I was thinking today how everything is connected: in our bodies, and in our lives. As I did a light workout after putting a kid on the bus, I thought about how first one hip gets injured, so I go easy on it, and then the other hip starts complaining and feeling out of joint too. When one part of our bodies stops being used, the others all have to compensate.
Okay, it was a medium workout. My back is still feeling it.
When I injured my hip/pelvis three years ago, it blew my mind at how sore my back was. I didn’t even realize it. Our backs bear so much of our burdens. I think a lot of us forget just how much the back connects the rest of the body, and then wonder why we end up with back problems. Like me, many people might forget that the abdominal muscles are there to support the back and spine, and fall into the trap of thinking that wanting a lean or muscled stomach is merely a vanity issue.
It’s not. We need to be strong.
After stretching from growing three kids, I’m trying to care less about how flat my stomach is and more about how ready it is to bear the burdens of life. As I tensed and breathed and lifted very light weights, I tried to pull all those abdominal and pelvic muscles in, and I could feel them being used in every exercise. I try to work my whole body lightly and fairly quickly these days, because I don’t know when I’ll remember/be able to workout next, and I don’t want to neglect any vital part, which includes just about all of them! At the risk of going all hippie on you, I think workouts should be holistic: involving the whole mind and body. Awareness and peacefulness, focusing on control, letting in tension and releasing it, all of this should be a celebration of what your body can do.
I don’t know what today will hold, so I tried to warm up everything. I tried to stretch long enough (even though it’s so very, very, boring) to avoid injury, and I tried to wrap it up in time to write this before my teething baby woke up (she just did. But she’s not crying yet. I have time).
I just noticed today that just like everything in our bodies are connected, things in our lives are too. I think every good thing we do affects the rest of the things. If I work out in the morning (and don’t overdo it), I’m more ready and more happy for the day. If I pray and read scriptures first, I’m more focused on what matters. If I clean one thing, the whole house looks better. If I take care of scheduling that parent-teacher conference finally, I will stop stressing about it. If I'm kinder, that helps others be kind, because all people are connected too. With a more holistic view, hopefully I won’t be neglecting anything vital. But I’m going to do one good thing at a time, and then another, if I can. I heard somewhere that if there’s more water in the bay, all the boats rise. The more good things I do will hopefully make the rest of the things better, not just for me, but for my family too. Aaaaand I've gotta go now. She's crying.
I wish you success in your endeavors today. Be strong, and take care of yourself.
