Cancer treatments can shrink your ability to move well. Moving your body in all directions every day and using your eyes while moving can make your ability to move bigger.

When we are going through treatment we hear, “just take it easy” too much. I know it means well and I am not advocating over doing it. If you overly baby yourself, you are going to be weaker and you are not going to be able to move as much as you could before treatment. I also recognize that treatment may change what moving looks like. I was an avid walker and runner. I had to stop doing both and could not walk my dogs during treatment because of a syndrome I had to navigate causing pain in my hands and feet. Fortunately it was only temporary to treatment, however, I had to keep up with other movements so that I retained my muscle and could stay as strong as I could during that challenging time..

If there is a pain map (cancer truth #240) it makes sense you have a movement map too. Your movement map shows where you are able to navigate your body without fear or startle.

A friend of mine teaches group exercise classes. She was talking about the challenge people in her class were having keeping their eyes lifted up in front of them and walking an imaginary straight line on the floor.

Now let’s do a self check. Where do your eyes go when you walk? Are they scanning ahead? If a deer crosses the road 100 yards away are you going to notice? Are they looking down toward your feet? Are they somewhere in between? Maybe a little ahead, kinda toward your feet?

Wherever they are, that is totally normal for you. Now I ask you to do something completely out of normal and it could cause a little bit of fear or startle. If we combine the movements of our body with the movement of our eyes you can increase your movement map over time.

Where is your movement map today? Close to your body? Completely in front of you?

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