Checking in with Yourself during Covid 19

As the days are shortening, the evenings are having a sense of chill and we're harvesting tomatoes and peppers.....we begin to see the glimmers of summer's end.  "Unprecedented" describes the summer of 2020 in every way.  It's been a summer of constant change, resiliency developed, losses noted and a deeper sense of home for so many of us.  No traveling?  You've stayed home, found your place, your town, your city.  Not visiting restaurants?  You've cooked at home more, enjoyed takeout, eating in the park, shared meals with family more often.  Not going to the gym, pool or ice rink?  You've walked, biked or just rested.  Or???

Interesting times.  This is a short blog, a simple nudge to check in and take care of yourself.  Check in with the human in the mirror.  Notice how you're feeling, how you're thinking, how your body is responding to today and all it has brought to you.  You don't have to begin to journal or meditate.   Checking in with your one and only home, the body you inhabit is a gift to yourself.

Our body "keeps the score", noticing all the experiences, interactions, life habits that we experience every day.  Are you holding tension in your shoulders?  neck?  pelvic floor?  hips?  feet?  What would it feel like to let that go?  Maybe tighten up your tight area more....more..........more.  Then release!  Is that different?  Is your posture restfully letting gravity pass through you when you're standing up?  Or are you a "bum tucker", "chin poker" or "sloucher"?  Begin at your sit bones (in standing).....rock them back and forth with your breath, then let them release just when they're pointing straight to the ground.  Feel them!  They're an amazing pair of dense, thick, strong bone that is the centre of your pelvic floor and your sitting destination in the chair.  Hold that.  Then lift your sternum (breast bone) up to the sky.  You'll feel your braband lift off your front ribs, your mid spine activate right where your bra does up, your shoulders rock back and settle and feel an urge to take a brilliant, nutritious deep breath!  Hold that.  Finally, tuck in your chin towards the back of your head, not tipping forward, simply making a wee double chin.  You might feel an urge to clear your throat or swallow.  Hold that.  Now notice how that feels.  Look forward.  Feel tall and strong.  Really Strong!!!  Gravity is passing directly through you, through the curves of your spine that provide you with spring-like responses to movement, through your strong, dense cortical bone and your balance will be dynamic and spunky.

There is no perfect posture.  Each of us is built differently, has had different experiences in life and does different things with our body each day.  But you can enjoy ease in your body by taking time to check in and find ease-filled, gravity-enhanced, respiration-supported posture and movement through your day.

When you notice that life feels heavy, that losses feel cumulative and "life as it was" feels distant, find your strong posture, your gravity defying self.  Breathe fully.  Balance well,  Stand and walk with ease.