Gracing Agefully
By Marilyn Hardy, MS, GCFP W
e need to change some thinking around...and we might as well start with “aging” since it’s some-
thing we’re all doing. The other thing we all do is move. Life is movement and we have some peculiar notions about what happens to it as we age. I can’t do what I used to do—sound familiar? It reflects an accepted decline model that’s worth poking at, for it may be a little askew.
Now I’m not suggesting aging doesn’t bring limitation and decline. But here’s the good news: Our limitations in movement may have more to do with how we’re do- ing what we do. In other words, our aches and pains may be more a result of habitual misuse through the years—not the result of
18 ELM™ Maine - September/October 2018
“aging”. And the best news is that we can change our habits of moving...and thinking—We can grace age with creative options.
Habits. We all have them. And we are likely to accept and identify with them— they are seductively familiar. We need habits—some of them. Others can lead us down that dead end road...unnecessarily. How can we tell the difference? How do we know what we’re doing?
It may seem
uninteresting...boring
even, to think about how you move—and I agree it would be if you’re thinking about your body as just a body. I have no interest in rote, mindless exercise regimens, which
many times just serve to strengthen the habits that are limiting us.
So, here’s the chance to change some
thinking. What
if...you could use your body to creatively speak to your brain? Does this get your attention? You surely want to keep your brain inspired as you move along through the years. Well, listen to this: the brain, when it comes down to it, is predom- inantly occupied with movement. Moving in novel ways—novel being the key—gets the brain’s attention. Habit is interrupted! New neural pathways open up and some- thing rather magical happens: the system re-organizes and new choices of action... and
perception...become available.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
