Astrid Hutchison Massage

"I think, therefore I am is the statement of an intellectual who underrates toothaches. I feel, therefore I am is a truth much more universally valid, and it applies to everything that's alive. My self does not differ substantially from yours in terms of its thought. Many people, few ideas: we all think more or less the same, and we exchange, borrow, steal thoughts from one another. However, when someone steps on my foot, only I feel the pain. The basis of the self is not thought but suffering, which is the most fundamental of all feelings. While it suffers, not even a cat can doubt its unique and uninterchangeable self. In intense suffering the world disappears and each of us is alone with his self."
Milan Kundera (dissident writer/satirist of totalitarianism who died today)

"Movement can be defined as 'any motion that creates a change in shape of a body or parts of a body' --and need not be bound to an intention or calorie expenditure, or limited to physical fitness variables. Movement is not defined by a physiological outcome, but by a transition in geometry. The human body can move and be moved in numerous ways beyond those that utilize skeletal muscle: for instance, horripilation, or 'goose bumps,' in response to cold; the pressure-deformation of parts interfacing with sitting and sleeping surfaces; or loads to the tongue and jaw during breastfeeding or chewing. Yet these movements are currently underrepresented without a definition of movement outside of physical activity." Katy Bowman, biomechanist

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jun/19/im-not-just-faster-but-taller-how-i-learned-to-walk-properly-and-changed-my-pace-posture-and-perspective
Yes! "Your walk can also be affected by the way you sit, especially when you sit a lot: favouring one hip over another at your desk, or in your car. 'Small things we’re doing consistently create that default neuromuscular pattern, which is just a little bit out of sync,' says Hall. 'And it may not translate into anything, but over a period of time it can manifest itself as discomfort.'
'I’m not anti-running, I’m not anti-gyms, I think they all have a role to play,' she says. 'But I also think, sometimes, if we just think about the simplest thing that we could all do, and just get people to do it better, even if someone doesn’t necessarily feel as if they want to walk for longer, even if they just looked at changing their walking technique and applied it to their commute, that can be powerful.'”
Extra points for mentioning wearing shoes with a wide toe box.

‘I’m not just faster, but taller’: how I learned to walk properly – and changed my pace, posture and perspective When I was told I could reap huge health benefits by learning to walk better, I was sceptical. I was already pretty good at walking, I thought. It turned out I had a lot to learn

"Perfection is static, and I am in full progress." ― Anais Nin

"The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery." — Anaïs Nin

"You have to hold out to see how your life unfolds, because it is most likely beyond what you can imagine. It is not a question of if you will survive this, but what beautiful things await you when you do." Chanel Miller, Know My Name

"The loads we experience in today's world differ hugely from the loads people experienced a hundred, a thousand, and ten thousand years ago. Yet we blithely assume that our health issues--which so many of us share--are genetic. Genetic, a term we've internally defined as beyond our control. Whether out of convenience or ignorance, we have failed to address the habitat in which our genes dwell, and the impact of the way we move on the state of our health." Katy Bowman

"In 1979, Israeli sociologist Aaron Antonovsky coined the term salutogenesis to describe an approach to health that focuses on enhancing well-being, not just eradicating disease. You’re healthy when you have a sense of coherence, or a belief that your life is comprehensible, or structured, predictable, and explicable; manageable, meaning that most of your circumstances are within your control and you have the resources to meet life’s demands; and meaningful, or full of interest and goodness, in a way that makes your care about the outcomes.” -- Melody Warnick

When you are in a profession that is rarely ever portrayed accurately

Reposting because I still find this article beautiful and this is the flip side to Mardi Gras: "So much effort goes into looking good, and working hard, and pretending we're in charge of life and death," says Will Hocker, a priest and hospital chaplain who notes that "even doctors" come to get ashes from him on Ash Wednesday. "What a relief to have a day when you're just another person with a smudge of dirt on your head."

Why Ash Wednesday? Why would anyone say "thank you" when a stranger tells you you're going to die? Because it's the truth.