Feet of Clay: What's your weak-link?
Moving on from my previous post where I spoke about fear of waking up in the morning, below I discuss a particular dream from the old testament of the Holy Bible.
In the year 633 BC, the second year of his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that disturbed him. He wanted the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers in his empire to first tell him what he had dreamt of and then correctly interpret it for him. If they failed to do this, he promised them that he would get them cut in to small pieces and then have their houses turned into piles of rubble.
I often find myself in a similar situation where my clients, whether they have pains or are sportspeople wanting to perform better, expect me figure out their dreams for them. Luckily for me, the dream that Daniel suggested King Nebuchadnezzar had dreamt of, expresses itself in bodies of almost all the folks who seek my help.
Daniel volunteered to tell King Nebuchadnezzar what the king had dreamt of. Below is text from the Bible, from the book of Daniel, second chapter, verse 31 - 35:
“Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth."
Daniel suggested that the statue represented the five kingdoms. He told King Nebuchadnezzar that he was the king of kings and compared him to the head of gold of the statue. The kingdoms following his were supposed to be inferior and inferior, hence made of less precious materials. Crushing rock was the kingdom of God that would destroy all previous kingdoms.
I was first introduced to this story from the Bible some three decades ago but it has stuck with me because I had a different interpretation of Daniel's dream.
As mentioned earlier, to me this statute represents most human beings living in today's modern sedentary world who are trying hard but are not able to figure out how to be physically active and what to do about it. This statue is the best case scenario. The rest of us are doomed even sooner by the crushing rock that is a like a time bomb headed our way.
Head of Gold
We are overloaded with information in today's world, and the educational institutions are making sure that we know enough and more about everything possible. It doesn't mean that we have enough brain power in today's instant gratification world to process all that information for our own selves. If a statue is going to very top heavy, what would you expect? It'll topple over any time.
Chest & Arms of Silver
Most folks today who end up going to gym appear more like gorillas than anything else. They work their 'beach muscles' but forget about the ones that counter them. They have grossly imbalanced muscles. Pecs and biceps are too strong, but upper back and triceps are too weak. This leads to rounded shoulders and forward bent posture, as I mentioned, looking very similar to gorillas. This restricts rib cage expansion, limiting lungs to inflate enough when on taking long deep breaths. This starts to put immense pressure on the lower back. Something most ignore.
Belly & Thighs of Bronze
By the time we get to belly and thigh, we can clearly see that it is not much on a priority list. If your core isn't very good, there isn't much of a connect between your upper and lower body. Most folks who even want to get fit or are working on it, usually have very thin thighs. Lower backs are generally not even thought about. Your lower body can't take the load of the upper body and feels a lot of pressure that it can easily crumble under. You spend more than half your lives (>12 hrs a day) sitting but poor posture messes up your back royally. It now happens a lot sooner than later. Decades earlier.
Legs of Iron
Fair enough that iron is a strong metal but it simply can't take care of top heavy body and are ready to collapse under pressure any time. Calves in your lower legs play a very important role in getting you to move. Your calves are like the second heart for the body, pumping blood back to the heart, but tight calves don't do that. Also, iron like lower legs will restrict movement of feet and knees, the two important members of the three musketeers that help you to run, the third being the hip.
Feet of Iron & Clay
There is a good reason that feet are made of Feet and Clay. Human feet have a quarter of all muscles, ligaments and bones that are found in the human body. They need to be supple but the combination of iron and clay don't make them stable enough. These feet simply can't take the weight of the top heavy body. There is a need to be stable but you simply can't be with feet of clay and iron. Medial arches of the feet collapse under the pressure of your top heavy body. In today's world we spend quarter to half our lives (6-12 hrs a day) on our feet. They need to be able to support rest of your body well enough.
Crushing Rock
Pressure of today's world is tests our body and makes come crushing down. You need to be better prepared. You can be as intelligent as possible but if you shelf life is too short, in the long run, it simply doesn't make enough sense.
So what do we do about this statue that Daniel dreamt about two thousand six hundred and fifty years ago and has turned out to be true after all these years?
We need to work on the balance. Ying and yang.
a. Be stable on your own two feet but at the same time stay light on your feet like Mohd Ali suggested more than half a century back: Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
b. Your lower legs, especially calves need to be strong and flexible at the same time.
c. Lower Back, Belly and Thighs are like the main engine of your body. They need to be active even at rest as they connect the upper and lower body.
d. Muscle balance around the chest region is very important to give enough room to two of the most important organs in the human body, heart and lungs, that reside here. Arms are important, but you need to think beyond the biceps alone.
e. Think of yourself like a puppet, a puppet that's being pulled up by a string at the top of the head. Besides keeping a good posture you need to understand that when there is information overload, there simply isn't enough time or brain space to process all that information. Do the following:
At night, while sleeping, don't have your phone right next to you. Put it in the drawing room. Night is for sleeping. For unwinding. To absorb everything that has happened in the day and to prepare yourself for the next day. Not to check each wtfapp message and fakebook notifications you get random hours.
I'll stop right here with any more advice. I want you all to practice the above over next 30 days.
I will give tips to correct other problems mentioned in the statue above. On a very regular basis I'll come on either Youtube Live Stream or FacebookLive and talk about the tip of the day and answer all your questions. I'll connect with you on some platform every alternate day. But no, it's not going to be for free. I'll charge a certain introductory monthly fee.
Today is 26th January 2017. It's as good as any day, even if it wasn't India's Republic Day. It's rained cats and dogs, at least in Delhi. A good enough reason to get started from today itself.
Project GOYA (Get Off Your Arse)
I'll call this program Project GOYA (Get Off Your Arse). The plan is not to get you running marathons, even though I very happily will. It is literally to get you off your royal arse and get moving. To get you to become a better you.
If interested, please click on the link below and fill the form. You'll soon hear back.
