Where's Your Toddle?

Where's Your Toddle?

How many times have you heard someone look at a child and say, “If only we had that much energy!” Part of what we look at as energy is their freedom of movement – how much they move is just required to navigate our 'big' world. The couch is up to their chin, the door handle on tippy toes, the looking at mommy like looking up to a giant. When did you last climb up over your head to have a seat? Also, as adults we start to take on social reserve and restrict our natural range of motion, but during times of stress and anxiety – triggers for the fight or flight systems – we really tighten and create a sort of imaginary wall to our movement (Jodi can tell you about fascia and proprioception). Think of the body responding to your inner conversation during those times.........”I'm so upset, I feel uptight, I'm stuck, I just want to leave, I feel like exploding” The body acts out the emotions both as literal actions – shoulders up and tight, everything up and set, muscles tensed and ready to run – and as an overall bio-emotional state of feeling locked up or locked in. Sometimes I'll ask a client if they can dance – really shake their butt. Why? Because it is as we do natural 'easy' movements like dancing that the residual holding and tightening from our emotions really show. Try a little dancing right now, did your hips move farther in the past, was there more bounce in your step?

That's where a hoop is a beautiful teacher. You'll be surprised at how much more you need to (and quickly start to) move. You'll bend down and pick up the hoop a hundred times and be laughing the whole time. Yes, you could go out and specifically stretch and train, but the emotional inhibitors would still be active with such conscious effort. We want to relax the command center and let the 'troops' have some fun. Reverse the conversation to “I can move here and here and here!” While hooping and engaging your 'toddle', just like a toddler exploring, you will simply respond to a new set of parameters (very technical for 'keep the hoop going').

Stephanie Moses CHt., Bio-Emotional Release, EFT