The one tool for learning new skills you CANNOT ignore
"Brainy What-Why-How"
Your weekly nibble of science-backed goodness to help you move better and feel unstoppable.
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What (the TL:DR)
Doing -- and teaching others -- to do scary things,
like handstands, backbends, or meditating (yeah I said it...meditating can be scary!)
is more about empowering yourself/your students
than any flexibility or strengthening drill.
Why (the geeky neurology)
Our brains have evolved to inhibit harmful behaviours. Not to achieve cool shapes or skills.
We're all walking around with brains that are like:
"eek...don't do that...it might be dangerous"
about EVERYTHING but tasty food, curling up in a cozy chair, or lashing out in anger at our fellow drivers.
This doesn't go away when we try to do something like a handstand or deep backbend--
which, by the way, our ancestors gave us ZERO biology to do naturally.
How (apply it to your life)
While drills that strengthen or mobilise the joints are useful, these approaches only target tissues whose movements are commanded by the brain.
💪 A shoulder can be STRONG AF but if the brain feels unsafe, that shoulder will be a total weakling.
🦵 A hip can can FLEXIBLE AF but if the brain feels unsafe, that hip can feel tighter than my free workshop's gonna be*.
Centring the brain -- and specifically the scaredy-cat part of the brain -- is the most effective way to get these "neck down" drills to pay off.
For example:
Drills to learn how to fall from handstand won't be any good if you don't change your beliefs about falling...and you still feel like in some distant future you'll be able to handstand like a pro having NEVER fallen because the thought of it scares the bejeezus out of you.
Saying you're going to get better at speaking up at work and sharing your ideas will be a waste of the oxygen some tree made for you if you keep letting the inner voice of self-doubt entrench your identity as someone who's too shy to speak up.
In short: change your beliefs. Change your brain. Then watch the drills and intentions start to work!
I believe in you,
Adell
- tight is slang for "really cool" -- I'm not saying my free workshop is going to be like an immobile hip, okay?! It's going to be really cool!
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