Last week I told you I’ve been exploring the idea of the “fabric” of the back, all the things that make up the back of your body: skin, connective tissue, muscle, bone, and many other things. In The Quiet Practice this week, I explored the foundation of that fabric, the spine. If we think about our spines at all, it’s often to focus on the parts of it that are giving us trouble, or to push it around when we feel like our posture is bad. But it’s always there, doing its many jobs to make posture and movement possible. It’s made up of many different segments, the vertebrae and the disks that separate them, and attached to it and running through it are all sorts of muscles, organs and more. Your entire body connects to your spine indirectly and it supports everything you do.
A Practice Challenge: Remember Your Spine
I have a very simple practice challenge for you this week:
- Remember that you have a spine, and that it runs the length of your entire torso from your head to the bottom of your pelvis.
- Remember that your entire spine supports your head, not just the bit that’s in your neck.
- Remember that your entire spine holds you up and gives you your posture.
- Remember that your entire spine is connected to your arms and legs and supports you as you move.
- Remember that your spine supports the muscles of your back, not the other way round. Let the muscles of your back release so that your spine can do its job.
I you try the practice, let me know how it went, either via email or before/after one of my classes this week!