The Power of Non-Habitual Movement

We went to a friend’s concert a few weeks ago (they’re awesome, btw, you should check them out…Chatham County Line). It was outside at a local Greenway, lots of families, lots of kids running around, we had a great time. One of the best things about it was watching the kids dance!! They were movin around, jumping up and down, running this way and that, takin off their clothes (love that about little kids!) and just having a BLAST moving to the sound of the music! And they didn’t care what it looked like (especially the younger ones). They were just moving for the joy of it.

Moving our bodies is so important. Not just to develop muscles and keep in shape (which is good too;), but because it gets us out of our head! And when we try new movements and just LET GO of trying to do it “right”, we actually create new neural pathways. It does even more than that…it loosens up the energy in the body and mind, it allows new possibilities in, it gets you used to letting go of set patterns. It really SHAKES IT ALL LOOSE!!!

This is a great example of non-habitual movement. The Omelette Dance! We love Modern Family…

When I was younger, my brother and I did a morning dance every morning (well, we weren’t THAT young…it was not too long ago!). We just got silly and danced around in weird ways. It felt so good! These days, my honey and I have a dance party every morning for 5 minutes. I put on different kinds of music each day and we just mooooove to it. We have so much fun!!! I purposely do things sometimes that look goofy or weird or uncoordinated.

I like doing it in the morning because it gets me energized and excited for the day. It has a way of cranking up a childlike enthusiasm that makes me ready to go and jump into life.

Try it out! Put on some music and just run around, jump up and down, crawl, make faces, act like a monkey, try out some sweet dance moves…whatever gets you moving. And if you’re tired or have a physical disability, do some facial ballet. Or finger dancing. Whatever works, just get that energy going!

Oh yeah, when I was looking for Luke’s Omelette Dance, I ran across these guys who made up their OWN Omelette Dance years before the Modern Family episode…awesomeness!!

What does YOUR omelette dance look like?