BACKPACK ATTACK
By Anita Boser, LMP, CHP

I am concerned about my children taking on too much, but I want them to have the best opportunities in life.
Walking the tight-rope of encouragement, not pushiness, is a daily challenge. When I watch my boys load themselves
up like pack mules under the weight of school backpacks, I wonder how to ease their burden without being overprotective.

School supplies, a student planner, paper, books for five subjects, and lunch all add up - sometimes to as much as 30 pounds! The average weight of my middle-schoolers' packs is 15 pounds. I want to use this opportunity to help my children feel strong and capable without adding injury or stiffness to their bodies. Animals provide great examples for fluid bodies and movement. And, it is easier for my children to accept them as role models rather than to listen to my lectures.

Non-human animals (for the sake of simplicity, I will simply refer to them as animals) move naturally from their core muscles. Most humans use their superficial muscles, i.e., the large muscles near the skin. Walk across the room at a semi-quick pace and you will be using your superficial muscles. Then take two steps very slowly. Take at least one second per step and you will be using your core muscles. Core muscles are smaller and closer to the spine. Moving from your core will initially feel awkward and jerky. However, you will soon move with more grace and power after reviving these muscles.

Think of how the elephants at the zoo carry logs. They don't strain. They don't hold their breath. They engage at a deep, internal level - their core. If you hunch your shoulders and stiffen your spine, then you are carrying your backpack (or purse or briefcase) with strain, which results in long-term tension. If you can feel your abdominal muscles in a slight contraction and your movement starts from your pelvis, not your shoulders, then you are moving like an animal. Breathing is essential to provide the energy needed for your deep, strong muscles. Using the core to lift and move is more difficult at first, but it will keep your body fluid and fit.

When a cat or dog wakes, it allows movement to return to its body slowly and fluidly. Stretching is vital to building strength. Allow your body to escape from the stiffness of a backpack (or purse). Bring movement back to the places that stored rigidity. I'm not suggesting calisthenics stretching. Rather than the brain telling the body how to move, the let body feel its own restrictions and bring vitality to where it is needed. Squirm like an octopus or slither like a snake.

Stretching is a physical way to make a transition between activities, signaling to the body that it is no longer necessary to carry the load. The mind also needs time for transition. Being present when taking off a backpack stops the load from continuing in the body-mind. Consciously moving into a new activity, whether it be play or relaxation or a different kind of work, is necessary to discontinue the mental pattern of being weighed down. Like an animal, let the past stay in the past.

Of course, this all depends on recognizing that a backpack is a burden. It is heavy. It requires strength and endurance. Animals relax after they work hard. They use play and rest to let go of tension. They also sympathize with each other. Lions and apes groom each other. Picking bugs out of your child's hair probably won't be appreciated, but even a surly middle-schooler will welcome a small shoulder rub.

Acknowledging that my kids are working hard when they travel to and from school is my first step in supporting their strength. I also am working to give them time to unwind at their own pace when they come home from school before I start asking about their day or reminding them of chores. I try to model moving from my own core when I carry heavy objects and make a point of stretching and releasing tension from my own body. With all this as background, my kids are more willing to listen to my teaching about using their bodies in a way that prevents long-term injury. It isn't as easy or pushy as a lecture, but it better meets my intention of encouragement and giving my children the best of me.

This article was published in the September 2002 edition of Verve.

Anita is a Hellerwork practitioner. Hellerwork helps create new possibilities for being and awareness with a
combination of bodywork, voice dialogue and movement education. Anita can be reached at 425-765-2713.