Bodily Incompetence | Ignoring what’s right in front of our noses. Or Ignoring our noses, actually. Free ‘Deshrimping’ Call Tues Oct 13
This thought-stream was originally sent out to members of the Columbus Group whose comments and questioning have infused this recovering meat sack. New members welcome at the above link. The topic today is…bodily incompetence.
Yes, I said incompetence, not incontinence, though one might lead to the other in some cases. 
Dear reader, has it ever occurred to you how much we don’t know about our own bodies?
Individually, sure. (Can you, for example, without looking, draw a map in your mind’s eye of all your major birthmarks or moles?)
But also on a general basis, how much we don’t know about this ‘thing’ this ‘flesh’ that we carry around with us, or is us, or…you get what I mean.
I’ve been marvelling at how unconsciously incompetent I am at being a human being. It’s fun, actually, and kinda funny.
I use this body, certainly, and sometimes to great effect, like when I pull out a splinter from the ball of hubby’s foot. Or eat a bowl of congee with chopsticks while the dog lies on my feet, and I read a book.
Really, life is a regular Cirque de Soleil, some days!
But lately, I’ve been asked some consciousness-raising questions. Questions like…
(1) For what reason do we have a skeleton? Why, please, do you think we have a skeleton? Really.
(2) When you think of your foot, and you think of the action that your foot makes when walking, you doubtless
know that your heel strikes the floor and your foot rolls toward the toes. Where in your forefoot does the skeleton provide the most support for walking, do you have a sense?
(3) What shape are your leg bones, both your tibia and your femur? (Tibia – shin bone; Femur – thigh bone. Good enough for conversation.)
One thing I’ve noticed without prompting, you know, on my own… desk jockey and lover of laptop-screens I seem to be…is that I spend a lot of my life in ‘shrimp position.‘ You know it, I’m sure, where the head falls forward of the shoulders, the back rounds and the chest drops in on itself? It’s uncomfortable, and yet, I’m very stuck in it. My body doesn’t know what else to do.
It dislikes so-called good posture, too, and can’t hold that either for more than a few seconds without attention.
So, what is a girl to make of this stuck place in my body?
Do I ignore it, stay asleep, and year after year, become more and more calcified into shrimp position? (Might we say lobster-like, even?)
How do I react when I see a significant newspaper advertisement saying ‘Having trouble wiping?’ showing an older person unable to reach around himself? I don’t make these things up, you know.
What does the future hold for my body and the mind that lives within it, unchecked? What about the body-mind of my cherished coaching clients – how do I begin this conversation – do I begin this conversation, with them?
What habits is YOUR body in?
What benefit would you get from noticing these? Is there a compelling reason for you to become more interested in your body, or is it a ‘whatever’ and I lost you at ‘shrimp?’
What general thoughts about bodily incompetence do you have – personally and/or generally?
What else does this trigger, for you?
More another time, including thoughts about the three questions posed about the skeleton, the foot and the legs,
above.
Meanwhile, the second no-fee movement-based class I’m holding (by teleconference call) is tomorrow, Tuesday morning October 13. You can sign up here.
It’s completely no-fee, and 100% adventure, as this will be another practice lesson I’m teaching as part of my
practitioner-training.
Come to think of it though, be warned please, as the lessons are rather subtle. Think “am I doing anything?” level of subtle. And yet, therein lies some of what I consider cool magic that might just be an answer to the bodily incompetence you may feel. Later!
