Tummy Time(not just for babies)

Hey Ya’ll!

I’m sure you’ve all heard my newest favorite phrases, and some of you have even received stickers with them on them. One of my phrases is, “tummy time! (not just for babies)” and it’s TRUE. Think about it…. The backside of our bodies gets to receive pressure every single day because we all sit at some point. But when does the front of our bodies—like our thighs, lower belly, and solar plexus area—get to receive the exact opposite pressure in relation to gravity?!

We came into this world where tummy time was an achievement to be celebrated. When we start to even out and redistribute our bodies’ ability to be in those positions, we are literally recalibrating and reorganizing the biomechanical loads and forces our muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments receive.

I have an earlier blog that talks about thinking of yourself as a pancake—I’m reiterating that here, but with a little more logic applied. So I encourage everyone to spend time on your tummies with your heads turned to the side, arms out wide, and just spend time breathing and feeling into our bodies’ sensations.

Which brings me to the next sticker that I’ve made recently—it says, “sensational sensations,” and it might be my favorite sticker!

When you take your attention TO your sensation—that is where all the change is made. When we redirect our attention from the thinking part of us to the feeling part of us, that is where data collection happens. HOW are we supposed to move and be well if we haven’t practiced directing our attention to look, feel, and be able to assess our physical tissues!?

When we spend time getting to know the multitude of sensations available to us all the time, we then are more informed to make strategic decisions about how to move in a way that is physiologically aligned.

You ask me, “AJ, what the heck does moving in a physiologically aligned way mean?”

What I mean by that is moving in agreement with what your tissues are telling you feels good!

I have worked with HUNDREDS of humans who are moving on cue to movements offered to them instead of FEELING into what movements to create. For example, all these classes that people go to and the obsession with having a strong core has everyone’s breath so tight and tied down that no one has a belly breath. And when folks don’t have big belly breaths, it increases the compressive force on their low backs, which pulls the rib cages down onto the hip bones, and people wonder why their discs are compressed, bulging, and eroding away?!

It’s not “strength” we need—it’s length and decompression.

Which is why inversion tables were quite the hit for a while. And while gravity is efficient, we aren’t bats and can’t hang upside down all the time. But what we do have access to is spacious, decompressive, and restorative breath work.

I KNOW you’re all tired of hearing me talk about it. For those who are working with me, you know that not only does breath work serve the biomechanical functionality of our muscular and skeletal systems, it ALSO changes the literal PH of our blood, which then alters our chemistry and affects our central nervous system.

Breath work isn’t “WOO.” I’m not selling snake oil—I’ve been watching folks for years.

I used to massage and cup and move people’s bodies for them, and as much as I wanted to make the pain just go away because I care about you all so much, I learned that I was robbing you of the wisdom, power, and trust in yourselves to move and be well.

So I got rid of my table and got everyone on the floor and started sitting with folks as they discovered their bodies.

As someone who spends a lot of time in their body, I, too, am still discovering my own tissues!

What’s wild is when you move in your body and discover a sensation and sit with it for a bit and learn what it means, and then move a little deeper, that cycle continues over and over and over. Each time, you find a newer and deeper part of yourself that spooks, “What is that? Is that safe? Should that sensation be there?”

Panic shows up over and over and over. And with each new place, even I have to process through what that might mean based on other sensational experiences I’ve had in other places of my body and figure out what it’s telling me.

My goal for this post is to encourage movement, validate that yes, there may be overwhelming stories that show up when we feel, let you know that it’s normal for those to be there since these hot rods didn’t come with an instruction manual, and let you know that if you move slowly, maintain your breath work, and consciously remain present and curious, you not only are going to learn a lot about yourself, but you might start to enjoy spending time with your tissues and feel more confident about yourself.

Moving through the world with more ease, less pain, and more compassion for yourself and others.

It’s only when we’ve reduced our own suffering that we can be available to serve others in theirs.

I hope you all had a destructively empowering eclipse season, and I hope to see you all soon!

With love,

AJ