JoyBody: the collective body

The work we do under the name JoyBody doesn’t mean much if it’s just about our own individual bodies. That’s not even how humans work, right? We’re part of a larger ecosystem… or web. I am because you are. Period.

So I’ll be, here and there, highlighting communities that need our help and direct ways you can help, even just from your seat in front of this screen.

As you know, it’s pride month, and I want to highlight one part of the LGBTQIA+ community in particular: the trans community.

I’m highlighting the trans community, because I know and love some trans people, first and foremost, but secondly because I think their community is the most in need of our help right now. They are under attack in so many new and frightening ways.

I would start by getting more educated about all of this. Here’s a great article that explains the science of sex and gender and how complicated it is.

Here’s a great FAQ about gender and all the different ways one can identify and the issues that can arise (like gender dysphoria).

If you feel like you don’t have a deep enough understanding of these issues, start with what I’ve provided and then don’t be afraid to ask questions. (The sanctuary is a safe place for everyone so feel free to ask there or you can write to me directly.)

From understanding, we need to move on to action. What can we do?

Firstly, look for your own state specific organizations working on these issues. Like here, we have Equality Ohio. I follow them on TikTok to keep track of what’s happening in our state government. (It’s a lot and it’s AWFUL.)

You can always start by simply giving money to these organizations, but you can help by showing up at protests and writing emails and making phone calls. We all have comfort zones and we all have skills we can offer.

If you want to see what’s going on nationally and internationally, check out Outright International. There’s also the Trans Legal Mapping Report.

In the US, there’s the Transgender Law Center, the Equality Federation (which can help you find your state based actions), and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

JoyMoves: the obstacles are the path

“The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Or to put it more succinctly: the obstacles are the path, as I say in the heading. So freaking annoying and so true.

If the obstacles don’t become the path or the way, then you’re resisting the truth and reality of your own life and that, I think, is what we’re actually experiencing when we say things like “I’m stuck… I don’t know what to do next… I have no visions…” or even when we say things like, “I don’t have time.”

The work of the practice is devotion to the obstacles.

If we aren’t devoted to the obstacles, then we’re not devoted to the practice.

(I know… I’m even annoying myself here…)

I’m writing particularly today about your movement practice, but you know that movement is life and therefore all the things we do in our movement practices are just reflections of what’s happening our life and how we’re approaching obstacles. (SO. ANNOYING.)

Here are some simple ways to work with your obstacles instead of allowing them to rob you of the practices that support and rejuvenate you and bring you to your essential nature of joy:

1. Time: THIS ONE IS BIG. Stop telling yourself that you have to move at a certain time and stop thinking that only certain amounts of time "count." Look for opportunities that you're missing because of these stories. For example, when you're waiting on your coffee or tea in the microwave, you can stretch, wiggle, bounce. THINK MICRO MOVEMENT PLAY.

2. Space: stop telling yourself that you need a special space or a certain amount of space. Great movement can happen in the square foot right around your body, in a chair, in the car.

3. Clothing/shoes: this one is also big. You don't have to take the time to change your clothes if that's going to stop you. Do whatever *IN* whatever. (And just free your feet and work barefoot -- if you're not already.) I often work in my jeans because if I have to stop to change, I’m just not going to do it.

4. Finding music: don’t let feeling bored by music stop you. Check out my Spotify and just randomly pick a list, hit shuffle, and move no matter what.

5. Boredom with how you’re moving: this is a big one and it happens to all of us, even me. We all hit points where we just feel like we’re repeating ourselves or nothing is happening that is interesting. This is where my videos can help (which are free) or make sure you’re in the sanctuary (which is free) to ask questions and get inspiration or take a class with me or schedule a one on one.

What other obstacles are you running in to? I would love to help figure out a way to work with them.

JoyBody: Sometimes healing is about not healing

My new racket which is such a beauty: Babolat Pure Drive

Continuing this week’s explanation of our new blog categories, today’s is JoyBody. Of course. But this is more than it appears at first glance.

When I say JoyBody, sometimes I will mean a singular experience of our individual bodies. (Today’s post is very much along those lines.) But often I will mean our communal body and things affecting the larger ecosystem in which we all live.

Singular JoyBody only exists in relation to all other JoyBodies and all of that only exists in relation to the larger eco/social/cultural/familial systems. We work on ourselves in what seems to be individual ways but in reality is always connected — in process and/or outcome — to the collective and its context.

Onto today’s musings:

From the time I was quite young, I had someone whom I adored make it clear to me that my thighs were… too much. I was only about 10 the first time this happened in a very direct, said to my face kind of way, and it was painful and confusing, to say the least. I remember just standing there in my favorite yellow shorts wondering what it all meant.

