Some people have trouble breathing, some have bad backs, others may feel that they are naturally slow or weak. What if this isn’t actually the case? What if this is almost solely nurture rather than nature? Of course, some people are born with deformations and abnormalities, but I am curious if a majority of people are simply using that as an excuse since they know no better. Could these outcomes simply be side effects of not knowing how to use your body?
Table of Contents
Nurtured Nature
To introduce the concept, I will start off with something that we commonly accept as a society before getting into the parallels that can be drawn.
She’s a Runner
People communicate the concept of having natural speed, but we still have running coaches. That is because we do not naturally run perfectly. We learn to walk and run without clear guidance, leaving much room for deviation from perfection. Some may run with toes pointed in or out, some may run on their toes, some may take many short steps rather than few long strides. These will all impact optimal efficiency while running. If we all ran with perfect form, our body mass, muscles, and mindset may be the only factors impacting performance.
I believe some people are born and luckily land on a running form closer to perfection than others (closer to knowing how to use your body properly). This is not innate ability, it is luck associated with where you start your running skills. This is incredibly impactful though, as the longer you are running with the right form, the more time your body has to memorize that form and develop the necessary muscles to optimize the movement.
Bad Backs
One step further into this concept is the notion of “bad” body parts. Young people with back pain at say the age of 10-20 are generally develop the idea “Ah, I must have a bad back” since others their age do not have issues. I believe the concept of pulling the unlucky body straw is incorrect. More likely, they pulled the unlucky habit straw. While this difference may initially seem minimal, I see this as rather profound. If correct, this could eliminate the sense of helplessness associated with some of these conditions we accept and replace it with a remedy of hope and direct resolution path. The two options here are:
“You have a bad back” – “Okay, I guess this is how things are unless I get surgery”
OR
“You’re doing things that make your back feel bad” – “Okay, let me stop doing those things and get better”
This is profound to me.
Rather than analyzing the degree of someone’s spine and trying to bend it into place, why don’t we analyze their posture, sleeping position, walking motion, daily activity, etc. and identify opportunity for habit changes that will help correct bodily ailments?
The Art of Breathing
Diving one level deeper into the concept, we might be able to see this in something as simple as breathing. Are you weak, or not breathing properly when lifting? Do you have asthma or have you been breathing improperly? Are you anxious, or does your body not get the a regular ingestion of air at the cadence it needs to remain calm?
I know that I can change how I feel, my mindset, and how I am interpreting the world for a day by being conscious of my rate of breathing. This on top of some times profound impacts of controlled breathing in meditation make me wonder if something as apparently natural as breathing can be a key player in mood and world view. If you live somewhere with low air quality, does this also impact the rate you should be breathing to ensure your mind and body are in the right state?
If I am able to force myself into different states by consciously controlling my place and rate of breath, I find it likely that there are people that have not explored this idea and believe “this is just how things are” and accept their mindsets. I will touch on this more below, but our bodies are incredibly malleable. This is not taught, but could provide massive quality of live improvements for those that explore the connection between their habits and how they feel.
Summary
It is important to reiterate that there ARE impediments that folks are born with. If you are missing a finger or other bone, there is no mental trick that will restore that functionality (unless I am being too closed minded here). Despite this, I feel a majority of our population could be considered healthy at birth with future ailments stemming from behavior.
Habits > Nature
The immense impact from understanding and identifying poor habits and behaviors early and modifying them is hard to put into words. Every year that goes by that your body is fighting an improper behavior or motion, is time lost developing the proper muscles healthy habits associated with that. One of my thoughts on how to catch this early is bodily education for children. When they are learning to walk, the goal is not just to walk. Parents should also be aware of the form of the walk as the child grows. If they can walk, but they are doing so in a way that strains the knees, the child will surely feel it down the road. The review of these ‘routine’ activities is broadly possible. Doctors can even use this as a health discovery method.
“Take a deep breath in. Do you feel tingling anywhere? Where is the air being stored right now if you had to point to it?”
Some of these questions may help identify and correct habits early on.
You Can Act Now!
I don’t think there is a “too late” for this either. If you are able to identify an impactful habit even later in life, you can change it and prevent further bodily harm down the road even if you are not able to fully repair/correct the body. One of the most impactful practices to review is breathing (rate, depth, location). I believe this can have great impacts on anyone at any age.
Some will read this and put it into practice, exploring their behaviors associated with pains. Others will read and discard this thought, potentially finding it interesting, but not worth the effort. I challenge you to do the hard thing. If you are struggling with a bum knee, mental frustration, or even poor performance in the gym, explore your behaviors and habits that may be factors in the development of those pains and make a change. Everyone has the power to change their habits should they show the self love to do so. This is a true mind over matter moment, and it is up to you to take advantage.
You can explore other ideas about humans, psychology, and sociology here!