Moving as thinking
It's a technology as old as the hills--and yet, it continues to work wonders!
I’ve been a distance runner since high school. Back then, when I was stumped by my studies, I stumbling into what I now know is called “somatics.”
More on that in a minute. But first, a bit of context. Back then, what I noticed was that, when I was working on my Physics homework especially, my thinking mind would overheat.
I can’t remember the exact span of time that I could hold deep focus, but let’s say it was 45 minutes.
I could think deeply and work problems well in that first 45 minutes without distraction. But after that, the quality of my attention and my work dropped fast and hard.
Like you, I’m smart and knew the value of persistence and pressing on.
But even so, curiosity got the best of me.
What if I didn’t try to squeeze juice from a stone?
In my early experimentation, what I learned was that, if I stopped, changed into my grym clothes, laced up my shoes and ran a few miles in the woods behind my house, I felt better and more clear.
And in some cases, the answer to whatever problem I was working on found me, without me spending any energy going out looking for it.
From this early discovery, I’ve become someone who experiences the energy and value that comes from moving between stillness and movement throughout the day.
The Power of Movement
There are plenty of articles and talks out there from experts who can describe why moving our human bodies generates a kind of physical refreshment and reset. That’s not mine to offer you. Instead, what is mine to share is my perspective on the value of weaving in movement into your practice of business (and being human).
In my opinion, it’s not just more movement that’s the answer — even though there are times when it very much is as simple as that. When I have been sitting inside or looking at a computer for hours on end, I have trained myself to notice the growing sense of heaviness or dullness within. My ability to understand through listening or reading tapers off. My mood usually has soured. I just feel less alive, to put it simply.
For me, I’ve come to understand this as the effects of being separated from Nature or the Bigger Picture, or something more spiritual even, if that’s how you understand it. Because I believe that humans are part of what a friend and colleague calls “the household of earth”, it makes sense to me that when I spend a bit too long away from that household, my body knows it and speaks up. “Hey cousin,” I imagine the chorus saying, “Come back! Let’s connect again!”
I’ve observed this in our clients, too. I can tell who has been inside all day - who has not had a moment to catch his breath yet - who is “in their head” and maybe has wandered away from their intended state of being open, connected, and in flow.
As a business owner and mama of little kids, I can relate. There are plenty of times when I, too, get to the end of the day without feeling the grass beneath my bare feet (or in the winter, bothering to put on all my layers for a walk under the bare branches of the barren trees). In moments like these (as my watch conveniently just told me, “Time to stand up for a bit!”), I choose to stand up, stretch open my arms and chest, feel my bare feet on the wood floor, and shift my focus—if only for a moment—to the plant beside me or the music that’s playing as I type.
From Exile to Connection
There is so much I want to say on this topic. For starters, I want to pass along that the quality of our decisions and the results we are able to bring about through our actions are directly proportional to the moods, thoughts, and energy that is moving through our bodies.
The best phrase I have right now to express this is “creative life force energy.” There are spiritual traditions that have plenty to say about this, too. I’ll leave it to them and to your own interpretations. What I will say is that moving my body when I notice I’ve been still or inside or in my head for too long is, in my lived experience, a practice for increasing my “creative life force energy.”
Paradoxically, so is sitting still! It’s the moving between these two states—flowing from stillness to movement and back again, over and over again—that gets, as they say, the proverbial juices flowing. The trick is to notice when you’ve been hanging out too long at one side of the spectrum. Too stagnant, say. Or too much movement (read: travel, social engagements, outward expenditures of energy and life force, without returning to center or reconnecting with something larger).
I’d be curious to hear what sparks for you, in your own experience. What practices are working for you right now? Where do you notice a need for a supportive practice? Or anything else that you’re moved to share.
Thank you for your insights Stephanie. My body always lets me know when I need to get up and jiggle, stretch, breathe more deeply. Years ago when I learned to listen to my body wisdom, my body said, “Go outside!” And I listen. 🤩
You've touched on an important point that very few people mention. Thanks for bringing it up! Almost every time I walk in the woods, I get ideas and feelings for what my characters experience. My thoughts become visceral sensations when I move.
But for the amount of creativity generated, nothing compares to time spent pulling weeds. I have more insights doing that than in the shower. More than when I'm in a yoga pose and supposed to be aware of my breathing. And even more than when I'm meditating near my old man cat who has fallen into a gentle but loud rhythmic snore.