What does corrective exercise have to do with authentic movements?

Autenticity:  "The quality of being real or true" (www.dictionary.cambridge.org).

What do being authentic and acting authentically mean to you??  As I'm working with clients, they frequently ask me things like: "am I doing this movement correctly?  How am I doing?"  My response is usually this:  "what do you think?  Why don't you tell how you feel you are doing?" Then, many say "I don't know.  You tell me because you are an expert."  

Why do you care how you move?  How do you know you're moving or sitting incorrectly?  Is it because some experts told you so??  No one can feel your body except you.  No one can tell whether one movement is comfortable for you or not.  Just because one particular movement feels good for one person, that doesn't mean the same movement would feel great for everyone.  We are all different and unique.

"The general tendency toward social improvement in our day has led directly to a disregard, rising to neglect, for the human material of which society is built.  The fault lies not in the goal itself but in the fact that individuals, rightly or wrongly, tend to identify their self-images with their value to society.  Like a man trying to force a square peg into peculiarities by alienating himself from his inherent needs.  He strains to fit himself into the round hole that he now actively desires to fill, for if he fails in this, his value will be so diminished in his own eyes as to discourage further initiative." - Moshe Feldenkrais

We tend to act in accordance with our society and act to satisfy society's needs.  As we start to do that, we start to lose spontaneity and authenticity.  This is why we get so uncomfortable when someone doesn't us how we're doing, whether we're doing things correctly or not.  We become anxious because we tend to identify our self-images with our value to society.

This is one of the several reasons why I don't advocate a corrective exercise approach.  In my opinion, a corrective exercise approach only reinforces the same mindset and robs authenticity and spontaneity.  Next time you exercise or do any movement practice, pay attention to how you feel.  Play with movements.  Try to move a little differently each time and notice how a slight change in movement changes how your body feels.  You will know what feels good or bad.  If it feels good, then that's probably a correct movement for you.  When you start to move more authentically and naturally, you will start to express yourself more authentically as well.  It feels good to be authentic!

Breathing Quality and Movement Quality

Breathing has always been considered as an important aspect of movements in most martial arts as well as Yoga, Zen meditation, Feldenkrais Method, and more.  The importance of breathing has been emphasized in today's orthopedic physical therapy and fitness training as well.  As I started studying Feldenkrais Method, I've started paying much more attention to breathing while I'm moving as well as observing my clients moving.  I've realized that the state of breathing and the quality of breathing can tell you a lot about the quality of movement.  Breathing changes according to the state of the nervous system.  Stress changes breathing.  Just imagine that you are about to propose your girlfriend for marriage.  Or imagine that a spider (if you hate spiders) suddenly falling in front of your face from the ceiling.  Did that change your breathing??  When the nervous system perceives fear/anxiety, it affects breathing. Unfamiliar movements and movements related to past physical trauma can often induce fear/anxiety to the nervous system even though you may not be aware of that.  Thus, when you learn a new movement/skill (unfamiliar), your breathing is likely to change (mostly likely holding a breath) to a certain degree.  The more unfamiliar and complex a movement is, the more likely breathing will be affected.  For this reason as a movement educator, I always observe my clients' breathing quality as it is one of the most important movement qualities. Interestingly enough, you can influence movement quality by changing breathing quality.  Try filling up your lunges with air and hold your breath while rotating your body.  Note how far you can turn your body.  Next try exhaling slowly while turning your body.  Notice how far you can turn your body this time.  Any difference?  You'll be amazed how much you can improve your movement quality by improving your breathing quality.  Check out Awareness Through Movement classes and Movement Re-education sessions to improve your breathing and movement quality. 

Kinesthetic Awareness: Road Map for Movement

Our brain has "maps" that represent parts of our body for movement and sensation.  These brain maps are constantly updated when we move our bodies.  The parts that tend to be used more frequently have a larger representation on the brain maps.  Maps are also unique for each individual.  For example, pianists have much larger representation of fingers than most people. Likewise the parts that are not often used have smaller representation.

So what does that mean?  It means that movement clarifies brain maps.  Updated and accurate body maps mean good kinesthetic awareness.  The body parts that have smaller representation on the maps tend to have less clear sensation.  It's hard to feel/sense those parts.  How clearly can you sense your low back one vertebrae by one vertebrae vs individual fingers, with your eyes closed?  For most people, sensation on low back is not that clear.  

