Impracticality

When particular contexts, such as environmental hazards, call for certain actions, such as avoiding contact with a low leveled obstruction, we tend to involuntarily move in such a way as to prevent the potentially negative outcomes of what a failed reaction could result in against said obstruction. It can be further asserted that no preparational training classes would ever be so necessary as for one to accomplish the reflexive skill of: crouching—that's because it's instinctual. So, why do most of us not apply crouching to daily life, and instead practice skills (applicable to working out or walking to check the mail) that aren't practical? Is it because our modern environments rarely pose the need to crouch or is it because the act of going around any low leveled obstruction would be much less hassle? Disregarding additional factors, the correct answer is actually both.

This kind of hypothetical scenario applies to any kind of environmental condition(s) or movement execution(s). Our environments, like those found in public spaces or even our homes are missing the diversity of what nature or even indoor gyms offer: variety of movement. If all we performed were the typical lying, sitting, standing, and, occasionally, bending down movements we would miss out on the practical lying, sitting, standing, and bending down movements that can foster variety more naturally. But, wait… what’s the difference between the two types of movements when they appear to be the same? And how does one type have less variety than the other?

The first answer to those questions are in regards to each of their applications. A typical day of moving might consist of lying - perhaps for resting or fixing a leak. Sitting - also for resting or driving. Standing - maybe for job purposes or being in a corner while counting to 60 (assuming you’re able to count that high) because you’re in trouble. And bending down - picking up an object or being in a lower viewing position. This is not to say that these moves are not useful, just that they do not translate well to real-world applications. And our environments (our modern architecture) is partially to blame. Which, intentionally or unintentionally, fosters lack of variety with every city, town or land scape being built with flat, blocky, hip-height, within-arms-reach, predictable constructions in mind.

The practical version of these movements does the opposite. Lying can be utilized for self-concealment or to crawl underneath a fallen tree. Sitting can also be to rest on the ground or to excrete. Standing can be a transitional movement from/to other movements or to balance across a narrow surface. And bending down can be used to hold your position or to decrease the impact of a fall. When these kinds of movements are performed in nature or a gym setting (that offers diverse parameters) variety of movement practically beats movements that are typically found in at-home/at-work environments.

The second is in each one’s efficiency. If lying is efficient for fixing leaks does that make the movement itself efficient? On its own, perhaps. And, obviously, with enough experience. But practicing or engaging lying—assuming the movement is only performed for particular, limited purposes—doesn’t make you efficient it just makes you effective overall at doing whatever activity or task you are doing. Another example would be lying down for resting (sleeping) purposes. There are very few ways you can get it wrong positionally speaking. As far as progression in the movement itself is concerned though, becoming efficient at lying merely maxes out its capacity. Practicality must come after efficiency has been established if any real measures of progress are to be achieved, at which point efficiency would need to be re-established due to differing factors found in environments that, again, foster variety.

The third are their reasons for doing so. When comparing the two different approaches moving with practicality in mind gives you the ability to apply movements relative to any aforementioned scenario regardless of the activity or task, or situation at hand. Often times, gyms or outdoor facilities encourage movements that are only applicably useful for the locations to which they are practiced in. And if a location’s use cases only encourage functional (in relation to “typical” movements) fitness then practical movement’s relevancy would seem nothing more than arbitrary.

For example, one reason for crouching (being in a lowered position) when performed in a real situation might be to remain undetected from a dangerous predator or person trying to find you while moving in any direction you may need to go, perhaps through some shrubs or beside a low wall. Your goal isn’t to gain lower body strength, your goal is to get to the nearest secure area as safely as possible in order to stay alive, while in the process inevitably gaining lower body strength in your body’s pursuit to prepare for the next situation. That is called purposeful moving.

The functional version of a crouch is not crouching at all, really. It is rather a squat (a lowered position in various stances) or even a lunge (a medium position in a kneeling stance) or some other low-position skill. Do squats or lunges normally take place in your home or at your job? Perhaps in some instances, but I am willing to wager that it is not performed very often, and likely not outside of those environments until it’s absolutely necessary to do so… at which point you may come across a type of terrain or particular situation that isn’t well suited for the kinds of squats or lunges that are practiced in a totally opposite environment. That’s where not practicality but adaptability comes into play; a little teaser for a future entry.

