Are You Growing or Aging?

One day my wife was jokingly telling her fiends how fast our 17 month old son was "aging," and they all laughed.  This conversation made me think something I never thought about.  We often say or hear someone say "I can't believe how fast kids grow."  But we don't typically use this phrase to adults.  Instead, we hear or say something like "Days go by so fast when you age."  

The word "growing" is often used for babies and kids and usually has a positive connotation while the word "aging" is used for adults and often has a negative connotation.  When do we start aging and stop growing??  What makes "aging" "growing?"  These are just the words, but clearly reflect our perception and mindset about age.    So, the key to growing as we get older is to shift our mindset and perception about age.  It's not so much the number that makes us feel old, is it?  We stop growing and start feeling old when we get stuck with our habits.  When we get stuck with our habits, we stop trying new things maybe because we are afraid of making mistakes, or perhaps we lose curiosity and interest, or maybe because we get more resistant to new ideas.  

The Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement class brings back child-like curiosity and playfulness to our life where we are curiously exploring every movement at every moment without any judgement.  In the end, we'll stop feeling old and start growing again!  Please check out my weekly Awareness Through Movement class in downtown Everett, WA.