No matter our level of fatigue, pain, or disability, we all are breathing. We all hold tension in our bodies, and our bodies are more or less aligned with and being supported by the ground.
We are in constant relationship with our breathing, our level of relaxation, and the ground.
This is easy enough to acknowledge; but until we have spent time practicing each of these aspects of movement, we are unable to appreciate the enormous power we hold to benefit ourselves by these actions. Each is a living meditation.
I teach every patient how to employ these skills. Other teachers emphasize these practices as well, for example Ashtanga Yoga. The difference between our teachings is this. I teach my patients to perform these actions as a deliberate act of kindness.
Being kind to ourselves is our primal power to heal. Our very desire to heal is itself an expression of our innate kindness; of our goodwill towards ourselves and our desire to care for ourselves. I teach my patients to heal all manner of illness by being kind to ourselves not only in movement but, as well in the ways we eat, think, and relate. By kindness we are able to heal our food addictions, our afflictive emotions and our toxic relationships.
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