Resetting a Reset
Mar 16, 2016
And now, a guest post by Bill Savage, OS Coach....
Recently I was back in Phoenix, one of my favourite cities to live in. While there, I always try to hike at least one of the 7 peaks in town we used to hike regularly when my wife and I lived there with our kids. This trip it was to be what was known as Squaw Peak, which is now being called Piestawa peak. Likely some politically correct ammendment, but we won’t go there.
Squaw Peak gains 1,208 feet (368 m) in 1.2 miles (1.9 km), via what can best be described as a switchbacking rock staircase. The final ascent can be easily dubbed “the stairway to heaven” or “the staircase from hell”, depending of course on your perspective.... your perspective being in correlation to how much water you brought and the pace you chose to climb! Oh yeah, and the biggest... the temperature in which you decided it was best to attempt this little stroll. Not being super intelligent, I chose 1pm in mid June, around 105 degrees for the temp. I love it! And yes, I understand it's probably not a bad thing not too many people are as dimwitted as myself. But I digress.
This is a very familiar hike. I used to do it multiple times per week at different stages, so when I set off, there was absolutely nothing new about it. Or so I thought...This time, I had the opportunity to do this hike through the filter of Original Strength. Having been a student, a practitioner, and now having just earned coaching status, I realised a short way into the hike, I had an opportunity to do something I’ve always done on autopilot (quite well I might add), with a slightly different awareness.
I set off as I always have, with the only real change being that I now naturally breathe diaphragmatically through the nose most of the time. Even as a former distance runner, I had been a mouth breather. I marched along at a good clip, happy in my recollection of my previous efficiency in navigating the jutting rocks that make up the path up the mountain. Soon though it occurred to me I was back on autopilot. I walk of course every day, I’d hiked this a thousand times. Walking is a great reset... our ultimate reset. I was doing the ultimate reset... or was I?
Something I have learned about OS, is that we are beautifully presented with a never ending opportunity to re-evaluate the way we move, no matter the movement. I’ve done a lot of that, so why not do that again today? As I climbed the "stairway to heaven" I turned my awareness to the subtleties of my body’s movement. Arm swing, head position, and because of my building awareness of my own body through crawling, muscle firing. What I immediately noticed was arm swing. I was a bit robotic. So, I allowed my arms to swing more, especially to the rear, which gave me a touch more natural momentum. This allowed a slight decrease in the amount of energy I had to exert!
Next came foot placement. Though I will need to continue to work on it, I became aware of a default of pushing off or stepping up harder with one leg over the other. Practicing a more balanced effort in my stride allowed for more rapid progress without the need for more effort. Through the remainder of the climb I became aware of more subtleties, and made ever so slight modifications. As I approached the top, I altered my pace to stay in a cadence with my diaphragmatic, nasal breathing. Once there, I was able to ease my heart rate down via some head nods and deep belly breathing.
I have always enjoyed the climb and the meditative qualities of the view. This time however, I got even more than I bargained for. I cannot help but attribute much of it to the awareness I chose to maintain on the climb, and discovering the value of resetting a reset. Walking is a reset... but who’s to say you can’t reset your walk through awareness? I did, and was rewarded for doing so.
To celebrate my discovery of the rewards of awareness, I took off and ran down the mountain because, well, as I mentioned at the beginning, I am not very intelligent. I love running down that mountain! My focus was sharp and it didn’t take long before the stride of my decsent was on par with the speed I used to do it. I fatigued a little more on the way down, probably due to lack of practice and water, but thoroughly enjoyed it.
I encourage you, when you employ the OS practices and go about your normal activities and movements, see if you have an opportunity to reset your resets through mindful awareness. You never know what you might discover.
Bill is one of 2 OS coaches in Australia, diligently working toward his OS Instructor designation. He is an SFG instructor, prior United States Military and a former endurance athlete. As a cancer survivor, Bill has spent a lifetime overcoming incredible physical challenges. Now residing in Brisbane, Australia, he helped establish and build Queensland Kettlebells, where he now instructs, with his friend and trainer. Bill is committed to helping people build their strength and gain better movemeent.
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