This, this, a thousand times this. I have reached the age where, when people suggest that perhaps I ought to be a little less assertive, direct, or aggressive, my response is "Honey, I fought too hard to get this way. I'm not stopping now."
Re the main post: I think "being comfortable in your body" is a necessary requirement for athletics. I never realized it until a couple of good friends pointed it out. I am aware of my body. I know which muscles are doing things, how my weight shifts from one foot to the other, when my thighs and butt transfer effort to my calves and shins as I climb stairs. The line of power from my hand on a railing, along my arm, through my shoulders and back, down my other arm, to the other hand which is carrying a 28-lb box of cat litter that I'm hauling up the stairs. I listen to my heartbeat inside my ears. I listen to the rasp of my breathing (alas, raspier as I've gotten older and fatter).
I've always been good at sports and dancing, and I was a competitive fencer in college. My dad was athletic and encouraged me and my sister to run around and play sports from the time we were young. We got the neurological connections early, and the notion of "know what your body is doing" so you can do whatever it is better.
My friends who are less comfortable in their bodies are so in part, I think, because they don't know what their bodies can do. They don't live in their bodies--their bodies are at best a support system for their heads and sensory apparatus, and a means to get around and use tools. They aren't aware of their bodies moment to moment.
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Re the main post: I think "being comfortable in your body" is a necessary requirement for athletics. I never realized it until a couple of good friends pointed it out. I am aware of my body. I know which muscles are doing things, how my weight shifts from one foot to the other, when my thighs and butt transfer effort to my calves and shins as I climb stairs. The line of power from my hand on a railing, along my arm, through my shoulders and back, down my other arm, to the other hand which is carrying a 28-lb box of cat litter that I'm hauling up the stairs. I listen to my heartbeat inside my ears. I listen to the rasp of my breathing (alas, raspier as I've gotten older and fatter).
I've always been good at sports and dancing, and I was a competitive fencer in college. My dad was athletic and encouraged me and my sister to run around and play sports from the time we were young. We got the neurological connections early, and the notion of "know what your body is doing" so you can do whatever it is better.
My friends who are less comfortable in their bodies are so in part, I think, because they don't know what their bodies can do. They don't live in their bodies--their bodies are at best a support system for their heads and sensory apparatus, and a means to get around and use tools. They aren't aware of their bodies moment to moment.