From that day forward, I was always conscious of my thighs. And I continue to be to this day.

I've worked so hard on so many levels of CRAP but this one... it's like a tap root.

So I don't wear anything shorter than right below my knees. Been like this forever. And it has nothing to do with the size or shape of my body. I have ranged from a size two to a 14 and no matter what... no thighs shown.

So recently I went shopping, thinking I should*/could confront this and find some shorter things especially for tennis. There's a ton of cute skorts out there right now. And playing tennis is a HOT thing to do and I’ve always wanted to be that tennis dress wearing girl. Currently, I wear right below the knees yoga pants on the court and they are okay but also so freaking warm.

(*Always, always beware the word should.)

Off I went shopping. I tried on a couple of skorts that were perfect for tennis, and even though I was deep breathing in the fitting room, I just COULD. NOT.

So then there's THAT layer of shame, right? "What is wrong with me? I work so hard on trauma and help others with body based trauma? WHY CAN'T I GET OVER THIS?"

That's what I refer to as "adding shit icing to an already shit cake."

NO.

What's another way to look at this then? I think I figured something out...

Here's part of what it means to love yourself and love your body:

Wear things that MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD. Wear things that MAKE YOU FEEL CONFIDENT AND COMFORTABLE.

Period. There's no magic measure of "you only are healed if you show this much of yourself publicly." That's bullshit.

Wear things that make you love your life and give you the ability to focus on joyful things.

And finally: we can only heal what's READY to be healed and in the meantime? HUGE SELF COMPASSION AND PATIENCE is the path.

When I shared this story with people in the sanctuary, someone mentioned a story about their therapist saying the most helpful thing ever: Sometimes healing is just making space for the thing that might not ever “heal” to the place where we imagine it “should.”

Amen.

JoyMoves: Stop with the efficiency!

When I wrote Blisschick starting, god, what? 18 years ago?!?!, I challenged myself to post 7 days a week for a full year (which I did and then I transitioned to five days a week and kept that up for quite a long time). To help with this challenge, I created categories for each day so that I had a built-in prompt for myself.

I’ve decided to do that here, so Mondays are JoyMoves day. You’ll see as we go what comes next. ((coy))

Mondays are for biomechanics, body stuff, relevant research that I come across, my own teaching materials, etc. You get it.

TODAY I want to talk about something that Dr. Susan Burwash (OT) wrote a bit about in a comment in the Sanctuary: efficiency and how she has come to realize that spending so many decades aiming toward efficiency of movement has led to… LESS MOVEMENT.

Of course, right? But we don’t see it until we see it.

Katy Bowman has written a ton about this, of course, and how modern conveniences, or any kind of convenience regardless of when it was developed, and our ideas of comfort are just things that have stolen a ton of fundamental human movement from our lives and inserted a lot of pain. (Her newest book is a great reminder for those of us who have been following her for a long time or a great intro if you’re new to her.)

Most of us end up working jobs to pay for those conveniences and comforts from a place of… convenience and comfort. You know… desk jockeys.

I’ve talked about this for years but there are simple ways we can start moving this particular needle and I would love to hear ideas from all of you, so I’ll start a tiny list:

• Park farther away from the store you’ve driven to;

• If you can, walk or ride a bike for errands;

• Don’t try to carry every single grocery bag in from the car in one trip — do multiple trips;

• Same for getting things from different parts of the house — don’t try to do it all at once;

• If you can, hang clothes out in the summer months (all that reaching overhead!);

• Spend time washing some dishes by hand (there’s nothing quite like the meditation of it if you can slow down and just enjoy the process);

• Do things SLOWER (this is a big theme for me that last few years as I’m sure you’ve noticed): walk slower, move from task to task slower, eat slower, etc.;

• Squat for a bit (you can do this assisted by a yoga block under your bum; it still “counts”) when you’re watching TV;

• Stretch when you’re watching TV;

• DO SOMETHING with your body if you’re watching TV (I lift weights and do pilates and some fundamental joint work);

• Find ways to fidget when you do have to be seated at a desk (bounce your legs, for example);

• Have an adjustable desk and make sure to spend time in different positions (even just changing your seat counts);

• Take stairs when they’re available instead of elevators and escalators.

Okay… your turn. You can respond to this or write me a note on Facebook… but I would love more ideas!

The efficacy of fidgeting (and more free videos)

If you know me, you know I am constantly reading and watching videos about the bodymind and trauma and healing and overall fitness (meaning, for me, the confluence of mind, body, spirit), but then I don’t always remember WHERE I get stuff so I apologize for the lack of sources here but whatevs.

