One of my yoga teachers likes to stress non-linear motion. “Life isn’t 2-d. When you’re reaching into your car for your groceries, you’re not moving in a nice, straight line like your exercises, you have to bend at some awkward angle.”
What does 3-d motion have to do with posture? Well, even in theory perfect posture is 3-d. You’re constantly trying to keep a baseball properly balanced on a column of tubes and discs, and that requires applying constantly changing force in all directions.
Outside the realm of posture, life simply doesn’t happen in two dimensions. Exercising to StandUpRight is a fine goal in and of itself, as proper posture is good for our physical and mental well being, but there’s so much more than that. In challenging ourselves further we can open up whole new vistas.
I’ve written about gardening, about dancing with my (then) two year old on my shoulders, even about something as simple as getting a drink of water. All of those activities required non-linear motion, and all of those activities were simplified, or improved, or even made possible, by non-linear core training.
I’ve been posting exercises for developing the fundamentals of good posture. So far all of them have been exercises in 2-d, that is in straight lines. As time goes by, I’ll move into 3-d. First to increase the challenge, and second to work on non-linearity to boost your spine’s, your whole body’s, strength and resilience.
What it boils down to is that when you’re exercising, as you build up the strength and stability of your core, challenge it. Add non-linear, random motion to your exercises, starting slow and small, and maintain control and stability at all times.
Then, when your five year old charges halfway down the stairs and launches himself at you for a “Jumpy Hug,” you catch him and laugh with him. Or when both he and your nine year old climb aboard for a bao-bao (carry carry) up to bed you laugh your way up the stairs with two children squirming in your arms/on your back. And your spine laughs with you.
