Beyond habits: life patterns for greater flexibility

Cross post with Sue Ferrera of simple flexibility and vitality suggestions from wise and healthy older women

Behavior patterns can be beautiful and helpful.

This morning as I was brushing my teeth while doing my normal leg stretches, I felt the mild arthritis which sometimes limits my neck rotation and realized I had been ignoring the flexibility stretches I normally do while walking. It made me think about habits … those things we struggle with making or breaking. What if we thought of them as simply patterns of behavior which can be beautiful and do not have to be boring or drudgery?

It’s easy to think of health care activities in terms of workouts or classes; however, maybe it’s the almost mindless actions … our patterns of movement … that we do that truly support our flexibility and enhance our strength and energy.

As that thought passed from being an insight into a possible post, I thought of my Tales from a Wayward Yogini friend

Sue Ferrera

, who encourages us to never give up on acceptance and joy, and wondered if she’d be interested in gathering a collection of simple movements that could make a difference in how we feel about life and our bodies. She, as always, began to build on the idea immediately and agreed to come up with some ideas. All these ideas are coming to you today so be sure to watch for Sue’s post also which you can see here.

I also invited

Anita Perez Ferguson

who writes Diverse Voices — Bravo!, and she suggested a great way to prepare for the day and offered a reminder that everyone needs to consider their own circumstances before trying any new physical routines … Stay Safe!

Here’s the gathered wisdom on simple movements to keep us flexible and vital:

1. Breathing - Sue Ferrera (68), describes this simple morning movement: I stand tall, pull my shoulders slightly back, and then let them drop an inch, heart to the sky. Placing one hand on my heart and one on my abdomen, I take five deep breaths, pausing at the end of the exhale for a few seconds and again after my inhale. Then, closing my eyes with one hand on my heart and the other on my abdomen, I feel my heartbeat before I begin and then talk gently to myself … “Okay, my girl, slow your breath.” … Or “Thank you, dear heart, for your hard work today and every day.” Or if feeling stressed or afraid: “It’s okay, you're gonna be fine, slow down.”

   Sue says you may feel a little self-conscious at first. But once you get used to nurturing yourself, it feels really good. This short practice acts as a mini-meditation, centering your spirit.

2. Stretching - Joyce Wycoff (78): Years ago, I learned about linking new habits to old ones from James Clear and began combining leg stretches with tooth brushing. For exactly two minutes (monitored by the sounds on my Sonicare,) I do leg stretches by standing with one foot on the bathroom counter and stretching toward it while slowly and carefully cleaning my bottom teeth and then, at the end of the first minute, shifting legs and cleaning my upper teeth. It is not only a great morning and evening stretch, it is slow enough to be a micro meditation. Plus, clean teeth!

3. Preparing for the day — Anita Perez Ferguson (75): Slowly stretch in bed before you rise; reach out your limbs and roll your eyes. Touch your chin to your chest and move your head side to side. Pucker up & say: “thank you." 

   With this, you circulate your blood and test your muscles. You become aware of your body and prepare yourself for upright movement.

4. Spinning - Beatrice Appay, founder of Younger By the Days, yoga practitioner/instructor and Holistic Health Practitioner offers this simple and intriguing idea … Spinning as one of the 5 Tibetan Rites described on her blog as a way to enhance vitality and energy. Stand up with your arms out stretched, horizontal to your shoulders and spin around at your own speed on the spot, in a clockwise direction, until you become slightly dizzy. As you begin, you will probably only do a few rotations and even advanced spinners seldom do more than 21 rotations. Again … be safe.

5. Simple Mountain pose - Sue Ferrera (68) Explains how to do Mountain Pose (from Google)

   1. Stand with your big toes touching and your heels slightly apart.

   2. Lift and spread your toes and then lower them back to the mat.

   3. Align your head shoulders, hips, and ankles in a straight line.

   4. Let your arms fall at your sides, palms facing forward.

   5. Gaze straight ahead. Breathe.

6. Grazing - Barbara Gaughen Muller, (83) peace activist and host of PeacePodcast, Barbara starts her day grazing through her unsprayed backyard orchard. Right now she’s snacking on white mulberries while picking them for friends and neighbors and advocating for their beneficial effects on high blood pressure and cholesterol. This gives her a few minutes of walking, stretching, and generosity in the fresh air and sunshine (mostly) of Santa Barbara.

7. Outback Parking - Pat C. (73) - Rather than looking for the closest parking spot, Pat deliberately parks in the distant spots and enjoys the extra steps and time it takes to reach her destination.

8. Standing Backbend - Sue Ferrera (68) - Begin in Mountain pose (#5). Place the palms on the low back/sacrum with the fingers pointed down. Press into the feet, pull up the knee caps, and squeeze the thighs and buttocks. (Yogabasics.com)

9. Gathering Generosity - Barbara Gaughen Muller. (83), takes frequent breaks in her garden, gathering fresh air and sunshine, harvesting food and thoughts to be given to others. She also swims twice a week.

10. Pickleball - Julie Lopp (85), entrepreneur, fan of musicals and pancreatic cancer survivor for 20 years, plays pickleball and would like to play competitively. She also swims frequently and says, “I believe my physical regimen saved my life from pancreatic cancer.”

11. Neck stretches - Sue Ferrera (68) Begin in Mountain pose (#5).

    1. Drop your chin toward your chest. Hold for 5-10 seconds. Breathe. Release.

    2. Drop your head back as far as is comfortable. Hold for 5-10 seconds. Breathe. Release. Repeat as many times as you like.

    3. Drop your right ear toward your right shoulder. Hold for 5-10 seconds. Breathe. Release. 

    4. Drop your left ear toward your left shoulder. Hold for 5-10 seconds. Breathe. Release. Repeat as many times as you like.

What about you? What simple movements do you do to stay flexible and vital? Please share … with or without your age.

P.S. I live on the edge of the University of California, Santa Barbara campus. I see young bodies in action all the time. On a recent walk, I met Mac, who has been practicing slack line for about a year and allowed me to take photos of her practice.

While none of us will be this young again … or should even be thinking about slack lines … her attitude was as inspirational as her actions on the line. She was doing it because she loves learning new things, it gets her out in the fresh air, and she meets people and shares information about slack lines. Here’s Mac in action.

UCSB Student practicing slack line.

P.S #2 Janet Benner, PhD, (88) has a new book: Olders' Voices: Wisdom Gladly Shared By The Chronologically Gifted where she shares thoughts and stories from 29 “olders.” Janet was recently a guest on Barbara Gaughen Muller’s PeacePodcast.org where129 peace leaders from all around the world are featured.