Our brain relies on these maps for movement.  If your brain maps are outdated and inaccurate, what you're actually doing may be very different from what you think you're doing.  Every time I have my clients notice such mismatch between actuality and their thought, they are so amazed.  Most people cannot feel/sense the shape of their spine accurately.  Sometimes they sense the opposite of what they are actually doing.  For example, when I ask people whether their lumbar spine is arched or rounded, they tell me that it's rounded when it's actually arched.  Try this:  "Close your eyes and raise your shoulders out to side to shoulder height so your arms are parallel to the floor.  Open your eyes to confirm whether your perception was accurate or not."  

This is why I focus on improving client's kinesthetic awareness so movement becomes more precise.  Don't you want to have an accurate road map or updated GPS when you go on a road trip??  In both Awareness Through Movement classes and one-on on movement re-education sessions, I draw your attention to various parts of your body while you're engaged in movements.  This process clarifies your body maps so actuality and what you're doing become much much closer.  As Moshe Feldenkrais said, "If you know what you're doing, you can do what you want."  

Learning takes time

As a  movement educator/therapist, I would like to learn new movement patterns quickly and would like my clients to achieve that quickly as well.  However, watching my 6 month old son grow and change everyday always reminds me that learning takes a lot of time.  Learning involves lots of trials and errors.  I never knew that newborn babies have to learn how to latch onto mother's breast.  I thought they are born with that skill wired in.  I was wrong.  My son struggled to do that for about a month.  We all got so frustrated because we were doing out best (although I wasn't much help).  We saw lactation specialists several times, read books, watched DVDs, asked friends, and tried everything people suggested.  Still no luck..  My wife almost gave up after a month of struggles.  However, one day a miracle happened.  My son successfully latched on and he had a full meal for the first time.  That was a big day for all of us.  Ever since he had no trouble.  I don't know exactly what happened to my son that one day, but everything must have come together at the right moment.  Maybe he just learned to organize the movements of mouth, jaw, and tongue.  Maybe he found a perfect position. Maybe it was just the right time for him.  Whatever it was, I learned that learning is unpredictable, non-linear, and needs a plenty of time and experimentation.  This was a really good lesson for me as a parent as well as a movement educator.  It's good to encourage my clients to explore lots of movements and make mistakes and learn.  And it's important to remind people that it's okay to make mistakes and sometimes take a step back because that's how learning takes place.  

Awareness Through Movement classes are designed to provide such learning opportunities.  

Awareness Through Movement®

Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® (ATM) consists of verbally directed movement sequences presented primarily to groups.  In ATM lessons, people engage in precisely structured movement exploration that involve, thinking, sensing, moving, and imagining.  Many are based on developmental movements and ordinary functional activities.  Some are based on more abstract explorations of joint, muscle, and postural relationships.  The lessons consist of comfortable, easy movements that gradually evolve into movements of greater range and complexity.  (www.feldenkrais.com)

One of many things the Feldenkrais Method emphasizes is to improve awareness by helping people become aware of their habits as well as new ways of moving, sensing, feeling, and thinking while you're engaged in various movements, thus the name Awareness Through Movement.  I will share one of my favorite quotes from my Feldenkrais trainer:

"Habits are bricks. Repetition is the cement between the bricks. The more repetition of habit, the more solid the wall.  If you keep repeating the habit, it becomes solidified causing pain, rigidity, depression, etc.  Awareness creates doors and windows in which you can move over, under or thru that blockage."

Awareness Through Movement lessons are designed to create those doors and windows and guide you discover and open them.  When you those doors and windows, whole new possibilities start emerging.  You will discover a lot more than more efficient movements, more comfort, reduced pain.  Words are just words, and can't give you such kinesthetic experience. The only way to truly understand the effects of this work is to actually experience it.  I encourage you to check out local Awareness Through Movement classes.  Please also check out my classes in Everett, WA.   

Movement Matters

Let me share why i care so much about movement.  Just as a side note, the only thing I care just as much, if not more is food.  I can literally talk/think about food all day.  Oh, I didn't forget about my family, of course not.  They are the number 1!  

Anyway, back to the main topic.  I entered a healthcare/fitness profession because I wanted to help people just like most other people.  My goal/mission as a movement educator/therapist is just one simple thing:  To help people become happier.  If my clients are happier at the end of session than when they came, I know I've done something good.  I understand there are many ways to do that, but why movement??  I believe movement is essential to our life. Everything we do has something to do with movement.  When I say movement, I don't mean exercise. Without movement babies would not be able to recognize his own body and how he relates to the world.  Movement is directly related to our life.  We would not be able to eat without moving.  We would not be able to laugh without moving.  We would not be able to cry without moving.  We would not be able to breathe without moving, so we would be dead without movement.  Because it has such a direct influence on our life, it provides an entry point for possibilities for changes, for better or worse.  I definitely try to take an advantage of this entry point to make a positive shift for myself and my clients.  So let's move better, feel better, and live happier!

