Neuroplasticity causes deformation of body posture!
'Neuroplasticity' means that the nerves related to the parts of the body that are used frequently develop more, and the nerves related to the parts of the body that are used less often degenerate. The development of nerves related to a specific part leads to the development of related muscles, and the biased development of these muscles causes deformation of body posture.
<Neuroplasticity/Feldenkrais (1904-1984, Ukraine)/engineer and physicist>
1. The mind programs the functions of the brain.
2. The brain cannot think without motor functions.
3. Movement awareness is the key to improving movement.
4. Discrimination (a conscious activity that makes the smallest possible sensory distinction between movements) maps the brain.
5. Discrimination is easiest when the stimulus is the smallest.
6. Slowness of movement is the key to awareness, and awareness is the key to learning.
7. Reduce effort if possible.
8. Errors are essential and there is no right way to move, only a better way.
9. Random movement provides change that leads to developmental breakthroughs.
10. Even the slightest movement of one part of the body involves the whole body.
11. Many movement problems and the resulting pain are caused by learned habits, not abnormal structures.
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 1]
*FCMA, Neuroplasticity principle 1. The mind programs the functioning of the brain.
In 1949, well ahead of the contemporary discussions of neural plasticity, Feldenkrais put forth the idea that the developing mind shapes our use of our neural capacities. That is, how we have come to think in language and images, what and how we perceive and attend to things, our preferences... begin to direct how our brain and nervous system works.
Feldenkrais wrote, "The mind gradually develops and begins to program the functioning of the brain. My way of looking at the mind and body involves a subtle method of 'rewiring' the structure of the whole human being to be functionally well integrated, which means being able to do what the individual wants. Each individual has the choice to wire himself in a special way" (Feldenkrais cited in Doidge, 2015, p. 159)
*What is mind? Minds were traditionally understood as substances but it is more common in the contemporary perspective to conceive them as properties or capacities possessed by humans and higher animals.
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 2]
*FCMA, Neuroplasticity principle 2. A brain cannot think without motor function.
Feldenkrais believed in the unity of "the mind and the body" Feldenkrais' use of imagined movements is one way we see is application of this principle. The bodily changes with emotion are another example. Doidge writes, "People may believe they can have a pure thought, but in a deeply relaxed state, Feldenkrais pointed out, they will observe every thought leads to a change in their muscles" (Doidge, 2015, p. 170)
* Eam Taekyoung : The sentence, “The brain cannot think without motor function,” is something I have never been aware of. It seems to open up the possibility of expanding into a completely new perception.
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 3]
* FCMA, Neuroplasticity principle 3. Awareness of movement is the key to improving movement.
Doidge writes, "The sensory system, [as] Feldenkrais pointed out, is intimately related to the movement system, not separate from it. Sensation's purpose is to orient, guide, help, control, coordinate, and assess the success of a movement." Improvement in our action does not always have to be conscious - in fact much of the learning in Feldenkrais lessons is not. However, experience with the Feldenkrais Method, now backed up by research into neuroplasticity, shows "that long-term neuroplastic change occurs most readily when a person or an animal pays close attention while learning" (Doidge, 2015, 170).
* Eam Taekyoung : If the modern society is a running activity-oriented society, our bodies have evolved to be suitable for running, so there will be little need to consciously recognize the movements of our bodies.
However, as the modern society passed through the Industrial Revolution, the need to walk or run decreased, and as smartphones became popular, the society rapidly became a sedentary activity-oriented society. Due to the influence of advances in medicine, the average life expectancy of people around the world has exceeded the age of 70, and some countries are moving towards the age of 90.
Therefore, from an individual's point of view, it is necessary from an early age to increase the understanding of body posture in order not to suffer from deterioration of health in life after the age of 40 at the earliest! From a social point of view, it seems necessary to recognize that sedentary-centered activity socialization, which induces continuous low-intensity stress, is the cause of increased aggression and depression among members along with the increase in the need for emotional labor!
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 4]
* Neuroplasticity principle 4. Differentiation - making the smallest possible sensory distinctions between movements - builds brain maps.
As infants we don't have very clear neural maps of our body parts and their relationships, and spend a lot of time sticking our fingers into our mouths in various combinations, wriggling our toes, kicking our legs, and other experimentation that builds more detailed maps; a process of differentiation. With injury our sense of our body and its body parts can become distorted or diminished. Doidge writes, "By making finely tuned - differentiated - movements of these parts and paying close attention while doing so, people experience them subjectively as becoming larger; they take up more of their mental maps, and that can lead to more refined brain maps". (Doidge, 2015, 171).
