Effortless Movement for Better Lifestyle and More!

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Standing is the foundation of movement. With consistent practice, you refine body-mind awareness, rooted balance, and gain effortless control of movement. Before long, standing becomes more than a practice, but a way of being. Movement emerges as the natural progression, a simultaneous focal point, and the way you stand, walk, move, and live will reach new heights.

The first task is to think about movement differently on several levels only some of which will be touched on here because it is better learned from doing. One thing to contemplate is that movement can be extremely small or very large. In fact, while standing, you will notice and create very small movements that are essentially invisible to an observer, and this is a critical aspect of development leading to the ability to create larger externally visible movements, such as walking, running, lifting, or any sport activities.

At the Morris Wellness Center, we consider movement a natural progression from standing and it will deepen your standing practice then deepen your movement more, and so on. The process builds on itself. Though one shouldn't be in a rush to movement, it is indeed a more advanced training, and the benefits become very noticeable and applicable to daily life. 

In my first book, Effortless WellBeing (2003), I depicted one of my Dad's illustrations of effortless movement, and power. We were at a large picnic watching participants in a full-sized softball throwing contest. I was about 8 years old, and my dad was commenting on the performances-- "He's trying too hard; grunting and using muscle strength won't help;" and so on. I thought some of these people were amazing. Dad had been recovering  from a rather serious injury, with a  surgery a couple months back, so I wasn't expecting he would seek to participate. 

But, as we kept watching, with him showing subtle negative evaluations of performers... eventually my dad says, "maybe I'll try it." I'd been taught by my dad since birth, knowing firsthand of his advanced ability in movement, but he humbly never boasted in general and specifically about his ability to throw for distance. Combined with super impressive (to me) competition, I was concerned, waiting for possible disappointment. With nearly everyone done, my Dad quietly steps up. He was not a big man, though fit and lean, about 5' 6-7". They hand him the ball, almost as an afterthought. Dad held the ball, bounced gently, gazed into the sky, and took a few easy steps, releasing the ball so effortlessly that I was concerned....  The ball left his hand like a cannon as though at the last second there was an explosive force, and disappeared in the sky, eventually landing significantly further than the others. Spectators: silent. I was shocked and proud. Dad simply walked away.

Training begins, and never ends, with Standing, However, if you're experienced (determined via an alignment consultation), you can begin both movement and standing. Ready? Let's go!