A Mental Exercise...Of Sorts

Health and fitness is as much mental as it is physical. Today I offer a challenge of both. To begin, stand with your feet parallel and hip distance apart. Take a moment to lift your shoulders up to your ears and roll them down and back into "your back pockets." Articulate your spine to arch your low back and tilt your pelvis to flatten your spine. Find your neutral spine, like you did while lying on your back. Notice how your core muscles are engaged when your spine is in neutral alignment. Now the challenge...remember this position, with your shoulders down, your core engaged and your feet hip distance apart and parallel. Take notice though out your day of your body position. What is going on when your shoulders are up to your ears? Where do you feel tension? What about your core? When you lose the engagement, where is your spine? Is your low back arched with your stomach protruding? How does that make your back feel? Do you sit up tall at a desk or hunch over with rounded shoulders? Can you lengthen your neck by dropping your shoulders?
Now that your posture is in check, where is your breath? Do you need to reach down into your belly for a full breath? Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth. Notice how a full, deep breath allows you to drop your shoulders, lengthen your neck and engage your core. We have addressed posture and breath, now is the time to make sure your thoughts are in the present moment. Are you fretting, worrying about things you can not change, engrossed in the way off future. Do you pause to notice how the sun plays off the snow? Can you feel your foot inside your shoe? Have you taken the opportunity to notice how fabulous simplicity is?

Posture, Breath, Mind...all connected.