There are some new studies out there that are showing that fidgeting can be super helpful in activating a more effective metabolism.

The one study is about simply doing heel lifts when you’re seated. Crazy stuff. They’re called “soleus pushups.”

But little bits of movement throughout the day — and I mean LITTLE BITS — can help long term with overall health.

Turns out fidgeting is good for you. (Though perhaps annoying for the person sitting next to you on the couch… ((cough)) ha)

Here are some things I’m playing with that aren’t exactly fidgeting but are along those lines because I’m doing them quickly and not for more than 30 or 60 seconds at a time:

1. If you’re having to sit for a long time, do those soleus pushups but also do some joint circles — wrists, for one, and shoulders and ankles are easy to do in a chair and to do in these tiny bits I keep mentioning.

2. When I walk past a certain wall toward the kitchen, I try to stop and do just a few wall pushups.

3. When I’m waiting for tea water to boil or whatever, I do a bunch of rises on the balls of my feet (releves) from different foot positions.

4. Sometimes on the couch, I do a ton of weird leg stretches… like a cat!

5. I’m trying to add in brief wall sits when I pass other walls in the house.

6. I’m also trying to remember to put my fingertips on the edge of the door frame and do a weighted drop (not lifting my feet off the ground to hang totally yet because of the shoulder stuff I’m still healing from).

7. You could have a squeezy ball at your desk to just, well, squeeze, because grip is super important to dynamic aging.

8. I also have some actual fidget toys that keep my fingers moving when I’m watching TV.

If you have other ideas, I’d love to hear!

AND in case you missed it, a recent video I made is about some simple movement to do to work with anger, frustration, stuckness, grief, etc.

Remember, if you like the content, please react to it on YouTube with a thumbs up or comment, and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel.

Young Bjork speaking wisdom

I came across this on TikTok a couple of weeks ago, and it’s stayed in my head, so I figure others need it too.

She’s NOT insulting Madonna but speaking some deep truth about instinct versus intellect. Wait until the very end when she talks about the age of your brain versus the age of your instinct… it made me go, WHOA… (This video is about a minute long… you have time.)

New, free joint health video

I can’t believe it’s already March. I’m not sure where February went… perhaps under the stove with all the kitten toys.

I think time has also been eaten a lot by my singing practice but this post isn’t about that. (Though if you know me, you know it’s hard for me not to talk about my current and most special interest. HA)

((pushing my brain on topic…)) So! If you have joint pain or stiffness for any reason, this video is for you.

Since I’ve entered menopause and I think, too, since Peony died, I have been living again with pretty much constant and widespread joint pain. I say “again” because this was my state for most of my life until I started to dance again at 40.

Doing this joint circle work almost daily, though, has been the tool I needed. It really does work. It might take a week or two or three for you to notice but keep going. It can be done in mere minutes or longer… whatever time you have.

I’ll be releasing another version in a chair soon. Let me know if you have any questions. You can ask by email, Facebook messenger, or over on YouTube in the comments.

Gut bacteria and motivation, tripping and genes, grip strength and aging, and more studies to inspire you

I thought I’d start an occasional/regular post here where I share interesting studies that I come across and maybe some dance/movement videos that I have found inspiring in some way. Just a collection of insightful/cool/funny/inspirational/helpful links sort of post.

Here we go…

I’ve known a lot of students and friends who tell me they don’t get that happy chemical kick from movement that so many of us talk about, and well, there might be a reason that’s all about gut bacteria. To quote from the top of the article: “A compelling new study has identified a gut-brain pathway in mice that connects specific gut bacteria with an animal's motivation for exercise.” Read the whole thing here.

For those of you who feel like you’re constantly running into stuff or tripping or whatever… like you have zero control over your body… or maybe you’ve been called clumsy your whole life, well, it looks like there’s a genetic component to that. Read about it here.

This article is preaching to the choir about what movement does for the brain but what’s great about it is the resources list at the bottom. Check it out.

We know that strength is important but a new study directly links weak muscles to increased biological aging. The study was based on 8 to 10 years of observation of over 1200 people. This sentence really caught my eye:

"One study even found that (grip strength) is a better predictor of cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction, than systolic blood pressure – the clinical hallmark for detecting heart disorders."

WHOA. Read the whole thing here.

And if you ever doubt that your attitude toward aging affects your health, read this article, which also talks about a study that I used to talk about a lot… Check out the paragraph about the Counterclockwise study.

And finally, you know what a FOOT FREAK I am so it’s no wonder that that’s what I want you to focus on when you watch this short but beautiful video by Tao Dance Theatre, a company that studies Tai Chi and Ballet every day in equal measure.