Let your hips lead

Joe Medina and my brain are inspiring me to walk distances. Joe, a brain scientist, wrote the recent book, Brain Rules. Rule #1? Exercise. Our ancestors developed this luscious brain walking 12 miles a day on the Serengeti; it still needs movement to stay fit.

Being a doctoral student, I sat, sat, sat. Some behavioral revisioning is due. Yesterday I circumvented Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland with buddy Gretchen Wegner, academic coach and inventor of MuseCubes. She’s walking for her brain-in-a-body like I am. We both support clients to be vital whole-brained bodyspirits.

But what about Hips, you ask? Well, as I set off for a 3 mile urban walk this afternoon, I noticed how awkward and disassembled I felt as I walked. My head was leading, chin and neck out like the chickens in our yard. I took a breath and pulled my chin back about two feet. Whoah! The tension in arms-shoulders-neck relaxed; my spine aligned. Another breath. I started hearing the middle eastern beat on my iPod and my hips began a swinging gait, easy, fluid, fun! Arms swinging, I covered lots of ground.

I wonder how often this is an apt metaphor. How often does my head try to get there first even while discombobulating the rest of me? How might that easy relational swing of hips be a better way of arriving?

Off now to complete my circuit. Enjoy your day, and maybe swing a little?