* Eam Taekyoung : It seems that the aspect of receiving a genetically genius brain as a gift cannot be ignored. However, continued exposure to 'distinctive novelty' within the digestible range appears to promote continued and positive brain development.
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 5]
* Neuroplasticity principle 5. Differentiation is easiest when the stimulus is the smallest.
Differentiation is the ability to notice differences in our experience - differences that can make a difference. This applies to the perception of light, sound, smell, and temperature - as well as muscular effort. This is known as the Fechner-Weber law or principle of perception - that the smaller the stimulus, the easier it is to sense differences. Developing finer and finer distinctions in sensation of muscular activity and movement allows the body to be represented in finer detail in the neuronal 'maps' in the nervous system. This might lead to sensory changes - such as the area involved feeling larger or lighter, for example, as well as allow for smoother and easier movements.
The pattern of each movement is created in the nervous system at, or before, the beginning of each movement. Feldenkrais and Doidge theorized that the nervous system can make use of the new, detailed sense of the body arising from the small movements to make the whole movement pattern easier. Doidge notes, "Many movement problems arise because areas of the body are not well represented in the brain maps". (Doidge, 2015, 172).
* Eam Taekyoung : The reason 'it is easiest to discern when the stimulus is the least' can be compared to 'a situation in which a fish jumps into a calm lake without a single wind'. When a typhoon hits, blue whales soar high above the water's surface, but you won't be able to see them very well.
Stimuli without surrounding noises will inevitably be easily recognized. It can be seen that the absolute intensity is not important, but the greater the relative difference, the easier it is to discriminate.
This may be the reason why people endlessly try to climb higher than others.
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 6]
* Neuroplasticity principle 6. Slowness of movement is the key to awareness, and awareness is the key to learning.
On the level of the nervous system, it seems that very rapid movements, such as those made by musicians, can sometimes lead to two or more movements becoming overlapped or "fused" in the firing in the nervous system, leading to a loss of coordination of the hands and fingers - sometimes in a condition known as Focal Dystonia of the Hand (FDh). The neural "maps" for "different fingers are now 'dedifferentiated'". It is likely that rapid computer work or over practiced movements in sports (such as golf) can lead to similar phenomena - which can also be associated with pain.
Principle #6 offers a way to approach these kinds of difficulties. Awareness is a key to learning: "slower movement leads to more subtle observation and map differentiation, so that more change is possible". This allows the mover to observe himself or herself more easily - becoming more aware of the qualities of their movement. In Awareness Through Movement lessons the process of self-observation while moving is necessary to experiment with how we are moving, to change the qualities of the movement, and to be aware of the difference between one movement and the next - one of the reasons we ask you to pause between movements and start each movement afresh. (Doidge, 2015, 173).
* Eam Taekyoung : Slow movement means that the energy required to execute the movement is small, so the lungs, heart, arms, and legs do not need to work vigorously. 'Slow movement' is a necessary condition for 'stimulus with minimal noise'. It is linked with Principle 5, "It is easiest to discern when the stimulus is smallest."
It seems that children's relatively static activities such as 'yoga' can help their brain development.
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 7]
* Neuroplasticity principle 7. Reduce the effort whenever possible.
Doidge suggests that our slogan should be 'if strain, no gain' rather than 'no pain, no gain'.
Feldenkrais proposed that compulsive effort leads to movement that is carried out on automatic, uses more effort and physical energy than is necessary, increases muscular tightness in parts of the body not even associated with the movement, and risks pain and injury.
In addition, the more force we use the less sensitivity we have to the how we are doing any movement - inhibiting our ability to sense ourselves more accurately in action. (Doidge, 2015, 173).
* Eam Taekyoung : Regarding the above sentence "if strain, no gain'", I feel, "If the product of the intensity of stress and its duration time exceeds a certain limit that individuals have, the body and mind greatly It can be distorted." could be a more accurate expression.
It is also worth noting that the more force you use, the less sensitive you are to what kind of movement you are making.
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 8]
* Neuroplasticity principle 8. Errors are essential, and there is no right way to move, only better ways.
Doidge cites Feldenkrais' idea that striving to do everything correctly can inhibit the possibility of learning from the natural variation that occurs in our performance from 'errors'. As we sometimes say in Feldenkrais classes, 'if it is worth doing it is worth doing badly'.
In Awareness Through Movement lessons we use a number of strategies to generate the kind of variation that leads to learning: going slowly, breaking movement patterns into parts, reversing movements, and introducing novel movements that we would not normally do in everyday life.
We all have different bodies with different abilities and histories; Feldenkrais lessons aim to create the conditions for learning from 'errors' - as well as from what feels good. In these conditions, your nervous system can begin to identify and reproduce the new movement options that are best for you. (Doidge, 2015, 174).
