"Nothing happens in our [human] biology without mechanical inputs." - Dr Michael Chivers
I spent the 4 weeks learning about the body.
It was amazing.
Most mornings the last month, I set aside 1-2 hrs to watch lectures, and made my way through the Postural Respiration home-study course and then the Functional Range Assessment.
In both cases, I came away with much, much more—info, ideas, questions—than I know how to use right now. But I understand a few things a little better. And here's one…
The literal mechanical movement of our body is critical to the health* of our body, on a biological level. *health is an often-politicized word, used to coerce behavior that has nothing to do with the actual level of function at any constituent part; in this case I health to mean exactly that: quality, low-effort maintenance of homeostasis; freedom from chronic or acute stressors, ample ability to recover from stress.
As a 'fitness guy' it's probably not surprising that I would have a nose for a point like that.
But it's easy to get focused on the macro-picture of our lives—the large motor patterns that our bodies carry out each and every day, over and over, with varying levels of ease, effort, and grace.
And this last month has really taken me on a journey into the inner, micro-world of our bodies, where cells are transferring every single movement of our bodies into information (via microtubules and the inner 'cellular musculoskeletal system') that in turn becomes the blueprint for our future selves—aka DNA.
This means that we quite literally 'write' ourself (in DNA molecules) into physical form, via the movement of our bodies. In turn, on the macro- level, the regular movement of our lives begin to establish non-random-but-chaotic patterns of behavior and tissue; if these patterns are not BILATERAL, hemi-bodied and hemi-diaphragmed, many of the critical functions of our nervous system (vagal nerve, dorsal root ganglions, etc) and digestive system can be disrupted.
With this uneven, back-and-forth perspective on our bodies (from the brilliant PRI framework), the LEFT back and RIGHT front of the rib-cage are of critical focus of training simply to balance the natural and universal difference in shape and size of the human diaphragm.
And here's that big take-away again: only thru movement can we really understand how and why some of the most common patterns begin to arise, and only thru movement (slowly integrated via isometric breath work) can your body find the way back to the graceful ease of a BI-pedal animal.
But I nerd-gress…
Taken altogether, all this learning really has gotten me refocused on the fundamentals of what it means to have a human body, and how much can be made with the simple and yet profound tools of…
… a nervous SYSTEM, with resplendent, redundant feedback loops
… a universe of cells (called fibroblasts) that automagically move toward lines of stress they sense within the cytoskeleton of soft tissue through out our bodies…
… an inherently unbalanced system within our body (the diaphragm) that—like a pendulum—prompts us into motion…if only we can listen for it's needs
And because of the nature of these tools, a reductionist, one-size-fits-all program of exercise is definitely not gonna cut it.
Instead, we need to cultivate perception, and find motivation to turn a clear-eyed attention toward our physical ourselves.
The specific details of 'what to do' will come as we need them, and will differ for all of us.
But the mission can be the same: restore the basic tools that our bodies have evolved, get curious about our body and its limits, and in time remember how to dream big, physical dreams.
In your corner,
Coach Will
PS: As I'm integrating all this info, I'm thinking about putting together a Full ROM Breathing Course focused on optimizing respiratory function….lemme know if you want to be part of the first group, ok? Just hit reply with 'breathing' and I'll get you more details