder pain, jaw pain, pelvic pain.

If I was trying to impress and keep in line with the fitness way of doing more, more reps, just one more...then I was sending their nervous system over that " neural edge".

It was simply too much.

The interesting thing, when testing muscles, is that when I " fixed" something, like a painful back or shoulders, and the " weak" muscle became stronger again, it would return back to its usual weak state if I performed one rep too many in a session because the system had become overloaded.

Overloading our nervous system leads to pain, weakness and tightness.

Doing way less than we think we need leads to strength, wellness and safety.

There's a reason why doing less reps is the sexy way to do things.

It's not lazy and its not boring - its smart!

It's NOT cool to do loads of reps and go to the gym everyday or be there for hours. I could go as far to say that IF you are doing this mindlessly, you are practicing disconnection.

3. Be Safe

A flat core, a toned belly, six pack abs, is NOT the brains priority.

Surviving the next moment is.

It wants you to be safe , it is constantly checking the surroundings, your eyes are signals taking in information, as are your ears ( sounds) your skin ( touch and temperature) your nose ( smells) your tongue ( taste)

When any of those signals become overloaded with too much scary info, then you will check out, and that can be presented in many ways like these:

Tiredness

Exhaustion

Restless feeling

Aches and pains

Tightness in joints - like knees, jaw, shoulders

Tightness in the gut or chest.

Procrastination

Scrolling through social media mindlessly

Drinking to numb the pain

Over eating or mindlessly snacking

Shopping mindlessly online or in the shops.

Unable to go anywhere due to feeling overwhelmed.

4. Move Slowly

To move slowly can seem so boring, and pointless.

I speak from experience.

When I qualified to teach Pilates, I bought 2 books on movement which covered many exercises from Somatics and Feldenkrais.

Did I read them?

Nope

Did I flick through the pages and pictures?

Yes, and immediately dismissed them because they didn't seem hard enough to build a strong core.

Too slow and too uninteresting.

So what changed?

Lockdown.

The stress from the masks, distancing and seeing the worry and uncertainty in peoples eyes, led me to learn more about the nervous system and I found I actually began to practice these 2 ways of moving, and my body LOVED it.

It actually let go of a lot of tension in my gut and shoulders, and jaw.

You could almost hear it thank me.

So what does moving slowly do for me?

Moving slowly for me, well, it means to be more present, with less pain, and more energy

You have to be IN your body instead of being outside of it. This has many healing benefits that can be so subtle you would barely notice them.

I no longer teach traditional " core" exercises.

Now, I teach how to heal yourself from being reconnected to the inside of you, to listen to your body, to be kinder to yourself and then you can actually like yourself a bit more too.

And who doesn't want to like themselves more?

You would also see more colour, detail, smell more, taste more, feel more, sense more.

Our senses are overloaded with so much external baggage from social media, from the news, from TV, that we forget to disconnect , unplug, and find our own reconnection points where we can plus ourselves in and really recharge

These points are different for all of us:

Beach walk

Woodland walk

Cooking

Drawing

Reading

Knitting

Sewing

Pottery

Photography

Painting

Being with animals, horse riding, walking dogs, cuddling cats.

Meditation

Climbing.

Swimming.

Playing table tennis ( one of my fun reconnection points! I even have my own bat! )

So many others, but no enough space to list them all, but you will know what yours are.

You can't distance yourself from the hate in the world, but you can build the capacity to be with it and not hold onto it, then it doesn't overwhelm you, because when in overwhelm, we feel pain, exhaustion and feel we cannot cope.

Summary

1.Build capacity so you can be with all of the emotions, good and bad.

2.Be kinder to yourself by knowing and ensuring your reconnection points are a priority.

3.Move mindfully

4.Do less and know the benefits that brings for your nervous system, your health and your future self.

Mel

P.S. Join my free 4 week course that starts February. Click Here

P.P.S. If my words help, please donate towards my work here

P.P.P.S. New drop in class, January Thursday 22nd at 6pm for an hour with extra 10 minutes for relaxation . I will email you the Zoom link once you book your space via my simple stripe payment link Grab your spot here.