The Cross crawl is excellent for harmonising energy, co-ordination and clear thinking.
It is one of the exercises I first learnt with Donna (The Eden Method) and one I do every day when I take the dogs for a walk, I check to ensure I’m walking in a ‘cross over pattern’ and will exaggerate it for the first few minute of the walk.
Why specifically might you consider doing it? ask yourself this:
· Do you feel tired for no real reason?
· Do you have a tendency to pessimism or depression?
· Are you slowly becoming a lethargic sloth?
· Is motivating yourself to do anything a major task?
· Do you find your memory is not what it was?
· Do you lack certain clarity and focus in your thinking?
· Rather than feel energised by exercise does it tend to tire you?
· Do you feel you are only operating at about 50% efficiency?
· Are you constantly getting niggling coughs and colds?
· Do you feel that your senses are less acute?
Does it feel that whatever you do you can't quite feel the best version of you?
If the answer is ‘yes’ to any of the above, read on. The Cross Crawl could definitely be of help to you.
The body functions with crossing patterns, curves, roundness and above all, flow. There are very few sharp edges in the human body. Think of the shape and flow of the caduceus symbol; the rounded cross over shapes.
Donna’s technique is based on the fact that the left hemisphere of the brain needs to send information to the right side of the body and the right hemisphere to the left side.
As smoothly and efficiently as possible.
If either of these ‘communication tracts’ are not adequately flowing and open, then it will be impossible to access the brain’s full capacity or the body’s full intelligence.
The bottom line is: when our energies are crossed every system in the body and the body’s healing abilities is encouraged to optimum efficiency, we are literally healthier. However, when the energies are not crossed, the healing abilities are dramatically reduced.
We are born with the energies running in a parallel pattern, homolaterally[1] down the body but when, as babies, we start to crawl; the crossover pattern and left/right brain integration really begins to take form. This is why children who do not crawl enough can develop learning difficulties. So don’t just plonk your baby/grandchild in a bouncer, let it roam wild – the crawling action will enable enhanced brain function.
Back to us as adults: Nature intended that we cross crawl naturally during the course of each day: walking, running, swimming are all natural ways of consolidating that crossing pattern. However, contemporary lifestyles are increasingly sedentary. In addition, fashion footwear can prohibit good posture and, we carry heavy shoulder bags, briefcases or shopping bags which all inhibit the natural flow of the movement.
Needless to say any stress or trauma in our life can throw the pattern back into homolateral.
Our body will give us hints when this happens – for example stop reading right now and see if any ‘body part’ is crossed – wrists, arms, ankles, legs? This is a message that the body needs/ wants to cross its energies, it yearns to run at full efficiency, it seeks balance to do so.
Body language specialists say crossed arms mean a closed off/ defensive stance, but in reality, from an energetic standpoint, it can also mean that you are trying to cross the energies, albeit unconsciously, so that you can truly understand what is being said to you.
So, to summarise; doing a CROSS CRAWL can improve left and right brain integration and encourage energies to cross.
This in turn can :-
· Greatly improve the body’s natural healing ability.
· Enhance the absorption of vitamin supplementation.
· Relieve fatigue, exhaustion and lack of motivation.
· Bring clarity to your thinking.
· Help your whole system function more efficiently.
· Improve co-ordination.
· Reduce certain learning difficulties.
· Stimulate memory.
· Pump lymphatic and cerebrospinal fluid.
· Help you feel more balanced, motivated and energised.
· Harmonise energies and increase natural self healing abilities.
· Ease depression.
· Support the immune system.
· Support and help make more effective any other treatments you may be receiving from your healthcare practitioner.
·
It is marching on the spot in a crossing pattern (as opposed to Jumping Jack style)
TO ACTUALLY REPROGRAME THE ENERGIES TO CROSS OVER
Lift your right arm and right leg together. Then lift your left arm and left leg together. Do you remember the Thunderbird puppets! Repeat a few times/15 seconds or so. This reflects the homolateral, parallel patterning which your brain will recognise and feel comfortable with if your energies are not crossing.
