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The next time you see a child throwing a tantrum pay attention. You can learn a lot about how emotions influence movement. When kids are throwing a fit they tend to stay in one place and sort of flop about while screaming. Look at how the neck and lower back pull out of  alignment. The emotional state is negative and they physically move toward the ground. They go limp as way to resist their parent’s attempt to get them under control. At some level we are all little kids. We don’t outgrow these emotions, we just channel them differently. When we are stressed, we don’t move very much and act like jerks. Internet message boards and youtube comments demonstrate that there are plenty of people who don’t feel like moving, but do feel like staying in one place and throwing a tantrum. This tension pulls at adult alignment causing neck and lower back tension. All of this is just a grown up version of flailing about and screaming. As life and work stresses build up, people go home and stop moving.  Many people have stored energy in the form of fat. They have energy to burn and have been cooped up all day. Why aren’t they racing outside for “recess”. The reason many people aren’t chomping at the bit to go out and play is that they are focused on the negative aspects of life. It’s a slow and drawn out way of pouting. The behavior gets channeled into negative emotions that may contribute to early exercise fatigue.

To make matters worse, stress hormones  directly  contribute to fat gain, so as the negativity builds it makes people feel even less like moving and can contribute to depression.

When children are happy and playing, they can run several laps around a grocery store without getting tired. They may jump with excitement. The energy is moving upward. It is literally elevating them. This elevated mood seems to  improve  exercise performance.

The key to unlocking your fat stores and turning them into functional energy has to do with your hormones and your mental state. You can influence this physically through herbal teas, breathing techniques, as well as social interaction and religious practices. If you lack energy, it may be that you simply need to unlock it. Get back in touch with the type of boundless energy you once knew. A sedentary life is simply an internalized tantrum. A sedentary society is not a happy one.

Are you moving with relaxation and joy or pouting and throwing a tantrum? If you want to move greater poise, relaxation and physical endurance, consider looking within. Your mental attitude, emotions and hormones are  inseparable. Remember to move with relaxation and joy rather than from the standpoint of goals and obligations. Remember to play your way through life and everything will fall into place.

Amanda Tipton “Best coast”

Steve Mcfarland    “Street games”

Cia de Foto “0328”

 MOVING FROM JOY by Andrew Miles & Xuelan Qiu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at enlightenweight.com.