Science has become very good at breaking things down into it’s lowest form to try to get an understanding of how it functions – and that’s great. It’s given us a small understanding of the world around us and the universe we live in.
The trouble is, when it comes to human bodies, the bit that makes it all function properly is the bit the scientists are having trouble analysing, because they can’t cut it up while it’s still working.
Forget body, we’re talking brain!
The brain is the communication hub of the entire body. It coordinates muscle function, organ function, cell regeneration, breathing, digestion and a whole load of other things that we probably don’t even know about yet, in fractions of a second, millions of times a day.
The anatomy textbooks are full of information about where the muscles and bones are situated, and pioneers such as Thomas Myers with his work on Anatomy Trains are trying to figure out movement function based on a different physical entity – fascia – the web like stuff that covers all muscles and bones.
But when it comes to trying to create long lasting movement changes in the body, focusing all your mobility efforts on these physical structures is a very inefficient way to do it.
It’d be like someone speaking fluent Spanish to me – I might understand the odd word here and there, but it’d be time consuming and a lot of effort.
These physical structures are the foot soldiers of the body. They carry out the instructions they’re given and relay information to those higher up the communication chain.
If we want to make lasting change, we don’t want to be engaged in a conversation with the foot soldiers, we want an audience with the boss, the decision maker, the BRAIN.
Higher logical levels?
This is a picture that I’ve adapted from the work of Gary Ward, author of “What the Foot?”. It shows the communication chain of the body, with information flowing up the chain, and instructions flowing down.
Most mobility methods only take into consideration the physicality of the human body, only ever working as high as the nervous system – which can make a few good changes, but it still omits the most important bit – the brain.
In order to make true and lasting changes, communicating at the level of the brain, in a way that it is already working, is the only way to go.
The brain coordinates both emotions and physical functions, and it is only ever concerned with two jobs; stabilising and protecting the entire structure.
If you put the body in a position that requires stability, and that feels comfortable but stimulates the signal that there’s an error (ie the muscle is too tight), the brain can decide if the rest of the structure would benefit from the release of that muscle or not.
And that’s exactly what SMARTT™ movements do.
By giving the brain the capability of deciding what is best for the rest of the structure, we get bigger changes much more quickly, and in ways that we would never have been able to figure out.
And because the brain instructed the body to make those changes, they last much longer.
If you roll your muscles around on a foam roller, the brain is forced to make changes that may not be in the best interest of the whole structure, simply to stop the pain.
Take a load off!
Letting the brain do all the work, is a much more relaxed and simple way to create changes in your body, all you have to do is focus on giving it enough variety to be able to release the bits that are causing the most trouble.
Simple!
Of course, it takes a bit of knowledge to put your body into the most appropriate positions for the results you’re looking for, and that’s where I can help.
Since muscle tightness is the precursor to injury, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in pain yet or not, working to open your joints will not only help to prevent injury, but also improve your performance.
Use my FREE Injury Predictor Assessment to discover what’s most likely to be causing your issues so you can sidestep all the unnecessary effort to just focus on the areas that will give you the most results