Here is a little practice for you to start to listen to your body and start learning about choices that are present.
 
Please turn off your ringer and set your timer for 10 minutes ….
 
I invite you to sit here for a few minutes, resist the call of other emails, texts, to-do lists and anything else that may be vying for your attention in this moment. Take a minute or two and notice the feeling of yourself sitting – the way your pelvis, and perhaps your back are supported by the chair, how the support flows upward. How do things feel in your hips? In your back? In your neck and shoulders? Where is there tightness? Where do you feel your body is working to hold you up? What does your breath feel like?
 
Now, adjust the way you’re sitting. Sit up a bit straighter – pause for a moment and check in with sensation in your body again. Take your time trying different ways of sitting, and continue to notice how your hips, back, neck and shoulders are feeling as you do so  .… lean forward  …  lean back into the support of the chair  …  slouch a bit  …  cross your legs … cross the other leg over  …  cross your ankles ….  put both feet on the floor …  step your feet closer together, further apart ….
 
You are probably now perceiving that there are many variables to play with, and that even changing one variable very slightly can make the difference between comfort, discomfort, or even pain.  One of the other variables that come into play is your state of being before beginning this little inquiry – are you tired or well rested, fatigued or energetic, in a good mood or upset…? If your state of being was different, your experience of being in your body would be different, and you would need to make different choices about how you’re sitting. 
 
What does this little practice have to do with therapeutic movement? It is a way for you to experience that there isn’t a right or wrong way to sit, but that there are many choices you can make that will affect how you feel, and these choices will shift depending on the circumstances. This awareness of choice is a principle that plays a vital role in my work, both with clients in private sessions, and with students in group classes. As a teacher, I invite you to notice how you’re feeling, and guide you to make choices about your movements that will cultivate strength and mobility without increasing pain and tension.
 
Are there things you always do the same way? Can you become aware of different choices you can make about these movements and activities? What other areas of your life can you apply this principle to?
 
I’m always curious about what comes up for you as you play with the inquiries I offer – – if you feel so inclined, please do share with me what you learned through this experience!