Machines are designed to move in a particular way, and when they do, we have a well oiled machine that runs smoothly. When they don’t the machine will start to clunk, grind, squeal, smoke, snap a belt and maybe even completely shut down.
Our bodies are much like a machine, but thankfully our bodies have an amazing ability to adapt or compensate when one part isn’t moving as it should and we are able to keep on keeping on. This ability is absolutely necessary at times of injury or when we need to push our body to its max to complete a race or in times of competition. Where we run into problems is when our body has compensated for longer periods of time, perhaps as a result of recovery time, or just from chronically held posture. The muscles that have been compensating, or taking on the role of a muscle that was not able to do what was required will continue to do the movement and eventually get fatigued, tight, short, knotted up and perhaps even tear, much like the machine in the example above, our joints may start to click, clunk, grind or snap a muscle. If you start to smoke – seek medical attention ASAP! The reason behind all these symptoms is that the muscle or muscles that were designed to do a particular movement have become inhibited and continue to not do the movement they were designed to do and alas we have now created a new way of moving. This new way of moving alters how we bear weight thorough our body.
The weight of our body is designed to be supported by 8 load bearing joints, the ankles, knees, hips and shoulders. When we no longer bear weight properly through these joints, our posture changes, our joints will start to show signs of wear and tear, and we may begin to experience chronic tension or pain. The trick is to now try to return our body to a place where we have less compensation and more functional movement. That’s where therapeutic yoga can help.
The focus of therapeutic yoga is to improve movement so that we are better able to bear weight or load through our joints. How we do this is though the use of gentle inquisitive movement, to discover if we are moving our joints by design (function) or by compensation (dysfunction). If we discover we are moving by compensation, the only way to train our muscles to move by design is to teach the muscles that are compensating to Butt Out so the muscles that are designed to do it will remember their role and start working. We do this with specific exercises designed to do just that.
The result of therapeutic yoga is improved muscle and joint function which leads to bearing weight more equally through the 8 load bearing joints. Our levels of tension decrease, our posture changes, we experience smoother movement in our joints, decreased levels of pain and improved quality of life. In short we click, clunk, grind and pop less and move more like a well oiled machine.
If your machine needs a little maintenance and you would prefer to move by design, contact me to give therapeutic yoga a try! Your body will thank you for it.
Regardless of the conditions or limitations you may have or the activities you do, we all can move 