In his 2015 book, Dr Norman Doidge devotes two chapters to the Feldenkrais Method. He provides a useful list of 11 Core Principles of the Method as he understands it. Here is a quick review of the final three.
* Eam Taekyoung : Errors are essential, but there is a correct way. Of all the better ways, the best way is probably the right way. There are several key points (the 7 main principles of body posture) that must be observed as the core of movement, and while keeping these key points, you can be individual in secondary things.
Feldenkrais would have thought so because he knew there were too many variables involved in movement. For example, our body has about 230 joints. The reason why it is difficult to implement human movements with robots is that only dozens of joints are applied to current robots.
"The relativity of time that a moving clock goes slower is a result of the more fundamental absoluteness that the speed of light is the same for everyone moving at a constant speed," said Professor Kim Beom-jun.
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 9]
* Neuroplasticity principle 9. Random movements provide variation that leads to developmental breakthroughs.
Doidge points to Feldenkrais’ observations of infant’s movement learning: that their random movements, driven by their own curiosity and stimulation from the environment, lead to new movement coordinations, such as rolling over, leaning on elbows, beginning to crawl. In fact as infant movement researcher and later Feldenkrais practitioner, Esther Thelen PhD, discovered: each child has their own individual pathways to learning movement.
This insight suggests pursuing an ideal movement in a regimented way does not lead to the kind of movement improvement stimulated by Feldenkrais lessons.
Recent research in physical therapy shows that variation, not repetition of the same thing, are essential to learning new movement patterns as part of rehabilitation. Such variations are built into Feldenkrais lessons and generated by students as they explore how to make a movement.
* Eam Taekyoung : Change in life is more an act of pursuing optimal economic feasibility than a habit. The brain in childhood seems to go through a process of optimizing and refining a genetically-given basic program to suit the environment at hand.
It seems that the young brain can be upgraded to a program that can adapt well to the various environments in the future only when conditions are given to closely observe the various environments around it.
On the other hand, it seems that people who have passed adolescence generally do not make any effort to upgrade this program any more. Perhaps the person who continuously optimizes his or her brain program is the one who succeeds!
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 10]
* Neuroplasticity principle10. Even the smallest movement in one part of the body involves the entire body.
The body always works as a whole. Every part of the body requires the support of the whole body to move. Even the smallest movement modifies the patterns of nervous system and muscular activation, along with the organization and orientation of the skeleton.
This is felt particularly in some Awareness Through Movement lessons that involve the minimal lifting or lengthening of one part, e.g. an arm or leg, and sensing how the rest of the body responds. Feldenkrais lessons allow you to move any part of the body, and allow the forces to flow through your whole self, without any inefficient holding or bracing that can cause pain and strain.
* Eam Taekyoung : The reason it is difficult for a robot to accurately follow a human's walking posture is that the human body's ground contact surface is more concentrated than other animals, and it has about 230 joints. This is because realignment is essential so that the total moment induced by the body becomes 0 (zero) in order not to fall even if a slight change in the center of gravity occurs.
[Neuroplasticity principle and body posture 11(End)]
* Neuroplasticity principle 11. Many movement problems, and the pain that goes with them, are caused by learned habit, not be abnormal structure.
Doidge points out that, “most conventional treatments assume the function is wholly dependent on the ‘underlying’ bodily structure and its limitations” (Doidge, 2015. p. 177). Feldenkrais comes from a functional point of view. Your habits are the ways you respond to your physical structure and history of injury, etc. They are learned preferences that can restrict your options and contribute to dysfunction and pain. The question then is how to unlearn your habits in ways that help resolve your movement problems and reduce pain, regardless of your physical structure and history of injury.
* Eam Taekyoung : Regarding the sentence above, "Your habits are the ways you respond to your physical structure and history of injury, etc.", I feel that the expression "personal habit is the result of subjectively pursuing optimal economic feasibility" is a more accurate expression.
Here, economic feasibility is the interaction of genetic health, acquired muscular strength, desire for comfort, and willingness to accept discomfort for health as variables.
In addition, it seems that this article can be viewed as describing only half of the whole since it was written only from the point of view of the brain and nerves, even though the body and mind are interconnected. In other words, what is observed from the point of view of the body is missing.
I suggest that you try to understand together the 'Seven Major Principles of Posture' that I have compiled and Feldenkrais' 'The 11 Major Principles of the Brain'. This effort will result in a deeper understanding of yourself, free from the past that has always focused on understanding the outside world. This will be a very effective way to become less swayed by life than in the past.
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