If You Move Like You’re in Water… It’s Quite Safe on Land —Ellen Barrett
I wish I could take credit for the above title, but alas, all due credit goes to fitness expert and women’s wellness advocate, Ellen Barrett.
Ellen and I go way back, around 20+ years ago, when I first discovered one of her exercise DVDs, and I haven’t stopped working out (or as she likes to call it-”mindful body movement”) alongside her since then. There have been times I’ve gotten lazy or tried other teachers, but I’ve always returned to her. For me, she’s a great fit of cardio, tone, and stretch as I age, and as she’s aged. She’s even let her long brown hair go au naturale…still long though! I’m not quite brave enough to do that, but perhaps some day.
One of Ellen’s signature mantras is, “if you move like you’re in water, it’s quite safe on land,” in which she refers to how being in mindful movement or “flow” leads to greater connection to one’s core and movement of unhurried ease and grace. This gentle awareness leads to whole body integration; thereby, reducing disjointed or jerky movement, muscle tension, and general disconnection within one’s body. I’ve found this guidance to be very helpful, not just in workouts, but throughout my day, as I get up and down out of my chair, walk, climb and descend stairs, etc…all the while imagining I’m in water.
Flow… Ease… Grace
Now, I’m not a great swimmer, and certainly not a surfer. Far from it. In fact my style is to gently doggie paddle or float on my back as my go tos whenever I happen to be in the water, which is maybe once a year (it needs to be more).
However, if water’s taught me anything, it’s how to respond to the ups and downs, sometimes turbulent waves, that seem to come out of nowhere in my life, as well as the calm, quiet, or shallow periods.
Sometimes you see what’s coming and can brace yourself; other times not so much, and you fight to come up for air after feeling hit by a tsunami; and at yet other times, you find yourself paddling for any kind of traction to move you along.
I imagine the world and my experiences in it, as a vast ocean and I’m riding the currents on my surfboard.
First, I must learn to balance.
Balance shows up as mindful awareness, and staying present and embodied in all of my senses. This is key to managing the monkey mind, when your thoughts take flight and you’re stressing like nobody’s business. Staying aware helps me navigate my mindset about what’s happening all around me and not getting swept away.
Balance is remembering to breathe… B R E A T H E
Expand your rib cage by taking deep breaths with extra long exhales… AAAHHH
This sends the signal to the brain that there is no threat.
Balance is asking myself how I will feel if I keep eating the rest of the bag of chips or drink another glass of wine.
Balance is not letting too many days go by without a meaningful conversation with another human outside of my work, and subsequently, allowing myself to be alone when overtaxed with activity or chatter.
Balance is staying heart-centered with all sentient beings, human and non.
It’s amazing to watch real surfers and swimmers-how they move their bodies, how they seem one with the water, how they get back up on the board when they fall. And that’s a lesson for us all…it’s not that we won’t fall, but how we get back up.
We’re all life surfers in a way, as we ride the waves of emotions, events, and the high and low tides in our lives.
Ellen also likes to incorporate the infinity symbol or figure 8 in many of her classes. She sometimes calls it the Celtic weave. 8 has always been one of my favorite numbers. I love how it symbolizes “flow,” with no beginning nor ending. These movements just feel so good as I move my whole body in the infinity pattern. It feels like I’m moving in water, interestingly something I’ve noticed that I do whenever I am in a pool-moving my arms in the shape, as I sway back and forth.
Water just is. Shapeless, calming, cleansing, soothing.
Let’s be in the water together…even when we’re on land.
“Empty your mind.
Be formless. Shapeless.
Like Water.
Now, you put water in a cup,
It becomes the cup.
You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle.
You put it in a teapot,
It becomes the teapot.
Now water can flow or it can crash.
Be water, my friend.”
— Bruce Lee
Til next we meet in the forest…
Love,
Amanda ❤️
