Living in cities has us moving in uniform ways,   
  
everything is squared off and equally spaced,   
  
it can make us ‘square bodied’.  
  
lessen our proprioceptive intelligence,   
  
our mobility,   
  
out in nature, there are imperfect lines,  
  
jagged edges challenging our joints to move in awkward ways,  
  
we have to weave and dodge poison plants, branches and rocks.  
  
We might have to scramble on our hands and knees.   
  
Our reflexes have to be switched on in nature,   
  
(though you could make an argument for the importance of fast reflexes on the London tube )  
  
and tell you what, wading through a rocky bottomed river makes your feet tough,   
  
it is literally the hardest yoga for your feet,
  
I can’t pretend I wasn’t nearly in tears when I realised I had to walk half a mile back up stream in my bare feet!   
  
I went too far, and I had to struggle for it, it made me laugh afterwards, but … ouch!
  
We get soft in square grid system environments, it’s important to get the body out of it once in a while,  give it a wobbling stone jumping across a river rapid to think about, increasing neuromuscular connection and proprioceptive intelligence.