Moving from the Core

Walking 10 miles will change your perspective on life. Not only does it take about three and a half hours, you have to think about your core muscles most of the way through. I say most of the way, because after mile 3, or about an hour in, if your core muscles aren't positioned correctly, they will begin to hurt. What are your core muscles? Your abdominals, obliques, lower back, spinal erectors, hips, glutes as well as inner and outer thighs are all major parts of your core. With these muscles in mind, what does a properly held core feel like? It feels like you can walk forever, which means most people (myself included) don't walk with a 10 mile gait in mind. We pursue most activities with only an hour gait. Meaning, we lose out on the fun of moving after an hour. Which saddens me, because we are quite capable of doing much more.

So what is proper posture? Chin in and down, shoulders back, hips forward and tucked, a slight bend in the knees, muscles relaxed. That's proper posture. Moving is another story. Proper movement starts by keeping the hips in line with the shoulders. In other words we don't run head first, we move our entire being forward, one step at a time. It would be as if you tied a rope around your waist and someone gently pulled you forward. Your shoulders would be over your hips, your hips would be over your knees and your knees would be over your ankles. When I walk this way there is a slight tension in my lower abdominals. As if I were contracting my abdominals to show off a six-pack, but only very weakly; just enough that my belly does not protrude farther out than my stomach. Moving this way, ever so slowly, shifting weight from foot to foot feels amazing. It won't get the body anywhere too quickly, but when your body arrives, it is all there.

Which means that some of the time, even though we have arrived, our bodies and our minds aren't completely with us. We've lost pieces of them on the road behind. Whether by accident, injury or inattention, we rarely find that we've completely moved to a new place. Something calls us backward, even when we desire to move forward. What is this siren that beckons us stay? What is this voice that dominates our desires and will, that let's us roam, but never far enough away from it's song? I could name it many things, but it is one thing for certain. Distraction. Distraction from the movement before us. From the life ahead of us. From the life away from its voice.

Distraction. Have you heard its voice by now? It's tune is so subtle we rarely catch ourselves humming its tune. Distraction. Can you feel how your body moves? Distraction. Can you see the steps in front of you? Distraction. Distraction! Distraction!?

It's not the stillness that so easily distracts. Nor is it the long and thoughtful breath. Nay, it is the cloud surrounding that fogs the mind and muddles the core. It is the white noise that blocks the mind from hearing the body. It is the edge of perception that keeps the soul at bay.

All beautiful distraction aside, moving from the core takes thought, precision and time. It's something easily practiced in slow paces than fast races. But in a society that so fast paced, with so many distractions, who has time to think about how they're moving? I think how we move determines the road before us. How we move determines our future direction. How we move determines whether we can escape and be free from our past injuries, maladies and misconceptions. How we move is as easily as important as what moves us, what drives our engines. Movement doesn't mean we've thought about moving, it means we've already determined what we are going to do. When the time comes to act, we've already made our decisions, we're simply running with the decisions we've made.

So what's in our hearts? What's guiding our core? Is it a life of distraction, or is there something more? Is it possible to live in a world of distractions and not be distracted? "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen [...] and the God of peace will be with you." These words were written to a group of believers who had become distracted by the arguments and things of this life that fade away, and the writer, Paul, urged them to think and to live for greater things. He also wrote these same words to that group of friends, "Not that I have already attained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead."

Life is full of distractions, but keep pressing on. Keep straining towards the prize at the end of the road. Not the shiny one that so easily distracts, but the eternal one, the one that lives forever. Imitate whatever is good and pure, and seek those who model themselves after these things. They may not have attained them, but the path before them should be discernible, as the path they leave behind them should only lead to peace.