What's The Purpose?

Human beings may be instinctual, but when faced with unknown circumstances, instinct will only take you so far in a situation that you aren’t prepared for. Even in the absence of a threatening situation will you find practicality in practicing applicable, efficient, and reasonable movements within an environment and training methodology that fosters variety performed through sessions found in just moving naturally. Which, gives you the chance to utilize moves that you might have otherwise missed.

Understandingly, in reading through all of these scenarios may it be inferred that moving purposely seems unnecessary in a world where typical movement is “sufficient”, and functional movement is “sustainable” to our health. But what makes the typical movements that might belong to what you would do in your home, at your job, gym or for recreational purposes so attractive? Is it being, mostly, inactive for hours on end each day only to cram more intense variety-derivative movements into one hour or so? Is it the fear of the outdoors? Or is it the ease and simplicity of being sedentary inside? Of course, a myriad of other reasons exist for why most don’t move naturally, thereby underutilizing practical movements in relation to their situational responses. But, separating practice from daily life and following any of these principles/ideologies does a horrendous amount of disservice to one’s body.

So, what is movement without practicality, real life situations, and variety-fostered environments... good-enough functionality, movements that only cater to our surroundings, and industrialization. We just aren’t being challenged enough.

Trainer For Hire

And that’s where Wilderly steps in. Wilderly is about teaching you movements that matter to the body in a meaningful way, as opposed to what modernity constitutes as sufficient or sustainable. Like, going around obstructions when the better, perhaps even necessary way would be to crouch, crawl, roll or drag your way underneath to get through to the other side. But more than the ability to crouch are the lessons that are learned in how the manner of efficiency is applied and executed, when to inhale and exhale or how positions could be approached, optimized, and balanced. This kind of training takes any preconception one might have of movement into the perspective of true capability. Allow me to show you the way of Wilderly.

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SUSTAINING BAD HABITS?

This single stretching exercise is all you need to do the trick!

Bad habits may still persist.

NOT ENOUGH TIME TO ENGAGE IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY?

Excruciate all of your energy into just 15 minutes of leisure practice a day.

Feelings of laziness may occur within the other 23 hours.

HURT FEET?

Stroll in a pair of these extra cushioned shoes.

This product does not correct improper gait.

BACK PAIN GOT YOU DOWN? YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.

Order your massage chair today!

Not a treatment for back pain.

Physical exercise has become, almost, entirely supplemental. These, rather exaggerated, statements are examples of what is typically advertised or even prescribed to anyone who has deficiencies in their lives and believes quick fixes to be a necessity. But in sooth, this whole idea is substitutional for what was never meant to be replaced to begin with nor lessened to the extent of accessorization: movement that's long, engaging, therapeutic, and effective.

A Pill Not Hard to Swallow

Wilderly's training principles can subdue bad habits; too much idleness perhaps, instead of temporarily replacing them. It can allow for time to be ignored or what little you may have to be enhanced. It can improve your gait as opposed to hiding your inefficiencies in shoes. And it can even teach you to use that back pain to your advantage as an instrument of might against the idiocracies of a world that places its trust in good backs!!... Let Wilderly be your guide.

Barefoot

For those who are unfamiliar with the benefits of going shoeless, doing any sort of movement with feet that are bare is indeed irrefutably healthier for things both internal (body) and external (environment)—without too much reiteration, a lot of published studies and dedicated web pages confirm such facts. However, so do their (most forums, blogs) exaggerated claims.

Walk A Mile In My...

As preferable as going shoeless truly is such claims make going barefoot to be the end all be all. Just like minimalism makes doing with less the cure-all. Or that one superfood giving your body all the nutrients it'll ever need. In reality, every good practice needs to be applied to make a noticeable difference. Not even Wilderly, with all of the attributes that natural movement has to offer, can encompass every aspect of living well and healthily physically. Although, going barefoot makes enormous changes to how you move for the better if not done properly moving without shoes can just make walking or any skill uncomfortable to do. Furthermore, if all you do for the most part is walk, sit or even climb going barefoot has minimal effects. The same goes for the terrain upon which you move. If it's consistently flat and stable, or even bumpy and unstable, it can do more harm than heal. And trust me, I have personally (unknowingly) experimented with all of this.

