Everywhere, there’s movement on this expanse of trees and grass and temples. All ages–from 9 to 99–are here, practicing Tai-chi and Sword Arts, swinging their arms, rubbing their kidneys, rotating their waists, and hanging from low-hanging tree branches (to stretch their spines).
Amid all of this, is a thing that makes me rub my sleepy eyes and appear again: teams of women are walking backwards in the lane. Just that: walking backwards, calmly and confidently.
This ancient exercise (yes! It is an exercise!) is one of the treasures of Chinese health practice, addressing issues of balance, leg strength, back strength, and posture. It might appear simple, nevertheless the logic behind why it is a sound practice are profound. Here are just a couple of:
1. As our bodies age, our concern with falling causes us to react wrongly. When babies fall backwards, they only plump as a result of a sitting position, however this tendency disappears as we grow older. Many falls find yourself going backward because we arch our backs. Walking backwards rounds that part of our back we arch, and encourages ‘forward’ muscle use.
2. Precisely what is wrong relating to your posture came from walking forward! Slumping, slouching, rounding, arching…those undesirable habits. Walking backwards reverses these habits.
3. From an energetics standpoint, walking backwards actually re-frames consciousness in your bodies. The straightforward explanation is that our attention will favor top of our own bodies on the exclusion of what is behind us. Chinese health and martial exercises both encourage ‘whole body’ awareness for ‘whole body’ health. Walking backwards creates a ‘sensor’ to integrate this area.
4. Walking backwards actually engages very different teams of muscles. This will be relevant especially as our bodies age, because we lose flexibility and our mobility often diminishes. Through the use of different muscles we exercise aspects of your body that want attention.
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