Self-image and Habits

What is Self-Image?  One of the main objectives in Feldenkrais Method is to improve one's self-image/awareness.  Moshe Feldenkrais said "we act in accordance with our self-image, which consists of sensing, feeling, thinking, and moving."  He thought these 4 aspects of self-image are interrelated, and a change in one aspect would influence the other 3.  He believed that it's necessary to improve self-image/awareness in order to improve human functioning, and the easiest way to do that is by working with movement.  Changes in movement can be easily observed unlike emotion, thought, or sensation.  You'll be asked to observe all 4 aspects of self-image while you're guided through a sequence of movements in Feldenkrais lessons. During this process, you will discover your habits and how movement habits and emotional/intellectual habits are closely related, and when you discover new movement patterns, you will also discover how that will influence your feeling, sensing, and thinking.  You will eventually experience how mind and body are really inseparable.  They are the two sides of the same coin.

 I grew up in Japan where a holistic approach is quite common.  Although western medicine is more common now there, eastern medicine is still practiced.  The idea of mind-body connection is very old.  Yoga, Tai Chi, Zen, Judo, Aikido, and many more share the same idea.  I always believed in this idea, but it was just the idea in my mind as it wasn't tangible.  In a way, mind and body were still separate because it was just the idea (mind) and missing physical experience (body) for me.  After my first experience with Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement class, this idea immediately became real as it provided me kinesthetic experience of such relationship.  Trying to understand and appreciate this relationship without kinesthetic experience is like trying to learn how to ride a bicycle just by reading instructions or listening to someone's instructions without actually riding it.

SLOW DOWN

I have noticed that many people including myself have hard time moving slowly when we exercise. I so often have to remind my clients to slow their movement down many times.  I must admit that I had very very hard time to do that.  It took me a long time to learn that.  

I used to hate walking because it was too slow and boring.  I used to prefer running to walking. In the last few years I've learned the benefits of moving more slowly.  When we move fast, we access movement patterns that have been used many times, called habitual movement patterns.  We use the sub-conscious part of our brain, which responds very fast.  This is useful when we have to move quickly during emergency situations. However, when we're learning new movement patterns, we have to rely on different parts of our brain, conscious part of the brain, which acts much more slowly.  In order to allow us to access this part of the brain, we need to move much much more slowly.  If we move slowly, we won't bypass our sub-conscious part of the brain and inhibit habitual patterns.  This is one of the key principles in my movement re-education.  When someone keeps hurting because of their habitual movement patterns, they need to learn how to move differently.  If they try to move fast when learning to move in a different way, their habitual movement patterns keep interfering.  This is why it's a common practice for Tai Chi and Feldenkrais Method to move very slowly so they can pay attention to how they are moving and they can adjust their movements continuously.  I must tell you that this practice has completely changed the way I move and the way I work with my clients.  I've learned so much about how I move and definitely improved my movement quality.  By the way, the same mechanism applies to thinking, feeling, and sensing.  How we emotionally or intellectually react works much like our movements.  To break your habits, you'll need to SLOW DOWN.

What is Feldenkrais Method®?

Click HERE for the description of the method by Feldenkrais.com.

You probably still have no idea what Feldenkrais Method is about after reading the description.  Let me share my experience.   About 6 years ago I was getting a bit frustrated at work as patients kept returning to us for similar problems (e.g., shoulder impingement, low back pain, neck pain, patello-femoral knee syndrome, etc).  I thought we did a pretty good job of teaching our patients about how to strengthen/stretch some muscles to solve their problems, yet they returned to us after a year maybe 2 years. I thought I "fixed" the problems by strengthening weak muscles and stretching tight muscles to restore their imbalance, but they apparently didn't get "fixed."   This observation made me very curious as to what's really the root of their problems.   Upon my research I found Feldenkrais Method several times.  The first time I saw the name, I didn't pay much attention.  After having seen the name several times, I had to do more research about it.  I read his books and read some articles, but I still didn't know what it was.  The only thing I knew was it had something to do with changing habits.  I thought habitual way of moving/using ourselves was the root of many problems my patients had.  One day I saw a weekend Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement workshop, and I decided to attend to experience it for myself.  My first experience was "Wow!! I don't feel pain anywhere in my body!!"  I always had some pain but I was so used to having pain that I forgot I had pain until my pain was gone.  I felt much taller and my body felt so much lighter and felt as if the gravity decreased.  The effect after my very first Awareness Through Movement lesson was so profound.  During the lesson I discovered how one body part connected to another body part and how they could work together to decrease stress on one part and distribute it to the whole body.  As a result, it felt so much easier to move.  I also discovered my movement habits, which of course I wasn't aware of until then.  My movement habits just like the majority of other people were such that I wasn't distributing work very well throughout my whole body.  At this moment I knew I found what I have been searching for.  This really allows us to discover the root of many problems (physical as well as psychological) we may be having and also discover new options so we don't get stuck in our habits.  Habits are useful as long as you know they are.  However, habits can sometimes create problems when we are not aware of them.  As Moshe Feldenkrais (the creator of Feldenkrais Method) said, "if you know what you are doing, you can do what you want."  