Even so, going barefoot doesn't have enough merit to be the finality or be the last improvement you'll ever need to make as people seem to close their claims with, respectively. Yet, being barefoot, in addition to practicing natural movement on varied terrain, actually transforms the muscles through your whole body, makes your feet more resilient to impact, and so much more. Knowing these positives, does going barefoot really need any more convincing when considering the alternative being thick, stiff, heavy, crammed shoes?

Well, Yeah. It Does

What's wrong with shoes? Nothing really, unless they're thick, stiff, heavy, and crammed! (or even half of those). Such shoes invoke unnatural movement because that is exactly what they advertise, only with different verbiage. When boiled down to its essence, shoes keep your feet from moving the way that they are intended to in the name of societal normality and protection from the elements. This goes for the rest of our clothing as well no matter how much stretch they're structured with. Athletic wear is designed for indoor activities even if the materials they're made of can withstand nature most are not made with the environment's health in mind. Other times, our value in our foot's or any other body part's health is traded for the job we work at for dress code's sake.

Barefoot Plus Shoes Plus Moving Naturally

Going completely nude is viable, but obviously unrealistic for nearly every situation. Going barefoot would be the least that you could do, but can be rather uncomfortable physically when making the transition and also mentally when surrounded by a society that thinks the mere sight of feet in public is an abnormality. So, a solution would be with what your feet wear. Enter Anya's Reviews, the most extensive website there is on barefoot wear. If you want to go in depth on the workings of the human foot and how our modern shoe wear has affected our whole lives (for the worst) please, visit her website and not only gather knowledge but find the perfect pair of shoes for any situation, including your next training session with me.

... We adapt ourselves to nature, not the other way around; forcing our will onto the designs of the natural world in exchange for our own selfish desirables has been commonly confused with human prevail. Seldom do most of us do for the benefit of others, including nature, as opposed to going against it; knowingly or unknowingly. Instead, we should be using others and the natural environment to our advantage, and work in  tandem with them. Adapt your body to the physical demands and impositions that the insentient natural world offers to all living things and be astounded by the transformations that will occur within your body that no other matter can possibly reproduce ...

To Set The Bar or Go Above It

This is going to be a short one today. Be sure to subscribe!

Moving Versus Moving

Any exercise is better than none!… Well, not necessarily. If the exercise one’s doing is as simple as walking a few miles, manipulating some weights and swimming, or as intense as participating in a marathon, doing a heavy weight lifting session and performing muscle ups then one could be doing more harm than not to their body. And that solely has to do with the fact that exercise is wholly different from moving naturally… dramatic pause for effect… 

One of the definitions of exercise is: activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness. In that very description are words that each have a strict meaning, of which do not really divert from what is collectively universally recognized as a thing you do at a specific time or place that is separate from all other things. Moving naturally on the other foot is described as just that—wherever you are, whatever you’re doing is: moving. And not because you made dish washing or even walking an “exercise” version of such tasks. Those activities are merely movements that can possess the ability to be made skills and even a practice, training or exercise session. I have no problem with the word itself just it’s meaning, thus its purpose in people’s lives. 

To Make Movement Natural

Does such an expression make the statement: “no exercise is better than potentially harmful exercise!” true? Absolutely not. There are activities that we must participate in in the form of tasks, jobs or hobbies such as walking or running on unchanging surfaces, lifting and carrying human-made things like miscellaneous filled bags and pulling yourself up with the help of a robot (it’ll be a thing in the near future; don’t deny) that may not be considered natural, or are rather artificial, but do indeed improve health and wellness. Such activities however, especially when done as an exercise, are not meant for regular consumption, regardless of the times we’re in. We are meant to move naturally, which is another term for being; living; way of life (elaborated on within some previous and following entries). 

