Day 160 – September 14, 2014

I am working on new skills. I am working on old skills. I spend much of my day practicing sitting, walking, and lying down. I wasn’t born with bones set in the right positions. Congested muscles scrape against bones, fighting for limited space so I have a shambling gait, awkward posture, and tightness in my back and shoulders.

For decades, I trained one muscle set to compensate for another. I’ve trained to bend from my back and not my hips, to turn my head from upper neck and not my shoulders, and to run on my toes and not the arch of my feet.

I’m unlearning those shortcut motions and teaching what I think are the correct forms. I’m breaking my hips daily on a foam roller and opening my back on an arm chair.

This bodywork is neither exciting nor sophisticated, but until leaving work, I have not had the concerted time to focus on simple body mechanics that most may take for granted. While you file reports and upload documents, I’ll be home practicing walking.