Cq - Nurturing your Curiosity Quotient
Let’s begin the new year with curiosity! While it is fun to explore new places, meet different people, and learn novel things, curiosity goes much deeper than the ‘new’. Curiosity transforms the mundane into the miraculous. When we are curious, we ask deeper questions, seeking understanding of things of which we are already familiar….and this brings deeper awareness, appreciation and awe. “Oh, wow!” “Who knew?!” On our recent trip to Antartica, there was much ‘new’ to behold and yes, we were in awe 100% of the time. I was especially interested in penguins, as they have so many incredible skills and adaptations for their harsh climate (see above for a photo of Chinstrap penguins on Palaver Point). Combined with my passion in movement, curiosity about penguin mobility on land led me to a discussion with Hannah, a bird expert from UK. We examined penguin skeletal morphology and how that relates to their vertical mobility (I suggested and demonstrated in movement that this is a homolateral pattern as penguins have significant hip flexion) and how this hip flexion facilitates efficient homologous propulsion when they belly slide in snow and ice.* My curiosity continued as I returned home and started exploring how ground feeding birds locomote most efficiently. Wonderment about nature in my yard has deepened so much more, once again!
Curiosity. How can you nurture your curiosity in movement? Start with a beginner’s mind.
Explore: Approach your own movement by noticing what you sense, how you feel emotionally, and within the context of when this particular movement exploration occurs in your day/week. Then make a subtle shift, (such as clarifying your alignment, or changing your breath pattern, or focus on your connective tissue gliding and guiding, etc) and notice any changes. Finally pause and reflect on what you just discovered in your own movement. How and when might you apply these subtle changes? What questions arise for you? Wonder…. awe in your own everyday miraculous movement! Happy Awe-some Year!
*(Anderson, M. Uncovering the speed secrets: how fast can penguins run. startingrun.com)
