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Some Simple NeuroPhysiology of Movement

Good physical health is achieved when the activity of the neural pathways from the voluntary part of the brain is in balance with the activity of the involuntary part of the brain. Your muscles will be strong when they need to be strong, long when they need to be long and they will be relaxed when they need to be resting. The intent of Somatic Conditioning™ is to return to this state of neuro-physiology and to maintain that as a lifestyle.

Muscles can only do two things: shorten and lengthen. While exercising in somatic movement patterns all your muscles will continually shorten & lengthen. Besides better movement patterns & balance, you will significantly gain strength & flexibility.

Injuries, stress (physical or emotional), fear, anxiety, surgeries or other events in our lives have the ability to create a compensating tightness in our system. The feedback system connecting the brain with the body will change resulting in a 'simplification' of muscular control. The conscious control originating in the sensory motor cortex will change into a more subconscious reflexive pattern of movements originating from the brainstem. Sensations of tightness, stiffness and fatigue can be experienced and are often the origin for the development of health issues & symptoms (tendinitis, bursitis, back pain, bulging discs, headaches, high blood pressure, pelvic instability etc.).

It is crucial to good health to maintain a qualitatively high response in your autonomic movement patterns. When a muscle in your system has become tight, it is actually not just one muscle that has become tight but it is a pattern of tightness throughout the whole body. This pattern of tightness is controlled by a mechanism outside our voluntary conscious control. A simple example of this subconscious control is the mechanism that automatically controls the curvatures in our spine ('posture'), the mechanism that automatically extends our arms when falling forwards ('balance') or the mechanism that automatically bends our knees while landing a jump ('absorption').

The result is a simplification of the complexity of these patterns (for instance, many 3-dimensional movement patterns suddenly become 2-dimensional). Muscles and joints become stiffer and harder to move. For instance: when the ankle starts giving way, the body is suddenly not able to correct itself automatically anymore and the ankle will sprain. Or when down on the playing field, the reflex to straighten up has become too weak making your action during a sports game a fraction of a second too late. Your opponent will benefit because you were not able to recover in time. Or what will happen when the reflex to turn your eyes / neck is not occurring while running forwards. That might result in a collision with your opponent who is approaching from your right side…

The Brainstem is the subconscious part of our brain that creates posture, tension (stress) and autonomic movement patterns. Unfortunately we are surrounded by many people who are or who are becoming ‘proprioceptively illiterate’. If we want to stimulate health and create better fitness regimens it becomes fundamentally important to awaken our primary movement patterns. The body loves organic movement patterns ! It recognizes them effortlessly and will absorb them with joy !