Theme: I Am
Acknowledging our base level of existence
Chapter 3: Energy & Shins
Technically the root chakra is at the base of the spine where your Kundalini or primal energy lies quietly at the ready, coiled like a tight spring. But for the purposes of covering each of the muscle groups in physical therapy, I’m extending this whole concept down into the legs: our people-springs.
Energy
We talk about energy in lots of ways. Our bodies have energy to function properly for the day when we meet a base level of sleep, and nutrition, and mental stimulus vs. rest breaks. If we lack any of these things our bodies feel fatigue, and tend to snap at others in an animalistic type of self-preservation. When we overindulge, we feel lethargic and to some extent shameful. We’re surrounding ourselves with too much or too little energy.
There’s also the law of conservation of energy which essentially talks about the total energy in one enclosed system will remain constant through time. Meaning energy is not created or destroyed, it can only transfer location (like pushing someone and having them fall over) or transform from one form to another (such as chemical energy (food) being converted into kinetic energy (your body radiating heat and being able to move) or caloric potential energy (our glorious fat storage system). I’m sure someone out there can explain the properties of physics better than I can, but that’s the general idea for our purposes here.
Energy, vibration, and emotional energy are all around us all the time. Our own energy or life force contributes to the whole. We absorb it. We transform it into something new. We move it around. We feed off it. And we need it. Some sound or light or motion wakes us up each morning. Some thought or sight tells us to move and eat and go about our day, or not to. And the rewards or consequences (the energy that confronts us back) with each decision we make impacts our motions to follow.
An example: I woke up. I saw a bird flying out the window. It looked peaceful. I want to feel that. I bundle up to go for a walk even though it’s raining. The wind is misty, but it’s kind of refreshing. I see dew drops on my hair. I see some kids playing in puddles and laughing. My muscles feel good stretching. I can tell my dog is happy to be outside with me when he looks up at me. I want to do this more again tomorrow. I want to make more healthy decisions and feel good again.
Another example of the same day: I wake up. It’s rainy but I ate too much junk yesterday and decided to use exercise to punish myself for yesterday’s behavior. I step in a bunch of puddles and my socks feel wet and cold in my shoes. All I can focus on during my walk is my own misery and anything else I could have been doing today. I get home and feel like I’m owed for my suffering, so I make a pile of comfort food and watch some shows, and try to drown out my bad day. Eventually I regret my decisions and decide to punish myself with more exercise to make tomorrow “better”. Tomorrow doesn’t feel any “better”. But I don’t know how to get out of my misery loop.
Us humans will perpetuate our own internal inertia, be it good or bad, unless we use some confronting energy force to change direction. So this week while doing your stretches, consider these questions:
Am I giving my body the right amount of basic energy sources it needs? How can I improve?
What other energy sources (lights, sound vibrations, other people’s emotional energy) are around me? And are they beneficial or is there any way I can slowly improve my surroundings?
What around me can I use to encourage and reward healthy behaviors in myself? And maybe in others?
Is there anything I’m using now (like food or exercise) as a punishment, and how can I change it to be a healthy reward system instead?
Below are some different shin and calf stretches and body weight exercises (which just means you can do them at home without special equipment). So go ahead and exchange a little positive energy with the ether.
Cross-legged Standing Forward Bend
Stiff Leg and Single Leg Ankle Hop (like skipping!)
References this week from “Chakra Healing” by Margarita Alcantara, pg. 20 and from Emilie du Châtelat, the 18th Century French philosopher & mathematician
Jet Tries 