Paying for the deactivated hara!

I moved house last week. It was a bit of a marathon and I was taking boxes and crates up to our new flat until far too late at night. It's a great flat and a good move, but the unaccustomed lifted has shown up a weakness.

I strained a muscle in my mid-back region. I've just got back from my physiotherapist, Sonja Bass. Having freed up the muscles she did some posture work with me. What she was showing me is that I try and lift from my mid-back, not my hips and legs, so I don't use my centre (hara).

The hara is the centre of strength within the body. It's our seat of confidence. It's the area 2" below our navel, where the centre of gravity of the body is. To come into correct posture, we should relax and balance from our hara first, then centre the heart and then head over the hara. Basically, it's get our physical foundation set first, feet, knees and hips.

Our personality pattern usually emphasises moving first from the heart or head. For me it's the heart area - chest, shoulders and arms. So, whilst lifting all those boxes, I began to get tired, stressed out with how much there was to do (!) and started to revert to my old pattern of over-use my chest. The result is strained muscles in the mid-back region!

So, my antidote right now is to move, stand and sit very mindfully and much more slowly, initiating the moving from my hips. This requires a bit more thought, but the painful twinge from my back is a wonderful reminder to take this opportunity for more balanced moving. Hopefully this helps develop the habit just that little bit more, and then have to pay less for emergency physio!