Let’s continue to explore a second home practice to assist in recovering from injury. Recall that injury often leads to condensing/ closing off on various levels, and that cellular touch can bring our injured areas into a gentle sense of expansion. (Thank you for the numerous comments about how effective cellular touch [March blog] has been.) How, then, can we move with this felt sense of expansion so that we do not fall into the protective pattern of ‘holding’ or tightening in injured regions?	Here is where the 

is valuable. I like to think of this in two complimentary ways: moving as tho’ you are ‘

’ around you. In the first scenario, let’s suppose you have broken your index finger playing baseball. After ~4-6 weeks your splint has been removed and now you can begin to move…. It’s somewhat scary as your tissues are a bit stiff and you are worried about re-injury. As you try to clutch a soft ball, rather than thinking and moving on a joint level, try sensing into the idea that your fingers are much longer than ‘normal’ (try ‘Edward Scissorhands’ imagery) and you may well feel a sense of large volume in your whole hand as you grasp the soft ball (technically this, to me, is a 

 ‘influence’ in movement).	In the latter scenario (the beckon of space around you), consider that something beyond you is calling you forth into movement, creating a sense of elongating, without tension…(try using the imagery of grasping a beach ball) as you encompass the soft ball (to me, this is a 

 ‘influence’ in movement…something ‘outside’ of myself).	Let’s explore this also on a whole body level, combining both the 

 influences in a basic stand->squat->stand:

Stand comfortably with your feet hip distance apart, arms hanging freely.

Tune into your breath, letting gentle voluminous breaths permeate your whole body. (~3 minutes)

As you sense the space in front of you and behind you, let your body expand forward/backward as you inhale and return to ‘resting’ as you exhale. (~2 minutes)

Then sense the space on both sides of you, and let your body expand widely as you inhale, and return to ‘resting’ as you exhale. (~2 minutes)

Add to this, a sense of the space above you and below you, growing longer (both downward and upward) as you inhale, returning to resting as you exhale. (~2 minutes)

Now feel the space behind and to the sides of you calling your pelvis backward… let this 

To return to standing, feel the space above and slightly in front 

 you….let yourself rise into space (like a hot air balloon).

Apply this practice, along with cellular touch, to areas of injury. Enjoy 

Easing Effects of Injury (part 2 of 3)

How has your Cq (curiosity quotient) enriched your everyday life this past January? Hopefully you are still in awe of the mundane as miraculous as it actually is! Let’s allow our curiosity to boost our 

 intelligence. Most of us are aware that there are various styles of learning: visual, auditory, reading/writing, kinesthetic, and so on. Our K-12 schools have a high degree of learning in the first three but often fall short in offering kinesthetic learning. And all of us are becoming quite adept in computers, social media, googling for information on our cell phones, puzzling and colouring on iPads, and even navigating to a local restaurant via the screen in our car. And we are all fine…

Our evolutionary (and recent) ancestors possessed a high level of kinesthetic intelligence: hunting for game they knew how to stalk and read the nonverbal cues of their prey; in agriculture, they knew how to swing a scythe for long hours without unnecessary strain, and climb a haystack with ease; socially they intuited the correct time to ask for a dance. These examples demonstrate an 

 participation in interacting with the environment and others, whereas in our tech-y age, we are relatively much more 

 in acquiring information (“Alexa, who is….?), goods (Amazon is built upon this!), social interaction (yes, I’m learning Spanish with an online group), and so forth.

? Research shows that a low level of Kq is associated with low degree of physicality, less ability to interpret social cues, diminished integration of body-mind, less intuitive wisdom, and so on. (please check out a 2016 study by Fernandes, Ribeiro, Melo, et. al re: motor coordination and cognitive functioning in school aged children.) Don Campbell, 

 states, “Movement grows the brain. It is a vital key to neural development, especially in the areas of memory and higher cognitive function.”

 our Kq? Is it a matter of ‘hittin’ the gym 4 days/week’? 

While ‘staying active’ is important, research also shows that 

 we engage in physical activity is key. In fact this begins at birth (ATTENTION parents with young infants/children!). Beverly Stokes, author of 

Your Self-Motivated Baby: enhance your baby’s social and cognitive development in the first 6 months through movement 

has collaborated with pediatric physicians, child development psychologists, dance-movement therapists, and many more in the field of Body-Mind Centering®, and Laban movement analysis and more. She offers simple yet profound ways to enhance your AND your infant/toddler’s Kq so that they form secure relationships with caregivers, grow in emotional and cognitive skills, and develop autonomy in play-exploration. “But I’m 62 years old and I don’t bend well” you say. Consider the work of Rudolph Von Laban, Warren Lamb, Imgaard Bartenieff, and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (founder of Body-Mind Centering®). 

 (1879-1958) was a genius-pioneer in the world of movement. He examined movement in people across the globe, developing his Effort-Shape theory of movement. (This theory was further developed into Body-Effort-Shape-Space). Laban was literally looking at movement as an 

 about working out; it’s about exploring the nuances in movement in the 

in a person’s interaction with themselves… with others… and with the environment. Laban’s colleague, 

(1923-2014) taught me (!) when he was in his mid 80s (!), gliding across the room with ease and grace as he offered various movement scales. Bartenieff (Laban’s student), and Bonnie (Irmgaard’s student) further develop Laban’s work, making explicit the nuances and sensations and Kq (my description, not theirs) that ANYONE can learn. It is never too late!Why do I offer all this lineage? Because in my classes you will 

 explore and develop your Kq. My approach to any movement is intentionally thru these fundamentally rich lenses; without the Kq offered by this lineage, we develop Kq by default, if at all.

 Let’s be intentional in boosting our Kinesthetic intelligence!

Kq—Boosting your Kinesthetic Quotient

In the next three months (March -> May), let’s explore some home practices to assist in recovering from injury. While we could discuss types and causes of injury, for the sake of brevity, let’s explore what happens on a tissue level when we are injured. The natural protective response of our bodies, upon being injured, is to 

 off from any further potential injury. This may occur through the whole body (condensing into a tight ball, such as when one has severe gastrointestinal cramps), in a single limb (such as pulling in a leg after twisting an ankle), as well as on a cellular level (less obvious, but felt internally, such as holding or guarding one’s shoulder upon a rotator cuff injury). The 

protective response is supremely valuable

 and allows one’s body to ‘create a plan’ for recovery. Too frequently though, this 

 becomes a new movement pattern that over time leads to other compensations (often further maladaptive patterns). We can mitigate this in a variety of ways: cellular-touch, spacious movement, calming the mind.

Choose a comfortable position (sitting, side-lying, supine…).

Tune into your breath, allowing it to be natural, full, easeful.

Choose a hand(s) that will offer cellular touch. Allow this hand to be gentle, supple. Bring your awareness of breath into this hand and take time to sense your hand becoming more 

Using this hand, gently touch your area of injury, allowing the warmth of your hand to meet the area of injury/condensing. Let the cells of your hand migrate to the place of contact… ‘listening’ to the injured cells. Rest here, 

 a sense of expansion to your injured cells. Invite the injured cells to release some of their holding, coming into gentle expansion. This takes time as the injured cells will need to ‘

 that it is safe to expand. Do not rush or force… gently invite. (~5-7 minutes)

When you are ready to release contact, let the cells in your touching hand to migrate back, and then gently ‘peel’ your hand away.

Absorb the experience and notice any changes in your body. (~2 minutes)

[Note: if you cannot reach your injured area, use the image of your hand being able to touch here.]

Easing Effects of Injury (part 1 of 3)

More Stories

Easing Effects of Injury (part 2 of 3)

Kq—Boosting your Kinesthetic Quotient