Gravity and Aging…
Word “Up”!
My approach to health is based on balance. Balance in gravity. I’m also for everybody using the resources at hand to empower and enrich their lives. As Henny Youngman might say…”Take gravity, please.”
Dr. Ida P. Rolf saw chronic symptoms such as pain and stress, fatigue, poor self-image, early aging as “…signals pointing to a single problem so prominent in their own structure, as well as others, that it has been ignored. They are at war with gravity.” She developed an approach that offers personal assistance to individuals to live effortlessly upright, stress free, and supported by the energy field of the earth itself.
Imagine that. Talk about deep ecology! The force of gravity itself is a vast untapped natural resource for human health and wellness. An old friend of mine recently (finally!) got it about gravity and said, “It’s amazing that with all the interest in ecology and natural living nobody’s talking about gravity.” (Much less doing anything with it, I would add.) We certainly wouldn’t buy that house if the foundation was off and the walls were cracking. Or drive down the street with our front end out of alignment. At Pisa I’ll let you take my picture next to the tower; but, no way am I going up there. But when it comes to our own physical architecture--how our bodies stack up--we don’t look at our own stance in gravity. My friend suggested that I write a piece on “gravity and aging”. So here we are. Thanks, buddy.
There is a problem with talking about gravity as such. Gravity is the most prominent physical force the body has to deal with. It is also so constant and ubiquitous a presence in our life that it’s not noticed. Perhaps we’re reminded of its being there when we drop something or take a spill ourselves. Mainly it doesn’t register. It’s as if you asked a fish, “how’s the water?” “What water?” Imagine if human beings were adapted to gravity to the same degree as the fish are to the sea. If dolphins can leap into the air, what can you imagine humans could leap into? Art Bell listeners, stay tuned.
So what about gravity and aging, you ask? Simply this…doesn’t it make just plain common sense that if you are not spending energy keeping yourself up, keeping yourself together, that you have more of it for living? You got to be in it to win it, though. And when your body is in balance along the lines of gravity you will discover its inner secret: It uplifts you. It is supportive, nourishing. It energizes. You feel great. You live well. And you last longer too.
Now that you’re all convinced that you should have more gravity in your life, now what to do? (While I offer clients personal assistance to balance their bodies along the simple lines of gravity, my aim in writing this is to give some pointers that will get you started. Should you want a helping hand, there are qualified practitioners in my field and in so many others that you can call on.) My Rx: This may seem a little strange to you at first; but you gotta try it. Just like when you drive your car you pay attention to the road (unless you’re one of those with a cell phone glued to your ear), so from now on—are you ready--feel your feet. That’s right, feel your feet.
Your feet are the foundation of your body, literally. By always feeling your feet you will start creating the habit of paying attention to your body. Such mindfulness will become an ingrained habit. It will grow to the point where you will become conscious of the felt sense of your whole body and the feelings that are moving through it. That’s when you will also be able to be aware of the signals your body gives when it is out of balance in gravity or any other way. Then you can make the necessary adjustments yourself. Comfortable, relaxed is the hallmark of living in balance. It’s in you. Go there.
Rolfer New Jersey
Structural Integration New Jersey
Rolfing Montclair, New Jersey
Rolfer Montclair, New Jersey
Structural Integration Montclair, New Jersey
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