Belly habits and training fleas

Submitted by HumbledLady on May 21, 2011 - 11:41am
Body: 

When I try to become aware of my many holding habits I am amazed at how stubborn they are. If I wait only moments (seconds?), the “hold” recaptures its territory. This will be a long, long process for me, starting so late.

I am reminded of a woman I saw years ago in my former life who had facial muscle tension that developed during her work hours. She was very troubled and distracted by it, although it wasn’t noticeable to others. We brainstormed and experimented.

One day while I was sitting in “the littlest room in my house” – you know the one I mean – and I saw how really small it was. I thought of that woman who spent her work life in a cubicle. My neurology training about neuroplasticity had taught me that we get very strong neuromuscular pathways when we re-use them. If our vision (and ocular muscle use) is restricted to just in front of us, and we are focused all day, then why would our bodies waste neuronal pathways on looking anywhere else? There are walls there. But looking far to the side, either side, back and forth, uses and strengthens pathways more directly connected to the parasympathetic system, more calming, etc. Looking within the narrow range in front emphasizes sympathetic activity.

(You know how they train fleas? True this: fleas jump higher than any other insect, but put them in a closed jar and they will learn in minutes to jump just short of striking the lid. Take off the lid and their trajectory stays lid-level.)

Fortunately, this woman liked to play tennis. We invented “vista therapy”. Whenever she was outside, she would enable her eyes to scan and appreciate the vistas, taking in far horizons in a relaxed manner, fire up those lateral pathways. Her cubicle-vision became less of an obstacle in her life and her face relaxed more and more.

Back to my tight belly… After a longish lifetime of training my belly for clothes too tight, or fashions calling for flat fronts, or lying on my tummy or all of those postures, I am well trained! I have to remind myself that my clothes are loose now, there is space for my organs, no-one is looking while I try this or that out. No one here said it was easy, but I have one way to look at my challenge, forgive myself and get to re-training.

louiseds

May 21, 2011 - 10:57pm

Hi Humbledlady

I wonder if we need a WW exercise specifically to undo this 'holding in' problem so our brain can retrain its muscle memory?

We need a set of exercises that would consciously contract, then relax each of the abdominal muscle groups in turn, and the opposite for their related antagonists, plus any other muscles that are unconsciously involved in zipping and tucking.

I have learned a relaxation technique like this, done lying down, where each part of the body is tensed before relaxing it. Ours should be done in a standing position, with the aim of stabilising the pelvis and hips by 'winding it up', rather than by 'unwinding it'.

Christine? Are there any of the existing exercises that would fit the bill? Or can you work on one tailor-made for this very common problem? I was horrified when I found myself holding my tummy in while I was waiting for the hot water to come through the shower head this morning, and had a realisation that I am still not over it!

Louise

gardengirl

May 23, 2011 - 5:40am

Retraining a lifetime of bad habits is an ongoing process. Gradually I am improving my hit rate but it is a long process and I am often having to remind myself to keep my WW posture.
It is nice to have our WW forum to read and to remind me.

HumbledLady

May 23, 2011 - 10:29am

I bought, but haven't yet received, a wrist-worn "reminder" that I hope will help. It is sold for people to remember to take their meds, or to stay focussed on work or school tasks. It can be set for just a few minutes at a time, the ad says, so I am sure I will be surprised at how often I catch myself in bad habits. It vibrates instead of dings.

When I was trying to train myself to use my mouth and tongue correctly, I set one of those kitchen timers for every 15 or 20 minutes. It was a bit of a pain to do, but really helped.

I will let you know how it works. I don't remember the brand, but it had decent reviews compared to other brands. Maybe some of you are already using something similar.

HL