Functional Movement
Our posture, biomechanics, walking, running, and all of our day to day movement such as stepping, reaching, twisting, bending is affected by everything we do, our history of injuries, aches, pain, habits, illnesses, even our emotions and personality.
Our posture can affect our biological processes, such as breathing, blood flow, nerves, due to compressions and restrictions to organs and the musculoskeletal system.
Our body will compensate for pain and injury to allow us to continue to function, however when the body has recovered the brain and body will continue to be affected by patterns formed during a period of injury and pain.
I liken it to driving. If your SATNAV guided you to work each day but on your usual route there was a crash, your SATNAV would find another route, it may not be as efficient but it still gets you there. Your body is similar, it will try to avoid pain and injury by changing the way that you walk and move.
Exploring Functional Movement such as the motions of the joints, stepping, reaching and turning helps to re-educate the brain and body's movement patterns aiming to create more efficient posture and motion.
Anatomy In Motion
A very clever system, created by Gary Ward, explores all the joint motions based on our walking gait. These movements are hard wired through evolution and a great way to reintegrate lost movements and help movement, motion, functional leg length discrepency, biomechanics and posture.
Functional Movement
A series of Stepping, Reaching, Turning helps the neuro-muscular system to relearn normal movement. It's a bit like when you train to do a sport, your body, through practice and repetition the brain and body learns and practices the movement until it is natural.
The same applies with the Functional Movements that we use in day to day life, for example in the kitchen reaching up and down into cupboards, bending, stepping, turning, going up and down steps and stairs, getting in and out of bed, doing housework, gardening or in the work place, whether it is manual work or office based. We use these movements in all aspects of our lives.
Total Motion Release
When we are given an exercise to move an injured or painful part of the body it can be very uncomfortable and even miserable, often leading us to give up, especially if it does not appear to be helping.
It is usually possible however to exercise and move other parts of the body to free up the restricted or painful area.
Through lengthening and shortening connective tissue, muscles and through brain mapping the nervous system, we can often find that exercising an easy movement elsewhere in the body can help to free up the problematic area so that it can move pain free.
