Domain

Explanation

Stiff … seems familiar nowadays

• Yap … stiff & hard like stone
• The body is a living one
• Living itself is a sign of flexibility & adaptability
• Opposite to flexibility is stiffness

How come …

• According to medical research
• People, especially in the urban, fast-paced, densely-populated, noisy, polluted & activity-packed environments & situations, are prone to aches, pains & dexterity impairment
• I am not an exception
• Not that the presence & awareness of the "ever-changing landscapes" so to speak is over-whelming, but my perceptual resistance towards these otherwise objective phenomena is the root of my body aches & pains
• Changes can be classified into 4 categories as below:

1. External, artificial: the macroscopic society, cultures, practices, attitudes of man-made actions or consequences
2. External, natural: the environmental changes of weather, land, ocean and the cosmos – all affects our well-being
3. Internal, natural: the bodily changes occurring from its inherent causes – growth, appearance, aerobics, aging, vulnerability
4. Internal, artificial: self perceptions, beliefs, motivations, ideas, thoughts, dreams, grudges, personality that are caused by and cause changes

Why changes keep knocking on our doors?

• Changes are the fact of life
• For without changes, life is not what it is
• There is a saying, "The only constant in life is changes"
• But fret not for perception – how we view is the key
• I observe that changes are objective, but my re-actions are subjective to circumstances
• My re-actions would be dependent on the following:

1. Mood: whether I feel receptive, evasive
2. Health: whether I feel fresh & lively or stale & sickly
3. Interactivity: degree of coupling & stability with the changes
4. Elements of support: whether there are factors (people, places, senses) that attract me towards certain directions

• These shifting perceptions, emotions and re-actions form the trio basis that directly influences the bodymind

In what ways?

• According to physiology, the body is a network of nerves, senses, tissues and systems that interact non-linearly
• In order to maintain a state of equilibrium, balance is achieved through mitigating deviatory changes using negative feedback control (minimizing the difference between the balanced state & the present unbalanced state)
• In other words, the more our bodies are set into actions & re-actions, the more the bodily unbalance
• By maintaining this unbalanced state for a persistently long time, the results are aches, pains & stiffness
• In fact, due to consistent layout of the bodily network, the stiffness of any region can be traced to possible unbalanced states that are rooted in particular combinations of the trio basis of perceptions, emotions & re-actions which are in turn by factors that stem from the 4 possible changes
• In the book by Ken Dychtwald, he explores the various connections between a body region with an associated set of emotions, personality or characteristics
• It’s not difficult to verify this idea: stiffness of the neck can point to strain & stationary postures that are associated with desk work or play (movie-going) or travel

What are your stiff spots?

• Let’s start from my head down

Head

• My hair & scarp are not stiff, I know
• Forehead: disturbed
• Eyes: shrinking
• Eyebrows: tilted inwards
• Cheeks: stiff, hollowing, bony, thin, jaws almost locked, inner facial muscles tense, outer surface muscles weakened
• Neck sides: maintain my head straight to look at monitor
• Neck back: connected to stiff shoulders, a sign of timidity, lack of courage, monotonous work, passivity, stubbornness

Torso

• Shoulders: upper neck region, especially taxing
• Forearms: disturbed veins, poor circulation, improper breathing, uncomfortable
• Spine: always felt it, if it is good, not supposed to, an ill-disciplined, unbalanced torso posture, long-time posture static, no backbone – requires support, weak attitude
• Bony chest: foods, breathing, unbalanced relaxation, troubles in my heart
• Thinning, squeezing waist: coming, excited, pushing too much, unable or forgotten how to relax, breathe & dream
• Tightening stomach: squeezing sensation; relaxation only possible through focused effort; sign of fear; holding on something & resist letting go; inability to dream or live towards dream; deep breathing non-existent
• Contracting PC muscles: shrinking, pressing & constricting sensation & motion; especially in excited, tense & aroused situations; sexual impetus, concentration of bodily fluids & energies; lessen & weaken bodily functions elsewhere; loss of mental vigilance & physiological stability; loss of balance during travel ride or exercise

Hips

• Bony hips: searching, craving for attention, recognition, support & concern
• Forward-turned hips: keeping secrets, show character mask

Legs

• Thinning thighs: walking improperly, use lower leg strength, unable to harness the full power of the strongest element in the body – the thigh bone
• Fat lower legs: used for walking (tip-toeing rather), focus on nitty-gritty, timidity, highly attracted to details, may lose big picture
• Feet: shortening & thinning, sign of worsening support of foundation, fundamentals are eroding, where are my heart & morales?

Any relief?

• The fundamental approach to be aware & alert to my perceptual resistance & not let it accumulate into bodily stiffness
• Why choose to have aches than not having them yet being relaxed at the same time?
• Root changes have to be gradually ingrained into my conscience & consciousness to take effect
• In the meantime, cultivate as way of living the following:
• Awareness of the particular dominant stiffness
• Causal situations therein
• Focus-centering on the relaxation positioning centres
• Allow myself to relax
• Physiologically, this is equivalent to growing a sense of humour, light-heartedness & fluidity