Again, when using the word exercise, as it is intended to be expressed through its action, it isn’t being. It’s merely a component of being that attempts to incorporate physically demanding activities that aren’t well suited for reality related activities in any case. When would you ever need to bench press an object so heavy that it requires you remain still on your back in an elevated stance with a precise up/downward motion of a symmetrically balanced set of weights attached to a support rack in real life? Never. Even if something like that did occur not one thing in such a situation as that would look anything like where or how you’d typically perform bench pressing. In that situation you may find yourself more endangered than had you not bench pressed at all and instead practiced something more natural to better prepare yourself should something akin to that did occur. Say, lying on your back except you’re on dirt pressing up an object or even pushing a person off of you in defense only with the might of how much ground clearance your arm’s and/or leg’s range of motion allow. From one or perhaps many attempts you might get back up to standing or maybe you’d need to roll over to crawl to safety. A scenario and a terrain as such gives way to so much more than a typical indoor place ever would; lacking situations virtually entirely.

Apply this sort of ranty thinking to any activity that you normally do. Would the world ever put you in a situation where you’d have to sit to save your life? Or utilize the strength of a thousand bend overs to save someone else’s? Doubtful. Even without such life threatening situation occurrences such abilities rely on the impractical, which leads to inabilities.

Wow, So Inspiring

Oh My Goodness

With natural movement you’re not sustaining or improving health and fitness, you’re living it—backed by ways to help you move in a world where exercise can be worse than doing nothing at all, where nature is progressively taken up by artificial environments and, subsequently, activities it places us in and jobs it requires us to perform, and where movement becomes either too little or too much of our lives. Alas, even being out in nature or simply changing what you do in a day or where you work isn’t enough. The world needs teachers and learners to take the modalities of modern fitness out of the definition of what exercise is and make it something that we are. We are human, we are natural, we are movement, and we are so much more. 

Now forget the fact that I’ve been sitting around typing this on a device with practically no natural surroundings, and little more than the movement of my fingers and eyeballs, and the positions it takes to muster a sit and unsit.

Tip:

Imagine real consequences in even the safest of circumstances, lest false confidence subdue your mind in the midst of what would most definitely be an easy balancing walk, but could become quite the opposite in the event that what you’d be balancing on is much higher off the ground than it had appeared. Or the calm stream that’s below becomes a violent one. Or the animal that’s hunting you approaches closer. These emergent contextual demands causes you to move more deliberately. Crawl the wet surface instead of walking it. Or increase your slow pace to a run. These examples may seem like unlikely scenarios, but such are bound to arise when you start venturing outside of your domain.

So when you practice or apply skills in everyday (or not so everyday) situations, such as balancing across something, perform every repetition or action as if failing (stumbling off, swaying excessively) would have dire consequences. This thinking not only helps you achieve a lesser amount of failed repetitions/actions but makes your movement more engaging and broadens your ability to use your mind in imaginative ways. And your imaginative scenario can include either danger or amusement in a practice or when returning home. Move as though it were your last with confidence that is true even in the absence of contextual demands.

Mind Over Matter

Knowledge derived from reason and knowledge perceptible by sense.

Moving begins with the mind, yet we don’t move intellectually we move feeling. To elaborate: you need not for your brain to think of what—efficient—movement is but for your nervous system to remember how movement feels so you can reproduce its experience without thought... moving mindfully, which is different then reasoning about how you move. With the process of thinking, consciously or subconsciously, comes about a slower reaction time than is with your nervous system. Unless you have the luxury of thinking with each step that you take you won’t go faster than a walk would carry you, because by the time your next foot would hit the ground your thoughts on how to continue wouldn’t be able to catch up with the speed of your foot movement. Even with a skill as slow and deliberate as picking up a heavy object and throwing it thinking about your next move, thus losing focus, can cause stutter in your movement patterns and ultimately lead to failure or, at the very least, clumsy sequencing. 

To understand all of this is to remember what it was like to move through every skill, including going from walking to running. Or what it was like to feel what was all around you. Or how various textures touched your bare feet instead of the soles of your shoes. Skills like swimming, breathing, ground positions and transitions, crawling, get ups, lifting and carrying, throwing and catching, jumping, vaulting, climbing, and striking and grappling with failures, inefficiencies, and forgetting what position comes next all part of the (re)learning process. And such incompetencies will become less and less as these skills become more and more like second nature to you.

That All Sounds Sensible, But Not Quite So Reasonable…

Well, maybe you’re not thinking in those terms, but it does help to know and realize that movement doesn’t need logic, statistical analysis or rationality. You can, for the most part, just trust your perception, senses, and abstraction to know and realize your own physical self and thine capabilities.

