Social media has given us the illusion of movement. We share a post about climate change, but we don't walk to the nearby river to see if it is polluted. We comment on political corruption, but we don't attend the barangay assembly. Our fingers move, but our core is locked.
Before you touch your phone in the morning, move. Literally. Stretch your arms over your head like you are trying to grab the electric fan. Roll your neck. Kick your legs. Tell your nervous system: “Gising na. Gagalaw tayo.” (Wake up. We are going to move.) Social media has given us the illusion of movement
We are born with Galaw . Watch a toddler in a provincial fiesta . They don’t need a lesson plan. Their hips move because the drums are loud. Their hands clap because the air is happy. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we freeze. We become matigas ang katawan (stiff-bodied). We trade the fluidity of galaw for the rigidity of routine. There is an unwritten rule in Filipino psychology that I call the Tatlong Segundo (Three Second) rule of Galaw . Our fingers move, but our core is locked
Today, I want to explore why Galaw —as a philosophy, a physical practice, and a social duty—might just be the secret ingredient to surviving modern life. In the West, movement is often mechanical. You go to the gym for one hour. You walk 10,000 steps. You check a box. But Galaw is organic. It is the pag-eehersisyo of the lola who doesn't know what a squat rack is but can carry a bucket of water up three flights of stairs without spilling a drop. Stretch your arms over your head like you
The most resilient Filipinos I know don't overthink. They gumalaw . When Typhoon Odette hit, the communities that recovered fastest weren't the ones with the best government aid packages. They were the ones where one lolo stood up, grabbed a bolo, and started clearing a tree. Within ten minutes, ten people were moving. Within an hour, the whole street was moving.
Galaw na. What does "galaw" mean to you? Is it a dance? A survival tactic? A morning ritual? Drop a comment below—but only after you’ve stretched your fingers first.