A simple warm up to prepare for a MovNat session that includes some crawling or hand balancing transitions. There are countless other great things you can do for quadrupedal mobilization, but this is a beginner friendly place to start, and safe for those with concerns about injuring themselves. The purpose of this sequence is to mobilize and gently load the shoulders, build the foundation of static movement (non-locomotive), encourage the familiarization of the contralateral pattern of the body, and help integrate whole-body-as-one movement. For a more detailed tutorial on the Foot-Hand Crawl, check out my how-to video on MovNat's YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/aRH85s5mbCs Please let me know if you have any questions about any of this. Take care!

Natural Movement is about restoring our original movement behaviour. It's our natural environment that shaped us. We may need to balance, jump, crawl, run, climb, and maybe carry something through it all depending on where you need to go. To sit and watch, relaxing within nature is certainly part of connecting with it, but exploring and letting nature's inherent demands guide your physical capabilities has no replacement. This may not be the route everyone would take to cross this narrow body of water. Another way across may work better for a different person. Natural Movement isn't a cookie-cutter system, but a way to expand your range of physical expressions. Progress isn't about how far you can jump and what feats you can accomplish, but rather that paths you see and what options open up to you. Looking at a creek with rocks cross over, there are likely several possible paths to take. Natural Movement is all about learning the skills that reveal more paths, more options, and more opportunities to explore the ways that your body can move. I love finding surfaces that are unstable to balance on or jump from. It requires a special kind of sensitivity, awareness, and conscious connection to the surface of support to feel how it will respond. Without this sensitivity the log would roll out from under me when I'm stepping across it, or my jump would lost it's spring to the sinking of the log. Are you acquainted with this extended awareness? It's similar to martial arts; when you spend enough time working with weapons they start to feel like an extension of your nervous system. To start developing this sensitivity, imagery is very helpful. I picture my awareness expanding into the surface of support and feeling it as another joint on the body. We already have to stabilize your ankles, knees, hips, etc, when we balance, and this just involves thinking of your surface of support as another joint that needs to be stabilized. A 2x4 on grass is enough instability to try this concept out. Let me know if you're familiar with the feeling I'm talking about!

This is a movement sequence meant to get the blood flowing and move the body in a variety of ways. It's an ideal warm up if you don't have time to do something more robust. Often times I'll use this as my base and then include a few other warm up movements as well. I am aware that there is a stigma against bringing the toes in and knees in when we squat. I think people get lost in the rules and forget the underlying principles in this case. They key principle here is that the knees should be in alignment with the toes, i.e., on the same track, knee stacked over the toes, pointed in the same direction. Also, when a squat (or deep knee bend) is loaded; you're holding weight, I would suggest toes pointed forward, or wide-base pointing outward, *not* inward! This sequence comes from Kinseiryuhou Koshiki Kenbiki, a Japanese method of hands-on therapy focused on the realignment of tendons. This form of therapy has its roots in the healing methods of the Samurai, and the martial art of Yagyu Shingan Ryu. This sequence, that they call Undo Shido, is meant as a mobility evaluation before and after treatment. I find that it makes for a great warm up/cool down routine as well.

A quick demonstration of how to use any sturdy door to practice your hangs. You don't have to have your feet off the ground for this. I suggest throwing a towel or something over the door so your hands don't hold you back. First I'm demonstrating the front hang scapular pull up with varying ranges of motion. Then on the broad side of the door I do the same with the side hang. Scapular depression is something we should be able to control from hanging before ever even attempting a pull up. Also just hanging there without any scap action is great Mobility work for your shoulders. Be gentle, if you rip your door off the hinges that's on you, don't blame me!

This is Natural Mobility's first YouTube Live video for MovNat Natural Movement Training. We will be going through a Natural Development Sequence for a warm up then breaking down the foot-hand crawl inverted crawl, and tripod transition in this session.

This is Natural Mobility's first YouTube Live video for MovNat Natural Movement Training. We will be going through a Natural Development Sequence for a warm up then breaking down the foot-hand crawl inverted crawl, and tripod transition in this session. Apparently, my account is not yet qualified by YouTube to film with my high quality camera, and I am limited to using my laptop camera. Please excuse the lower picture quality in this video.

The MovNat Level 1 Fundamentals E-Course is a comprehensive guide to the foundation of what makes a MovNat Natural Movement training program. This course is 4 weeks with 4 prerecorded video training sessions per week with either Stefano or Danny from the MovNat team; both excellent instructors. You'll learn the basics of everything from breathing and crawling to jumping and vaulting, from lifting and throwing to balancing and climbing, and more. You can work at your own pace and from anywhere with an internet connection on any device. This course is minimal in it's use of equipment and easy in consideration of putting together a set up for home practice. Visit: https://movnat.thinkific.com/courses/movnat-level-1-fundamentals?ref=58f795 to sign up now. This is designed to be a training guide for people who want to take the level 1 trainer certification, but even if you have no interest in certification, this is essentially a run-down of the most basic and foundational skills to start working on if you want to share in this practice. Natural Movement is for every human, and this is a perfect entry level for someone who wants to transition toward a more practical approach to their training. My impressions of this course are that it is very well put together with a high production quality, attention to detail, and a lot of love and intention to really impart something life-changing for people as best as possible through a digital medium. Check out the link to sign up and learn more, and make sure to let me know what you think if you try it out. I hope you find it to be as helpful of a resource as I did. (music in the video is by Tesk - soundcloud.com/tesk)

*Note to clarify for 0:31 into the video: Most of the breathing muscles contract during inhalation, but the core muscles relax when we inhale, especially deeply and forcefully as during dynamic movements. If we perform movements that engage the core while inhaling, which involve relaxation of the core, disharmony and injury can occur.* In this video I discuss a few basic approaches as to how to use natural breathing in dynamic movements like jumping, lifting things, stretching, and more. This concept can be applied as a guideline for breath-focus in any activity. Also check out the previous videos in this 3 part mindful breathing series! Please let me know in the comments below what you think, and if you'd like to see anything particularly in a future video, let it be known! Don't forget to subscribe, like and share. Thanks for watching! **Check out the website for more information: https://www.naturalmobility.net/ Or here to see upcoming training events: https://www.facebook.com/pg/NaturalMobility.net/events/ Follow on Instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/naturalmobility/ Like and follow on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/NaturalMobility.net/ Music by Tesk: https://soundcloud.com/tesk/ #breathing #breathfocusedmeditation #breathingexercise #pranayama #movnat #breathingtutorial #breathingmeditation #breathtraining #naturalmovement #diaphragmaticbreathing #bellybreathing