We are in a constant relationship with the ground. Gravity presses us down whether we are walking, standing, sitting, or sleeping. There is no way, for most of us, to escape this constant interplay. Unless we are in the water or can go to space, we are in contact with a supporting surface and our bodies respond to that without any conscious effort.
Because this experience is so ubiquitous, it can be easy to take our contact with the ground for granted. Even when engaged in specific physical conditioning, it is very easy to overlook the complex relationship we have with the floor.
In this short routine, I mention "engaging with the ground" a number of times. Starting from a supine position, we engage the back with the ground, and then the cuing shifts focus to the hands and trunk. Pushing the floor away, engaging away from the floor. But what does this mean, and why is it important?
When we stand, we often don't give any thought to the "posture" of the foot. Normally, when we think about "having good posture" we think of standing up tall. We think about the head and shoulders. When we call a posture "lazy" we envision a "slump" of the shoulders. If you look at the whole body all the way down, though, you see that a "slump" of the shoulders has a cascade effect through the whole system. The exact manifestations won't be the same for everyone, but the process will still be relatively the same: without some intentional awareness, we tend to sink toward the floor when we are trying to save energy. In this sinking toward the floor, we tend to give up some of the tensional support created by the musculoskeletal system. This lack of tensional support can lead us to less-than-optimal patterns of moving and standing.
As one of my first Tai Chi instructors told me: "You can't do Tai Chi wrong; you can only do Tai Chi 'better.'" This means that there isn't inherently any wrong way to move. Sometimes we just need to keep going. Sometimes putting one foot in front of the other is a survival mechanism and a way to accomplish all of the things that we need to do in a day. When we have time, however, I feel that it can be a valuable use of that time to assess how we address our foundation and how we extend from that foundation. Using "micro-breaks" during the day, feel your base of support. If you are sitting, explore that seated position to see if you are being pulled down in line with gravity or if you are using your body's "anti-gravity" muscles to sit in a comfortable, stable, position. If you have to stand a lot during the day, stand with your weight over both feet and engage with your standing position. Are you allowing your feet to "slump" because you assume that the shoe you are wearing will just automatically handle the support of your feet? Where is the weight over the foot? In the ball, or in the heel?
There are more volumes on posture and postural muscles than I could even hope to encapsulate. I just want to encourage you to investigate how you engage with your Ground through the day. This is a useful thing in an exercise routine, for ergonomics, and for being aware of your relationship to your body. It's ALSO a useful exercise for mindfulness and intentionality. And, I'd argue, it could go a little deeper than that as well.
Start investigating and start being a little more intentional, perhaps, about Engaging with the Ground.