Now, when is it helpful to utilize your thinking—your reasoning? Before venturing out on a trip or planning a practice session. That's all it takes. A trip could be going to school on your usual route, walking at a rather quick pace on some varied terrain occasionally adjusting to weather patterns like increased wind speeds or heavy rainfall. Pretty uneventful stuff, but that on its own could be turned into a practice. Maybe you’ll master the curb you usually avoid balancing across with the slipperiness of the concrete as your challenge. Or vault over that fallen lamp post instead of going around it with the strength of a wind’s push swaying your every position. The way back could be your "round 2" or traversed through in entirely different ways instead, like crawling all the way back!

Notice how this train of thought (cue laughter) is different from what you might normally hear in the benefit of keeping physically healthy, like "take the stairs instead of the elevator". Or "carry groceries in a basket as opposed to a cart". As opportunistic as turning every encounter into a healthy choice is it can't evolve from there and becomes rather meaningless to that extent. Stairs is a choice but so is the environment you choose to spend your time in and around, and if it's all stairs and elevators your body is seriously missing out on hills and tree climbing. And if all you do is so much as hike up and down hills or climb a tree the same way each time your body is seriously missing out on diversity. With environments that change and skills that are performed diversely evolution can then apply to how you move and bring more meaning to your moves. It's not about making healthy choices it's about being a naturally moving human being capable of both the predictability of stairs and the uncontrolled environments of hills.

Alternatively, a session, for practicing or training purposes, is a good way to quantify (utilizing your reasoning here) what you would like to achieve, say to jump with better precision onto a surface. You would dedicate however much time and space to build your session around jumping; progressing closer and closer to better jumping as you continually practice/train. This also works for general conditioning. And remember: a small number of mindful and efficient repetitions is better than many mindless and inefficient ones.

Summary

Move with your whole mind and think with your body and sign up for Wilderly.

Let’s Get Down to Business

The name Wilderly doesn’t actually have any meaning outside of the word’s definition, itself being scarce. In any case, I loved the descriptions it did have along with its root word, plus it happened to be unique enough (and great sounding enough) for both an email address and business name that using it wouldn’t have infringed on any copyright claims, which is harder to avoid than you'd think. Naming my business (as opposed to just calling it “Johnathan Remmy”) felt like it sufficiently served to combine and give a call to what natural movement offered and what I as a trainer could provide.

After establishing its name a logo was created (made to look like a cave painting or an etched piece of clay) merely to represent and simplify both its name and its recognition; at least, according to "How To Start A Business" websites with their suggestions (a surmountable amount of reading and listening worthy of an entirely separate entry all on its own). I truly liked the way it came out, and although it was done electronically I did it all by hand finger. With the signature: “W”, alongside the tagline: “[Wilderly] Is The Way”, being all that was needed for my business to become a brand and ultimately an identity. 

Nothing Business, Just Personal

So, how do you make Wilderly your identity? A few great ways to show that Wilderly is your way are:

1. Getting a tattoo of the logo

2. Naming your child Wilderly; Wil for short

3. Building a home with no structure, furniture or materials just a “W is the way” inscribed rock lying dead center on the ground

4. Doing all of the above

This Is Not The Future Of Fitness, It’s The Forerunner Of Movement

This sentence is one of the first things you’re greeted with upon entering the website and it describes what Wilderly is not: some new methodology or fad looking to reinvent the fitness scene. And what Wilderly is: a method used to systematically teach what is organically learned all steeped in the most ancient of ways: moving naturally.
 

Having Tea

I love tea and I believe it compliments movement so well that I include it in my (free) initial consultations along with any serene place that I can find to enjoy it all. It feels as though I am able to offer a calming experience to an otherwise extremely active profession, and to a potentially extremely active client. The tea I use is biodynamic certified loose leaf made hot in a variety of pure flavors prepared as simple as possible with clean water and traditional wares all while maintaining environmental friendliness as much as possible; something that is important to me and this business.

Programing Your Sessions

After tea you hit the ground running! Not figuratively! Not really. Once a service contract has been signed and scheduling has been figured out session programming then begins and further personalizations are made once your practice continues to evolve and my understanding of your body's capabilities increases. Thus, establishing a relationship between: insert your name here ____________ and me, your personal trainer.