The way we're meant to move

So, I snuck out of work early the other day (as I often do . . .shhh), to pick up my 22 month old. I like to get there when they are on the playground and hide on the step so I can watch her before she realizes I'm there. It was 73 degrees and sunny in mid-November (got to love Austin, right?). At first I just saw smiling faces, laughing and happiness. Then, I started to observe their movements. After all, I do it at work all day, so it's hard to leave it behind.

I saw lots of walking, running, jumping, hopping, leaping, skipping, shuffling, climbing, squatting, lunging, throwing, catching, and I think I even saw one kid juhopleapsking (jumping, hopping, leaping, skipping all at the same time). They were moving in all different directions. Wait a minute, had I left Train 4 The Game or not? All these movements looked so familiar to what I witness at work all day.

So if all of these movements are so natural to us at such an early age, why do we stop doing them? None of the two year olds I watched had aches and pains that were keeping them out of the game. Makes one wonder. Do dysfunctions in our bodies start once we stop moving the way we were meant to?

As I'm thinking about all this, my little one makes eye contact with me and cracks a smile that could light up the world. She runs into my arms and yells, "mama!" I melt. Time for me to join in the fun.