The Cry to Move

Categories: Uncategorized Jan 26, 2014

I recently had the fortune of being able to take a vacation to Disney World with my family. The vacation was wonderful, our family made many memories that will last a lifetime for my children - hopefully. And, everyone of us got thoroughly vestibulated!

Vestibulated (Ves - tib - yew - lat - ed) - The act of stimulating your vestibular system. It's an original Original Strength term!

Anyway, I learned a few things on this trip. One lesson, in particular, was simply a reiteration of what I already knew to be true: We were made to move. As wonderful as the vacation was, there was one hurdle that had to be conquered, twice. We decided to drive to Disney World instead of fly. It is a ten hour drive from my house to Disney World. I am good to sit still for about 2 hours, beyond that, I get antsy. I did survive this 10 hour drive, twice! But my brain and my body were screaming at me. I wanted to move.

I guess the lesson wasn't as much a reiteration as it was a declaration. My body, I, wanted to move. I wanted to stretch my legs, I wanted to crawl, I wanted to skip. I wanted to do anything but sit still for 10 hours. I think my kids actually faired much better than I did. One slept a lot, and the other read books and watched videos. Their brain had something else to do. Mine, however, was on "drive" mode. And, this wasn't enough stimulation for my brain. It made me want to move around in my seat. So, I found ways to move and "press reset" as I drove.

I practiced head nods and head turns while driving. I practiced moving my eyes everywhere and I followed their motion with my head. I practiced touching my opposite legs with my opposite arms. AND, I would pull over about every two - three hours for a "rest room" break. For me, it was a cross-crawl break. I would perform about 50 to 100 cross-crawls every time we would make a stop. My wife hates that I do this, by the way. Isn't that sweet? She is afraid I will get embarrassed by the strange looks I create with my strange habits!

Let me tell you, a cross-crawl has never felt so good as it does when you have been cooped up in a car for several hours.

The point is, we were made to move. And, after spending the last four years intentionally moving, intentionally trying to get back my body's birthright of movement and strength, I cannot stand to be static for long periods of time. I am like a kid, who is constantly moving and finding things to do. This is a good thing. This is how we are all supposed to be: movers. There was a cry inside of me during these two ten hour drives. That cry was to move. And, the longer I sat, the louder it got. To me, this is a good sign. My body knows what it needs, what it was made to do. It is no longer asleep.

What about you? Does your body cry out for what it was made to do, too? Do you grow restless when you are still for hours? Does your body beg you to skip, to roll, to play? If you press reset enough times, eventually your body will want to be in a perpetually resetting state. In other words, if you move often like you were made to move, you will always want to move, to play, to live. It is a deep cry within you that longs to get out. Listen to it. Answer it. Move your body.



If you are new to Original Strength, and our ideas, check out our books and learn how you can restore your body to the way it was intended to be.

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