What is "Good Posture?"

I often get comments from my clients that I have a "perfect posture."  I always ask them what the "perfect posture" means, and many say it's perfectly straight.  So, straight posture=good posture??  From a perspective of Feldenkrais Method it is a place from which you can initiate action in any direction with minimal preparation.  You're basically ready to move any direction from ideal posture.  You're not holding tension and staying rigid.  I think people tend to confuse posture with position.  Position is static.  Posture is dynamic.  Posture is action.  Ideal posture should allow you to move more responsively.  In contrast, if you're rigid and holding yourself as straight as you can, you may appear to have a good posture, but you won't be able to move as quickly.  Not only that, you are straining muscles as you're making a lot of effort to maintain such a state.  Masters of Tai Chi or Aikido all demonstrate great posture if you watch them.  They're ready for actions.  They are not tense.  As a general rule, a good posture should never feel uncomfortable or tiring.  Awareness Through Movement class will give you an experience of what it feels to have "good posture" that feels natural and authentic.  

Less is More

Effort is generally encouraged in our culture.  No pain no gain mindset is still prevalent in health/fitness industry.  More effort doesn't necessarily result in more gains when it comes to rehab.  The reason for this is that trying harder will only exaggerate your habitual movement patterns.  If habitual movement patterns are contributing to repetitive stress injuries because of lack of movement variability, then increasing effort by increasing resistance or speed probably won't solve their problem(s).  Instead, when you reduce effort, you'll have a much better chance of improving in your movement ability as less effort allows the nervous system to recognize patterns of movement and learn more efficient movements.  This is why Feldenkrais Method, Tai Chi, Aikido all emphasize reduction of effort.  

Team Play

If you ever played a team sport, you know how important it is that each player contributes to a game to make a great team, right?  Even you have a very talented player on your team, it's very unlikely that your team will be good if only that one player works hard on the field/court.  This same principle applies to our movements.  For example, I worked with many clients with neck pain.  They had neck pain when they looked up or turned their head to look behind.  Most of the time they were mostly using their neck to orient head with very little movement in other parts of their body like mid back, shoulders/shoulder blades, ribs, hips, etc.  The neck was the only player contributing to the work, sort of, while other players were hanging out and watching the neck doing all hard work.  No wonder the neck got sore!!  Neck pain, low back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, you name it, but it's very common that people violate the team play principle.  This is one of many principles taught in Feldenkrais Method & Martial Arts (Tai Chi Chuan, Aikido, Judo, etc).  Check out my Awareness Through Movement classes & one-on-one Movement Re-education session to work on your "Team Play" skill!

Product vs Process

In Feldenkrais Method, we learn how to create optimal learning conditions for our clients or create safe conditions for the nervous system so learning can take place organically.  We focus on creating a process that leads to their learning as opposed to giving them end products.  I believe learning occurs in the "process" of doing something instead of trying to achieve a "goal.".  Learning is not in the end products.  For example, a child works on a jigsaw puzzle for the first time, and h/she is given the final picture beforehand.  H/she knows exactly what h/she is going to get while putting together all pieces.  Another child doesn't know the end product and works on the same puzzle.  It may take a longer time for the second person to finish the puzzle, but what h/she will gain in terms of problem solving skills is much more than just finishing the puzzle. This analogy also applies to motor learning.  In typical exercise classes an instructor shows the end product then students will mimic the instructor.  Another example is that I have no sense of direction and so often I get lost, and also discovery new cool places by accident.  If I had known how to get to my destination precisely, I would not have found those cool places. In Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes, a teacher purposefully hide a destination (this sounds kind of mean, but we're not) to create a process where students will explore and discover something that they wouldn't if they knew the destination ahead of the time.

