Movement Heals the Body

Categories: Blog May 14, 2017

The following story is from Richard Morse, OS Level 2 Coach. I have watched this story take place over the last 5 years. I have seen Richard's struggles and frustrations. And, I couldn't be happier to share his story with you:

Even though I have been working out for a long time, I was never able to move well.  You see, I worked at a trading desk for 20 years. I would be sitting all day, staring into a computer screen.  I would be in a hunched position with rounded shoulders and a caved in chest. Sitting all day made my hip flexors very tight also.  When I would try to move, or exercise, let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.  My instructor kept saying I was “tight.”

Then four years ago, I discovered Original Strength while on the internet.  I started doing the resets, but I really didn’t know what I was doing.  In August of 2013, I attended my first OS workshop where I met Geoff and Tim.  Boy, was I in store for a rude awakening.  I had no reflexive strength or stability, my thoracic extension and movement was nonexistent, my squat was ugly, and when I crawled my hips were all over the place.

During the workshop, the resets that seemed to work the best for me were neck nods and rocking.  Throughout the workshop, I would test my squat after I did these resets. Slowly but surely, my squat improved. I came away from that workshop with hope.

A few months later, I decided to attend another OS workshop in NYC.  I had been doing the resets and made some progress, but it was slow progress. To be honest, I was getting frustrated.  I would read about everybody’s “aha moments”, and would ask myself, “Why wasn’t this happening to me?”  I was doing the resets, admittedly not every day though, and I would see Tim’s videos on You-Tube and try the different variations but I still wasn’t having my “moment.”

Later still, I decided to attend an OS Pro Workshop to learn more about the neurology and see what it was I was still missing. I really got into the educational aspect and I decided to become a Level 2 Coach, even though I still had significant movement issues that did not seem to be going away. To be honest, I didn’t know what was wrong with me. My shoulders felt terrible, especially where they tied into my chest. I couldn’t do a passive hang for more than one or two seconds before the pain was too much to bare. I was frustrated.

I have to say, one of the greatest things I have received from attending the OS workshops was the relationships I’ve made. Some of my closest friends have come from these workshops. Anyway, after speaking with some of these great people about my frustrations, they gave me some ideas on how to help myself. I would do what they said, or so I thought, but I never really got close to where I wanted to be. I never found my big “aha moment.” I felt stuck.

And I was. Here’s the thing: I was trying to do movements I wasn’t ready for, thinking if I can do them, I would find my “aha moment” and make progress.  But I was wrong, I was reaching too far and not allowing myself to begin where I actually was. I never really trusted the process and therefore wouldn’t allow my body to begin where it needed to begin. I had my own plan and I was good at sticking to it. But that wasn’t working.

I needed to make a change. So, I began changing the way I think, and allowing myself to start from where I am instead of trying to start from where I’m not. I began pressing reset intentionally, moving slowly and thinking about how and where I could move. I let my body tell me when it was ready to try a new position or a more advanced reset.

And you know what, it is working.  My FST (Fascial Stretch Therapist) says my joints and muscles feel so much different, they feel “youthful.”  Now, I am even able to do a passive hang for thirty seconds with no pain. My squat has never been deeper and my upper torso doesn’t fall forward when I squat.  I can also now leopard crawl.  I am getting my mobility back.

For me, this has been a very long journey; one filled with frustration, but one also filled with experience. Earlier this week, I had a session with my FST and she said four words that put my entire journey into perspective, “Movement heals the body.”  She is right. Movement does heal the body. It just may take longer for some than others. Yes, people progress at different rates.  It can be hard to accept, but you can’t measure your progress by looking at other people.

You see, for the last few years I have been desperately searching for my “aha moment”, when what I was really having was an “aha journey.” My entire story is my moment. I know I still have more work to do and I have goals I haven’t attained yet, but each day, I am coming closer to moving the way I was meant to move. I am no longer stuck in my own body. I am free in it.

- Richard Morse

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