This would be done if you suspect a chronic, long term lack of crossing …. It basically connects to the energies in a familiar way and then ‘persuades’ with the next step, the crossing habit.
Now lift your right arm and left leg together [see photo on the right above] followed by left arm and right leg. i.e. diagonal/opposites together. You can also bring the opposite elbow to the knee, rather than the hand. The important thing is that the midline of the body is crossed.
Repeat a few times/15 seconds.
This represents the cross over pattern and may feel uncomfortable until your energies reprogramme themselves into a crossing pattern. If you do, it’s a sure sign you need it!
Do for a few seconds or a couple of minutes, you choose.
Do it fast or slow, you choose.
Simply focus on what you are doing and observe how it feels, get curious and adapt into a version that you FEEL is shifting the energies.
Remember to smile and breath as you do it.
You might even be the ‘voice of the goddess’ to your body and tell it what you want, e.g. “the energies of every cell and system of my body are crossing beautifully, boy my body responds, it’s loving this and holds on to this cross over patterning”
Repeat a SEVERAL times on each side of the body. ALWAYS end on the cross over pattern
and do a few extra ‘crosses’ to integrate the reprogramming.
Equally you can go straight into the diagonal patterning, if you have been doing it for a while or don’t suspect a chronic parallel patterning.
Here is the lovely Dondi demonstrating
Cross Crawl every time you are waiting for the kettle to boil – let it slip effortlessly into your life and become a habit. It will be subtle, but you will definitely begin to feel the benefits within a couple of weeks.
Over the following months the body will begin to hold on to the crossover patterning as it becomes more ingrained. Any stress or trauma may send you into homolateral, but if you are cross crawling every day, you will never be in that state for more than 24 hours and therefore should not suffer from any associated symptoms.
If you have problems with mobility and cannot stand or balance to do this exercise, it can be done sitting down or even on your back in bed.
When you are striding out on a walk, make sure your body is moving in the cross/diagonal patterning and you have thumped K27 to get your energies running in the right direction – takes seconds but you will get dramatically more benefit from the exercise.
[otherwise you could be literally walking against your own flow of energy which will tire rather than refresh you].
When doing a cross crawl by itself, and not as part of the DER sequence, I will spend about 10 seconds tapping K27, just to make sure everything is running in the right direction before I encourage the crossing pattern.
Stand tall and breathe deeply. With your fingertips, tap firmly the right angle formed where your collar bone joins your breastbone. Known as K27 points they are on both the left and right side of the sternum.
In summary: By stimulating both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously with the cross-over movements brain function, motor skills, co-ordination, balance and stability are improved
The rhythmic, coordinated movements promote relaxation and can alleviate fatigue, contributing to overall well-being.
The exercise is also beneficial in occupational therapy, particularly for children, supporting the development of skills such as bilateral coordination, crossing the midline, balance, and motor planning, which are crucial for academic readiness and daily activities.
VARIATIONS
SITTING DOWN – click and see the lovely Dondi (Donna’s daughter) demonstrating on her front porch.
THE CROSSOVER SHOULDER PULL
This was developed by Donna and has the same effect as the original ‘cross crawl’, but is more comfortable, not just physically for some people. I for one LOVE this and will often do it randomly if I feel my energy is being compromised e.g. too much screentime.
Here is a great video of Donna and her two daughters doing the crossover in this way
Put your right hand up over the opposite shoulder as far as is comfortable
Make a firm connection with the fingers
Smile, breathe.
Firmly drag the fingers up over the top of the shoulders and then down across the torso to the opposite hip.
Do several times
Repeat on the other side
Remember, you can be the voice of the Goddess with any exercise, tell the body’s energies what you want and how good it feels.
It can even be done with a partner on the back and is simply DELICIOUS and a great gift to be given to a loved one and that includes your 4-leggeds! Click on the link above to see how to do it.
If it’s physically impossible to do the cross over. Try and imagine it in your mind, slowly and with intention. Or Figure 8 the eyes with a finger (or without) - see this video for some inspiration:
[1] We use the word homolateral to indicate this parallel patterning. II
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