This blog post started with a splash. Well, more accurately, it started with a moment of hesitation followed by a loud splash and a cold dunk. Brrrrr!
Up until that pride-shattering moment I firmly believed that my balance was awesome – I could rock a Tree pose in any yoga class (and even on a beach) for quite some time. Post splash, life was forever changed… My yogi dignity (if such animal even exists!) was in dire need of repair, and so the balance investigation was on!
Try this:
[clickToTweet tweet=”Balance on one foot. Any wavering? Now close your eyes. Any change in stillness?” quote=”Balance on one foot. Any wavering? Now close your eyes. Any change in stillness?”]
What exactly does that tell about your body mechanics, and how can that be a contributing factor to chronic pain, insomnia, dizziness and eye fatigue?
The good news:
Human stabilization system is an intricate relationship between the information coming from the muscles, joints and tendons and the way our brain processes this information (ok, ok, you knew that already.) When it works properly, this complex system can balance our bodies relative to our environment… even if our environment changes moment to moment.
The bad news:
[clickToTweet tweet=”Stiff, unyielding muscles send low quality + incorrect information to the decision making center – the brain.” quote=”Stiff, unyielding muscles send low quality + incorrect information to the decision making center – the brain.”]
The brain, not knowing that information is based on stiffness, makes overcorrection – a wobble or a lurching movement – to stabilize.
Did you feel yourself move more when you closed your eyes?
Here’s why: the eyes are not a part of sensory input required for wholly-body balance – muscles, joints, tendons and bones are! Your muscles, tendons and joints should know where they are without looking. If, however, they send fuzzy pictures to your brain (due to tightness), you begin to rely on your eyes for balance. Eyes + vestibular apparatus are part of the system that balances the head, all of the time (this is part of our survival mechanism). Visual cues from your eyes will establish your overall balance no matter how jacked up and out of alignment the rest of your body is. Compensations galore!
It gets worse!
Imagine the stress of falling down the stairs: your hold your breath, your heart is beating wildly as adrenal glands dump stress chemicals into your blood stream; you automatically brace for the impact, shortening and tightening your muscles.
Now imagine that you are falling just a little, but with each and every step.
How many steps do you take during the day? This small sensation + stress of falling and catching yourself (which, for most part happens below the level of our awareness) accumulates over time, leading not only to tissue degeneration in your catching parts (knee cartilage, spinal disks, among others), but also to exhaustion of your adrenaline system, leading to adrenal fatigue and diseases of nervous system such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, insomnia, depression, and decline in nervous tissue health.
November is “Find Yer {Balance}” month here, at Satori. Two weeks ago I asked you, my readers, if it is, indeed, possible to find {balance}, or whether “balance” has become a swear word. The problem, I think, is in the languaging: for many of us (myself included) the word “balance” came to mean, “ not falling.”
So, without due investigation,
[clickToTweet tweet=”we keep doing same ol’ balance exercises, while continuing to fall uncontrollably with each and every step.” quote=”we keep doing same ol’ balance exercises, while continuing to fall uncontrollably with each and every step.”]
Our body contains a complex information / coordination system, that lets us know, without even looking, where each muscle, bone, and tendon is in space. Our brain, better than the best engineer, pilot, or computer software system, can balance you body both relative to yourself, and also to your environment. This is the level of health we are training for!
