Self-care Series Part 5
Age is only a number and you can make this true for you when you understand that the body needs a certain bare minimum set of routine wholesome physical activity to remain alive youthful and active always. If you are living in an urban world engaged in a desk job, you get tired and exhausted the end of the day and the best way to feel rested from this exhaustion is to do wholesome physical activity. Even when you are engaged in certain physical activities as part of your work you could get exhausted by the end of the day with lack of wholesome physical activity. These include standing most of the day as teachers would, or driving most of the day or travelling in a bus of plane or train. Thats because the body is strained but there is no movement or flow.
If you are a sports person or a body builder or you live in a rural countryside engaged in outdoor work, you may just read this to understand what is wholesome physical activity just to confirm that your body is getting what it needs. However if you live in an urban space and your career involves working in an office or home, understanding this and creating a small routine for yourself by including some wholesome physical activity would help you be more productive and effective in the work you do. Especially if you are in your twenties or thirties and leading a career that results in a sedentary lifestyle you will not know what you are missing because you still feel healthy due to your youthful body. You might realise what you have been missing when you practice the suggestions at the end of this article just for a week and experience the amazing benefits it can give you. It is never late, even if you are over sixty or seventy you can immensely benefit from understanding and practicing wholesome physical activity.
Wholesome physical activity is stretching and flexing each and every part of your body while being fully focussed on your breath and on the movement and flow. In other words, being fully present in your body with your awareness as you engage in exercising your body. I would call this inner body awareness and it is different than looking at your body with your analytical mind.
Each cell in your body is capable of being aware of the sensation that exists there and your higher mind is capable of holding all of the sensations of your entire body in awareness. This is only possible when you let go of focusing or concentrating or engaging or looking at any one part of the body with an intention to find out what is wrong there or to fix it or change whatever is happening there. I recommend at least 40 minutes to one hour of physical movements or exercises or stretches while staying with your body awareness everyday. An hour of outdoor walking while holding in awareness your breath and the movements of your body is a good way to give your body what it needs. Listening to some music while being engaged with such activity is ok if you need something to keep your mind from running away into thoughts. However listening to news or something engaging or talking with someone takes you away from the inner body awareness and such activity only leads to stressing the body instead of releasing the stress stored in it.
I have put together a set of thirty body movements that includes flexing, stretching and yoga and put it up on YouTube as SelvanS 30 Yoga. This takes 20 minutes to do and it can fulfil your entire body’s minimal need for movement and flow if you do it twice daily. There is a learning version (click here to view) and then there is a practice version (click here to view). There are also two shorter versions for practice during the day just to relieve stress and it takes only ten minutes (click here to view) and five minutes (click here to view).
I have also put together a set of sixteen(8+8) energy movements that takes ten minutes to do once you learn it. The first set of eight energy movements are called EM for Balance and Flow of energies and the second set of eight energy movements are called EM for clearing and healing of energies. You can learn these movements by enrolling for the first module of the Awareness Journey online course.
The minimum wholesome physical activity needs of the body can be fulfilled by cultivating a habit of practicing the 8+8 EM (ten minutes) twice everyday, once immediately upon waking up and once just before going to sleep and by practicing the SelvanS 30 (twenty minutes) once any time during the day. This practice will keep your body energetic and alive throughout the day and in fact make you naturally want to engage in a more physically active life. This practice will help you be free from accidents and body injury if you are a sports person or a gym enthusiast by keeping your body flexible, toned and free from energy blocks.
The self care series will be of five parts namely: