Moving Into Harmony

MOVEMENT & BREATHING: HEALTH / PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS

Anatomy

How to enhance your Balance & Coordination

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YES!!!  Our feet and our hands have vital importance for integrative vital movement.

From a neuroscience perspective, the homunculus of the somatosensory cortex, the map of the motor and sensory fields in our brains, illustrate this occupancy of high functional capacities for the feet and hands. The only other areas that get this much “attention” are the lips, tongue, eyes, ears. With this representation, you can see the capacity we have to use our feet for sensation and developing attributes for the full-body movement that the body understands – the integration of the limbs. Most important is the capacity to feel, to sense your internal and external environments.

The tantric yogis, from which hatha yoga is a part of, state consciousness comes through or senses, and the “central nerve channel” derives the sensory system. Thus the importance for everyone to find their feet and develop a connection to the most important part of our foundation. And to sense and understand how the utilization of the hands is intimately connected to the spine and the legs.

What is not seen or measured is the ability to sense the bones, their alignment, and an integral part in our “core” stability. There is no need to bind the belly for stabilization. One only needs to feel how the spine responds to the balancing arrangement and integrative use of the limbs (including the head) for static and dynamic activity. It is this sensibility with the bones, all the way to the tips of the fingers and toes, that allows all the other tissues including tendons and muscle to respond together. The body knows how to respond with an integrative balance in the limbs. It is inherent. And to override the body’s intelligence and nature of functional core engagement is acting violently to the nature of the body’s resources. Developing a sensitivity to the bones requires advanced attention because the bones whisper and often their message gets drowned out by the message from the muscle.

I often associate the muscle with the mini-me, and the bones with the deep inner wisdom, or sage, that carries the innate intelligence of harmony in the body.

Why is the Talus so important in the Foot’s Movement?

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The Talus is the keystone bony structure in the body!
All vertical support balances on it,
AND all fluids are regulated by it.

Where is the Talus bone located? The Talus is situated between the foot and the lower leg bones, considered the “top of the foot.” It’s half-dome surface articulates with the tibia and fibula, lower leg bones, to form the talocural joint. Inferiorly the talus articulates with the calcaneous, or heel bone, to form the subtalar joint.  Distally, the talus articulates with the navicular to form the talonavicular joint and a small, integral relationship to the cuboid to form the midfoot. The midfoot incorporates the transverse arch spanning side to side, with the longitudinal arch spanning the length of foot from the calcaneous to the metatarsals, or toes.

What is the role of the Talus? The Talus has an important role in the ability to translate horizontal and vertical forces. All vertical support is balanced and governed by its dome shaped surface. Can you comprehend how challenging it is to balance on a ball, and what is required to maintain this balance? This vital role requires the talus to float freely in all planes of movement (coronal-side bending, sagittal-forward and backward bending, transverse-rotating, vertical compression and distraction-closed and open qualities between two structures). This unique ability also requires that the talus not be directly influenced by our voluntary actions, as evident by no muscular attachments to it. Only ligaments!

The ligaments are the bridge between all interdependent bones in the body. Their role is mostly understood as stability in the bone-to-bone connection. However recent clinical observations by my manual therapy teacher, Frank Lowen, and others who practice Dynamic Manual Interface, have discovered the important role ligaments play in fluid dynamics (see my review on his new book). There appears to be a communication between all the ligaments (and all visceral functions) that respond to create optimal alignment of the bones for optimal adaptive function for a given activity. Frank has clarified many times, “movement occurs in the joint space first, then the peri-articular tissues (joint capsule, tendon) respond to this articular balance, followed by the tendons and muscle contraction to produce movement.”

Interestingly, in late medieval castles, the talus had an important role in the castle’s fortification, which “consists of a sloping face at the base of a fortified wall” (Wikipedia). Fascinating this “design” is in the body, as the talus is at the base of the fortified bones of the leg. My yoga teacher, Scott Blossom, refers to the shin bones (the tibia and fibula), as the “shaft which bears the weight of the body”.

What else is important about the Talus? Electromagnetically, the Talus has the second highest measured electromagnetic field, the first being the heart. Yes, second only to the heart. Any notion why? It has to do with the forces that are translated at this vital junction in the body. The activity at the Talus generates an electrical field, an effect referred to the piezoelectric affect – produced when bone, or any connective tissue, is placed under significant force, because of the internal torquing and fluid dynamics of the tissues response to stress, or forces placed upon it. This piezoelectric effect is said to generate response in tissue regeneration, adaptation and circulation. The piezoelectric effect also has an affect on the general circulation and the heart.

Furthermore, in reference to the subtle body, the Talus and the ankle joint are important for pranic circulation (your vital force). Both Frank Lowen and Zhander Remete observe the vital role of fluid regulation at the joint spaces of the ankle. The talus and ankle joint are closely associated with the functions of the heart and kidneys, and have a key relationship with the autonomic nervous system and the motor-sensory system.

  • The lateral foot relates to sympathetic nervous system and the motor system, generating more of the power side of the foot, and sets the tone for any reactive response the body may need to accomplish.
  • The medial side of the foot is more associated with the parasympathetic nervous system and the sensory system. It is the more sensitive side of the foot and is more accommodating than the lateral side of the foot. This accommodating quality is important for the foot’s adaptability to the ground with standing and walking.
  • The midfoot, or heart of the foot, is important for circulation. It is here where the interchange between the smallest vessels in the arterial and venous circulation occurs. (my 8 years of hospital experience play back in my memory banks; an A-V Impulse Pump was used on the bottoms of patients’ feet for the most effective blood clot {or DVT, deep vein thrombosis} prevention device in post-surgical and post-trauma recovery non-weightbearing rehabilitation protocals.)

A simple exercise to feel this is to place attention and notice the four corners of your foot

    • – at the front part of the foot – the soft tissue just behind the inner and outer mounds of the toes
    • – at the back part of the foot – the inner and outer surfaces of the soft tissue in front of the heel

If you were to imagine, or lucky enough to place your foot in the sand….

    • Do these four points make equal impression in the sand?
    • Do you have a tendency to “ride” on the outside of your foot, on the lateral border?
    • Do you collapse into the inner points or the medial border (or commonly referred to as “the arch”)?

This can provide you a great deal of information about your interaction with the earth, and also the state you are in……Equanimity is key!!!