Let's get lost in Awareness Through Movement classes to discover something!

Corrective exercise

As a healthcare professional, I was heavily trained in anatomy, kinesiology, and biomechanics and taught to assess movements/posture and identify dysfunctions/impairments then prescribe corrective exercises to "fix" their problems. Biomechanical ideals are just the average across population, and in reality everyone is so different structurally and functionally. "Average" doesn't mean correct.  Similarly below the average doesn't make it wrong either.  Who decided human beings should move certain ways??  No other animals learn movements from "experts."  I find this very interesting.  Babies/kids don't learn movements the same way we adults do.  How do babies learn to move?  Do they even care about learning movement?  They are just curious about the environment and exploring with their mouth and hands.  Curiosity drives them to explore lots of different movements so they can reach for a toy and bring it to their mouth.  Movements emerge out of these explorations. Adults don't often learn in this manner.  One big disadvantage of corrective exercise is that you could potentially eliminate your authentic movements which some experts call "wrong" movements and are forced to "correct" your movements, which may be "wrong."  In my opinion, no movements are wrong or right.  Even what experts consider ideal movements can be wrong if they're the only movement option available.  What's more beneficial is to expand movement options.  The nervous system is smart enough to figure out what's best in each situation given it has many options.  In my movement education sessions, I guide my students to explore a variety of movement options as opposed to "correcting" their movements.  

Changing Habits

In the previous post, I talked about our habits as obstacles for improving our abilities (physical, emotional, and intellectual). If we want to improve our movement abilities, we’ll need to expand our motor habits. We all know that it’s not as simple as it sounds. Let me share my thoughts on this.

In order to change our habits we need to recognize our habits first. What makes it difficult is that habits are for the most part unconscious, so they are invisible. We somehow need to make invisible habits become visible or make them become conscious.

Awareness/proprioceptive-kinesthetic sense is our sixth sense. It allows us to sense and feel our bodies and movements accurately. Without sharp sixth sense we’ll not be able to perceive what we’re doing. This allows our habits to come to the surface and allows us to “see” our habits. This opens the door to new motor habits.

Mindfulness and paying attention to how we’re moving and relationships between body parts, sensations in our bodies and with movements, are ways to sharpen our sixth sense. As we pay close attention to our body and movements, we will start to notice how we use our bodies habitually with each movement. There’s many tricks to improve our awareness, which I will discuss in another blog.
Unfortunately there’s no shortcut to improving our abilities. But, if we can acknowledge this idea and become more aware and mindful of how we move, I’m very confident that we will continue to improve the quality of movement and the quality of life.

© Taro Iwamoto 2015. Please do not reproduce without the express written consent of Taro Iwamoto.

What is limiting our abilities?

Over the past years, I’ve come to realize that we are often limited by our habits. Limitations can be physical, emotional, and intellectual. As a movement educator, I often witness my clients beating their body when they run into physical challenges. What most people tend to do in that situation is that they try to force themselves to overcome the obstacle by will power with their “no pain no gain” mindset. Their mindset is such that if they can’t overcome the obstacle, they’re not trying hard enough; therefore, they will try harder. They may achieve their goal but not without a cost. Or they may fail and give up. This mindset is very common in many cultures. Truth is that “obstacle” is created by our habits. We can ignore this fact and keep driving ourselves with will power and keep exercising our habits until our body can’t keep up anymore. I think it’s our habits that make us move, feel, and think in very limited ways and that make us feel old. We can also make the obstacle disappear by recognizing our habits and creating new habits. This is where movement intelligence comes into play. Learning to create new movement patterns/habits isn’t something we (adults) often do when facing what I call “movement puzzle” or daily situations that challenge us physically.  Instead, we usually try to exercise our old habits and hope to break through the obstacle with strengthened old patterns. This works to some extent, but soon we’ll hit the wall again because we still haven’t realized that our habit keeps creating obstacles.
I’m not saying that habit is devil. Habits are very useful. In fact, if it weren’t for habits, it’d take us too long to do simple daily activities such as brushing teeth, or getting dressed. However, many habits are not serving us well anymore, yet we hold onto them because we’re not even aware of most habits.  I think habit can become our enemy when it’s invisible (we’re not aware) like silent cancer because we cannot recognize what is happening.  If we cannot recognize, we won’t be able to take any actions.