Aging, Pain, and the Beauty Still in Your Movement

Your body may not be what it used to, or what you're used to—but that doesn’t mean ease, artistry, and fluid movement are gone.

In this short guided exploration, I’ll help you reconnect to what’s available in your body right now using principles from the Alexander Technique.

You’ll learn how to:

• Let go of comparing yourself to the body you once had

• Reconnect with your natural coordination and support

• Rediscover lightness and fluidity in simple, everyday movement

• Shift from “what was” to “what is,” and find beauty in the present moment

This is for highly sensitive dancers and movers—especially if you’ve felt stiff, disconnected, or frustrated that movement doesn’t feel the way it used to. You’ll leave with a renewed sense of presence, ease, and appreciation for the body you have now.

If you’d like to go deeper, I offer free consultations in which we can discuss what you need and how to apply this work to your body and your movement.

A transcript of the video is below if you’d prefer to read rather than watch and listen.

Hello, friend.

As dancers and movers or former dancers/movers, we are used to having the ability to do some pretty cool stuff with our bodies. And as we age, sometimes we can't do that anymore.

And we feel that loss.

Sometimes certain movements just don't feel very good. They might even start to feel painful.

You can get stuck in this belief that your body is worse now and get trapped in that and miss what is available in your body and how you can still move with fluidity and ease in your everyday movements.

For a lot of us, we're so used to dance and that kind of movement. But then in our everyday life, we're not quite as mindful, artistic, and cognizant of what we are doing. We kind of throw everyday movement away a lot of the time. But everyday movement is your life.

It's what's happening all the time. Actually being able to touch on that and allow it to change and rediscover the freedom that is available now is a beautiful thing.

It's very normal to feel that loss but you don't have to get lost in it.

Let's explore a little way to start to bring this into your life and discover the ease that is still available to you without always comparing it to what you used to be or what used to be possible. In that path lies misery I think.

First we want to connect to the curious mind.

Go ahead and close your eyes for a moment.

We're just going to give yourself a moment where there's nothing that you have to do.

And we'll start to connect to what is rather than what was.

Let’s just do it as lifting an arm. You might lift an arm to pick up a plate or pick something up off a shelf. So if you're here and you're about to lift an arm.

You start to lift an arm and we’re just going to pause for a moment and connect with what is happening.

You’re about to raise an arm up over your head. That's where you're about to go. And your body begins to prepare to do that.

I'd like you to stop. That's put you on the pathway you're used to. Stop and reconnect with where you already are.

If you're sitting, kinesthetically allow yourself to sit. As I was raising an arm, I'm going to exaggerate it, I was leaning forward into it. Not that much obviously, but energetically and somewhat muscularly there's this pulling up.

Okay. But actually, I'm just sitting. I'm going to kinesthetically let myself sit.

I'm talking a lot about the arm. It’s easy to get focused on the arm and forget you have a head.

“Oh yeah, I have a head. It's way up here.” You don't have to make it be way up there. It already is. You're just reconnecting that it is.

“Okay, I'm sitting. I have this beautiful headway up here and my arm is rising.”

“My arm is lowering. I'm sitting.”

I'm going to pause again because what I'm about to do is bring the arm down. I'm exaggerating. But this falling can easily happen in your body.

Just stop. Where is your body? What's already happening?

I'm still sitting. It can seem like that's obvious. How could you forget that you were sitting just in a couple seconds? Amazingly, you can.

You have a head.

I’m getting a little drawn into the camera, so I'm getting a little narrow. I have a head. It's way up here. That starts to open me up. And then my arm comes down.

It's a little more lively than just raising the arm in that old pattern.

What you're doing is shifting off of that old pattern into something new that involves more of your whole body in a connected, fluid, kinesthetic way.

What happens when we get caught up in what we used to be?

For instance, I've had a frozen shoulder for a while. It's much better now. But very easy to get lost.

This was my frozen shoulder. Very easy to get lost in like, “I used to just be able to throw my arm up in the air and ah, it just hurts like oh, it's going to hurt my shoulder to raise my arm.”

And then that's how you're preparing to move. It's not a great way to move. I'm not surprised if you feel discomfort or pain if that's the way you prepare to move.

That's not your fault. It's so normal.

But just because it's normal doesn't mean we have to get stuck there.

There's a way to stop.

Recognize what you're about to do, how your body is preparing, and kinesthetically come back to where you already are rather than where you're about to be.

And that's a way to change yourself and also get out of what was and rediscover the beauty of movement and the freedom that you get to have right now.

When you connect with that, sure, maybe years ago you could whip your leg up to your head. Amazing if you could. I could never do that. That was not my body.

But oh, just this movement of the whole body, just the arm raising.

Here's my cup on the top shelf and I get to bring it down. There's beauty in that. There is something wonderful in that. And particularly as a highly sensitive kinesthetic person, you can connect to that.

Okay, that's all for today. If you enjoyed this video, please let the mysterious algorithm know by liking, commenting, and subscribing. Please leave any comments about what worked for you, what didn't work for you. That helps me understand what future videos I should make for content that will really speak and help you because that is my goal.

Till we meet again, take care.