I wrote the title above on a piece of paper as a
note to remind me of an idea I had for a
newsletter article. I had given the topic some
thought and had the details all worked out in my
mind. I just needed to write it all down. This was
going to be a great article!
The problem was that when I retrieved the note
later and read it I had no idea what it was
supposed to mean. In this case the note was not
enough of a memory jogger. If only I had written
down at least the main ideas of the article.
Not one to abandon a good idea I look at it now
and see two main possibilities:.
1) AWARENESS OF THE BODY
Noticing your body and finding it's preferences as a way to find comfort.
2) NOTICING WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND YOU
Noticing your surroundings as a way to find balance and increase your awareness.
Let's examine these two ideas in detail...
AWARENESS OF THE BODY
When asked by clients what they can do to improve their comfort on their own I always tell them two key
things...
1. Just notice what you notice in your body. You don't have to change anything, just notice it.
2. Find your bodies preference and take your body there.
The simple act of noticing improves your bodies awareness of itself. Ortho-Bionomy recognizes the
principal that our bodies self balancing/self correcting mechanisms can keep us in comfort and balance
when the body has sufficient awareness of itself. It's when, through stress, injury, or trauma that this
awareness becomes impaired and we slip into discomfort and imbalance.
Simply refocusing your awareness to what's going on in your body helps you move towards greater
awareness. It's not necessary to "do" anything about what you notice. By noticing and doing nothing you
are "being" with what is. This alone increases awareness.
The act of finding your bodies preferences takes things a step further. By taking a part of the body that
feels uncomfortable or unbalanced and nudging it different directions to see which the body prefers
(which is most comfortable), you are increasing the bodies awareness of itself. By taking it in the
preferred direction and just hanging out there for a few seconds or a minute the body learns more about
where it is comfortable. It can start doing a better job of keeping you balanced.
NOTICE WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND YOU
When we really notice what's going on around us, the birds singing, the breeze, the quality of light, etc.
we are getting out of ourselves. Often when working or when under stress we operate primarily out of our
heads and lose some awareness of the rest of our body. The facilities we call on to notice our
surroundings are the same facilities that we use notice what's going on in us. When we find ourselves in
nature and see our place in nature we increase our personal awareness of our whole self. The result and
be a greater sense of groundedness, balance, and comfort. For more on this see the article below
Spring Prime Time.
What does all this have to do with "5 Seconds Here, 5 Seconds There"?
A common struggle most of us have in seeking wellness is finding the time. How often have you decided
not to go jogging or walking because you didn't have 30 minutes to spare?
The two ideas above, noticing and increasing awareness, are things you can approach easily by
spending 5 seconds here and 5 seconds there. In fact spending a few seconds noticing your body or your
surroundings several times during a day might yield more results than spending a block of 20 or 30
minutes just once during that day. This is because you are setting a a pattern of being more aware and
making it possible for this to become a permanent way of "being" that you don't have to consciously "do".
A move towards comfort and balance can start with 5 seconds. Don't worry about how many 5 seconds
you want to achieve later. The 5 seconds now is all that is important.
Now I need to go and figure out what the note "10 Second Vacation" means.
"Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her
smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain."
- Henry David Thoreau
Click here to return to the Articles Page.
Ric Chamberlin
Registered Practitioner of Ortho-Bionomy®
Licensed Massage Therapist
402 850 0752
info@omahahealingconnection.com
Ortho-Bionomy® and the Sand Dollar design are registered trademarks of the Society of Ortho-Bionomy International, Inc. and are
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