Jonathan Schmid Training

The ComMOVEity - Mapping

Mapping - Introduction 1
Mapping - What? 2
Mapping - Practical Ideas 4

 Jonathan Schmid Training

Mapping - Introduction
My third post is about what I like to call Mapping. It is a practice that I'm sure some of you are already doing
- consciously or unconsciously. I would like to give it a name and cultivate it in our lives because I think the
awareness for it is important and the bene ts truly great.

Before I dig deeper, I want to say

that you can apply this practice
also to other elds of your life such
as your mental or emotional state.
However in this document I use it
for our physical body which is of
course also linked to the other.

Evolutionarily, we have some kind

of dispositional capacities in our
body - and those dispositional
capacities are there to map the
whole structure and maintain
homeostasis. That homeostasis is
the ability to keep the body in a
kind of dynamic equilibrium,
even though the environment is
really uctuating and a lot of
things are happening around us.

Each of us, regardless of whether we move in a multi-layered way, is always moving through similar patterns,
using similar „templates“. That is, each of us uses habits and repeats them consciously or unconsciously day
in and day out even in a diverse practice with many different movement dimensions. The habitual patterns
are good, give structure, safety and orientation, but they can also be dangerous at a certain point. Possibly the
area in which we are constantly moving can cause a disturbance in our system. The way we move every day
in uences and even shapes us. - And whether supposedly healthy or unhealthy, there is a too much of
everything. If I just do my work, if I just do my training, if I just live my life without taking time to re ect
(this word in this context means to listen into the body, to be attentive and aware of how it feels and why it
feels that way) there will be things unnoticed - and these things start to grow and can get bigger and bigger.

We have to give attention to our body and our habits. We have to nd the things before they grow unnoticed,
before we collect some kind of tension here and there and different dysbalances. You should be aware of
them before they manifest itself as pain in any form or the inability of the joints to go in certain angles/
directions. So it's our job to support homeostasis or dynamic stasis; to support it through additional mapping,
additional exploration and observation of how you feel, move age and how you communicate with the
environment and yourself.

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 Jonathan Schmid Training

This means that we need something to return back to ourselves, to nd where the substance of self
(biologically) is. To nd our zero point, like you already learned from Wil, our true self, independently of
what we’re doing and how we’re shaping our reality. We need to nd a way how we can remove the toxins
from us and our bodies and how we can deal better with our energy to better organize our behavior.

Mapping - What?
With our mapping practice we want to assist our homeostasis and notice earlier. Instead of waiting or
realizing problems when lying or sitting we want to move and scan what has crept into our milieu, how we
move in the rst place, and ask the question why we move like we move.

What do we want to protect? What can we express? What’s blocking the expression? How can we resolve it?

Thoughts, feelings, emotions, but also range of motion are something dynamic, they change constantly.
That's why it's important to check them regularly and adapt your training to them, instead of always going
through with what you have set in your mind. This is like in Permaculture with the soils. We have to look at
what the soil gives us and how we can nourish and support it; what can grow here? Not, we want zucchini, so
we plant those here and then we add externals to push the growth because it wouldn't happen on its own.

So one reason for the Mapping Practice is to nd out what is possible on that particular day: what is our state
and what does it allow us to do, or how can we possibly support it?
Mapping thus serves as a daily re ection on how we are currently feeling and what we can do. It should help
us to nd a more organic way of dealing with our body, our training and the current conditions. A training
plan is good and important to make progress. But progress is blocked at the latest when we blindly follow this
plan without re ecting what is happening inside us.

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 Jonathan Schmid Training

Another point is that we want to learn to move more uniformly, beautifully and smartly. We want to be clear
about what happens when and how.
Range of motion is often understood and pursued, but with complete disregard to the quality of movement
in that range, to the harmony of the comprising components and to the ef ciency of performance. We want
to nd ways to work ef cient, to work on distributing stress to as many joints as possible, meaning we have to
nd a way to include as many joints as possible into a movement rather than thinking about isolating it. So
use the mapping practice to explore how your mind and body can become more open again through
movement and get to know and accept your real current state.

For this we want to shift the focus from the mechanical body towards being aware as a body. If this is too
dif cult, start with being aware of a body but use the rst mentioned as your orientation.

Whilst doing something with a mapping focus try to keep the following questions in mind -
you are the body and the body is one:
- How do I feel today in general; when moving?
- How do I feel today regarding my physical state: Where do I feel limitations/restrictions/pain?
- How are my joints and muscles interacting today: Can I distribute stress to as many joints as possible?
- How does my spine feel today?
- How is my mind today; is it present or drifting away?

After this kind of "basic" questions these questions could follow:

- Where is my best resonance? And how do I use it?
- Where do my joints work best? And how do they cooperate?
- Where do I hold back, where do I hold tension? And how can I let go of it?
- Where do I have problems with breathing? And how can I use breathing for more health and ef ciency?
- Where can I communicate best with myself and my environment? And how does it impact me?

Find some practical ideas on the last page - enjoy!

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 Jonathan Schmid Training

Mapping - Practical Ideas

Before I give you some practical ideas which I like to use for daily mapping a few more things:

Awareness comes with repetition. Therefore I invite you to do these „easy“, small and maybe boring things
again and again. Give attention to it, give attention to what is happening, map yourself, map your body over
and over again and increase your internal map; get to know new places (details) as well as new connections
between the places. Become healthier and wiser every day.

When doing the mapping practice try to change between observing jour joints, your breath and your mind.
Do not focus on all at the same time but change it every here and there during the session.

Search also for interrelationships between different observations and sensations. For example „the more
emotional I am the more I suffer from my arthritis pain also“ or „Oh, I’m breathing not really good today
and this directly in uences the opening of my thoracic area“.

TASKS
• Relaxing Into The Floor
A rather short video with a very basic but nice task. The oor is an amazing tool to nd relaxation. On the
one hand because because your muscles usually react to pressure with relaxation. Also through the contact
and pressure with/of the oor you have an easier time recognizing tensed areas. One the other hand because
there is some kind of „magic“ when we’re lying on or moving close to the oor. I don’t know if it’s because
it’s from where all earth life started and we still feel a good connection or if it’s because of the full contact it
offers use a safe space. If you think about the moment when someone is hugging you, softly pressing you
against them, you mostly will feel really safe and well kept. It’s because of the contact, the feedback you get.
With the oor there is something similar happening. So it’s a tool to release tension but also to let go of any
rigid or back holding things within you.

• Breath & Reach Variations

A simple idea to bring length into the body, connect the breath with your movement and through this spot
possible hard points or blocking points.

• Raising & Pressing - 3 Basic Forms

Taken from Qi Gong, expanded for this sake. It’s like the one above giving the chance to match your
breathing with your movements and nding blockages/lightening them up.

• Mapping Routine 3
A rather long video, it takes some endurance to watch and follow. The routine I like the most for this reason.
The chosen movements are covering many angles, ranges, different load and some coordinative abilities. It
really helps to map the body in a holistic way. You will get information about possible limitations regarding
your current breathing, posture, coordination, range of motion, mobility, softness and your capacity.
Of course you also can only do parts of it, split it into two or whatever ts you. Important is to get some
repetitions in for the same motion since only this will allow you to map, recognize and possibly change
unwanted things.

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