Photo: Mindful movement in a high risk environment South Buttress Right, Mt. Moran, WY, 1995. Credit: Paul Gardner
The sun-washed granite rock is warm to the touch; the alpine air cool and fresh. My rock shoes are smeared onto tiny depressions 2000 vertical feet above the floor of Leigh Canyon. The climbing rope in front of me passes through a carabiner and sling looped around a horn of rock forty feet away. Mind and movement are totally engaged in the act of climbing—no intrusive thoughts, no distractions. A fall here would result in a wild sixty foot pendulum leaving me dangling in the middle of nowhere. This famous pitch, aptly named, “The Great Traverse”, is on one of the finest alpine rock climbs in North America: South Buttress Right, Mt. Moran, Grand Teton National Park. The mindfulness required is one of the reasons I have been rock climbing for over 55 years.
This week’s edition of What I learned This Week is titled Mindful Movement: Moving in the Present. Mindfulness is the skill, commonly developed through meditation, of training the mind to be in the present moment. In my personal training practice I teach my clients mindful movement: the art of being present in the moment when exercising, moving or at rest. In this article, I write about mindful movement when strength training, walking or sitting. Paying attention to your movement makes exercise more effective; helps to prevent and recover from injury; and can aid in correcting imbalances. See my article Balancing Act.
Mindful Exercise
If I ask a client to do a bar pulldown, almost without exception they grab the bar, and with straight back, pull it down to their chest. The correct way is to arch your back, look up at the ceiling and pulldown. This way you recruit your big upper back muscles to aid in the pulldown. More muscles used makes for a more effective exercise.
The deadlift is one of the more difficult and risky basic lifts I teach. It also is one the most efficient exercises to improve glute, lower back, and core strength. Starting with a light kettlebell or dumbbell, we work on mindfully activating our core and glute muscles to safely learn the lift before moving on to barbell deadlifts.
The bird dog exercise works the erector spinae, abs, upper back, shoulders and glutes. These muscles allow for correct movement, control, and stability of the whole body. It’s a good exercise for people with lower back problems and develops good balance and posture. I teach my clients proper form that makes this simple exercise more meaningful.
Mindful Movement
You can apply what you learned with mindful exercise into everyday movement. When meeting a client for the first time, I analyze their gait. Walking is not a simple movement. Ask anyone who has undergone major orthopedic surgery or spent a long period on crutches. They will tell you the difficulty they experienced learning to walk again. When the body is not moving symmetrically you have a problem that needs correction.
Walking imbalances can result from weakness or injury anywhere along the kinetic chain: feet, ankles, knees, hips, lower back, shoulders and neck. I work with clients to find the source of the problem and then create a solution with exercise, stretching and proper form. It is helpful to have someone watch and critique your movements.
Mindful Posture
Many clients come in with upper cross syndrome: inhibited muscles in the upper back combined with tight muscles in the chest. Sitting at your computer, driving leaning forward and standing with rounded shoulders creates imbalances that lead to pain and inflammation in the neck and upper back.
We start correcting this condition with improved posture. I borrow the concept of “bracing” from Kelly Starrett’s book, Becoming a Supple Leopard. You brace yourself by tightening glutes like you are pinching a dollar bill between your checks; pulling your belly button to your spine; setting your shoulders back and down; and keeping your chin up. You can use bracing in lifting, walking, sitting and driving. Mindfulness and repetition are the keys to good posture.
Epilogue
Random thoughts banished, I focus on finding small holds for my fingers and shoes making lateral moves across the rock slab. Reaching the horn of rock, I take a deep breath, unclip the rope and retrieve the sling. Another fifty feet of mindful climbing and I reach my partner Paul belaying on a four inch wide ledge. Off in the distance is the blue expanse of Jackson Lake. Cotton-ball clouds hang above the Gros Ventre Mountains bordering the east side of Jackson Hole. On our airy stance we talk, laugh and revel in the shared experience.
Please contact me at mailto:steve.crookedthumb@gmail.com if I can help you with mindful exercise, movement or posture. Thank you for reading.
Photo: Present in the moment for a 3 am alpine start on South Buttress Right, Mt. Moran, WY, 1995. Credit: Paul Gardner
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