3-D Movement Focus: The Art and Science of Hatha Yoga

(Dedicated to all members of the US Armed Forces, past and present)

I have been a yogi since 1996, and every year I learn something new about the practice. It is truly amazing and I am going to give my teacher Paula D. Atkinson props again. She is such an inspiration for me doing yoga.

As I traveled down my yogic path, I discovered so many nuances about the practice. However, these nuances left me with many questions. With the Mind/Body/Spirit aspect of yoga, I came to realize that when you work with one of the aspects, you are really working with all of them. However, I think a big question in my mind was "Why and how is yoga such an efficient stretching practice?" To me, it's way above any other stretching protocol. I recommend the practice to anyone who wants to change their lives. However, the question of "WHY AND HOW IT IS SO EFFECTIVE?" remained.

Recently, I have been doing a lot of research on the 'neuro' aspect of the NEUROMUSCULOSKELETAL system. I have talked a lot of about the joints and the muscles but very little about the nervous system and in particular its relevance in the "big picture". To be honest, this is one of the reasons I have not posted a lot lately. This research has really taken me for a ride, and I needed time to process it.

To talk about function, we MUST talk about the PROPRIOCEPTORS. Basically, the proprioceptors are the sensors of the body. They are wired directly into the brain and gives information regarding movement, temperature, pain, pressure, etc.  The coolest thing is that they are located in:

1. 
   
   Joint capsules
   
   
   
2. 
   
   Skin
   
   
   
3. 
   
   Ligaments
   
   
   
4. Muscles
5. Tendons
6. Fascia

All of these are important but what we are discovering is that the FASCIA which connects the whole body down to a cellular level is one of the big reasons why hatha yoga is so important and so effective if done with intention.

If you want a very detailed explanation of Fasica and its effects on the body. You should read Robert Schleips article on Fascial Plasticity. It's amazing.

Basically, he says that the proprioceptors that were thought to be a part of the whole system are REALLY important and they are more numerous in the body that originally thought. He goes on to say that the proprioceptors tap directly into the autonomic nervous system  which controls heart rate, respiration, digestion and a number of other functions in the body. That means that if we can affect the Fasica in the body in a functional 3-D way, we can actually affect bodily processes. WOW! The yogis have been onto this for thousands of years and now the research is coming out to back it up.

Anyway, how does this tie into Hatha Yoga??? Well, with the yoga asana, we typically get into positions where we are stretching our tissue actively. This is important as the Golgi Organs of the soft tissue of the body is stimulated by ACTIVE stretching primarily. This activation of the proprioceptors actually signals the central nervous system to reset the muscle tone of that area. However, it seems that the Golgi organs are not the only proprioceptors that do work in the body. We also have:

1. Pacinian Corpuscles
2. Ruffini Endings
3. Muscle Spindles
4. Intersitial myofascial (MOST ABUNDANT IN BODY)

What these proprioceptors do is to sense the diferent motions of the body. A common myth is that the eyes, ears, nose are the biggest sense organs of the bod but that is not true. The muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia are the BIGGEST as it feeds the brain with constant information with pressure, temperature, motion, etc.

Throughout our lives, we start to accumulate micro or macro traumas. For instance, my athletes who are in contact sports get little boo-boos and owies almost daily. These little bumps and bruises as well as the bigger injuries like AC joint sprains and ankle sprains, can change the entire texture of the body. For those folks who are sitting all day, you too are inflicting microtraumas on yourself. The constant compressive nature of sitting along with the hip flexor musculature/hip capsular shortening is a sure recipe for back pain.

However, as we step onto our yoga mats, we can actually start to reverse that trauma. Think of the body as a self-regulating organism. This organism has the ability to heal itself. It always has but it needs the right environment to stimulate healing. Yoga, given the right teacher, can help you create that environment.

In our practice we are moving through all kinds of range of motion with our joints. As our joints move, the muscles are acting in both a concentric and eccentric way. They may be lengthening in one plane of motion while they are shortening in another. However, we cannot forget the 'neuro' in the NEUROMUSCULOSKELETAL system. We are also working with the proprioceptors but in order to be effective in the work, we should aim to engage all the proprioceptors. That means being willing to hold the poses for at least 30 secs so that the muscle spindles and golgi tendon organs have time to deliver the proper messages for the CNS. However, if we are not aware of what the other proprioceptors need, we will not know to feed them.

For instance, the Pacinian corpuscles respond to a rapid changes in joint position as well as rapid contractile movements of adjacent muscles. With this strategy, we can use the technique of moving ourselves or our students in a faster flow that takes them through a few poses, like in the Sun Salutations. However, do not limit yourself to just the Sun Salutations. With safety, move through a balancing series that requires their full focus, strength and flexibity. Ask them to be fully in the moment but in a quick pace.

The Ruffini endings are responsive like the Pacinian corpuscles but they also respond to sustained stretch. They can be found frequently in the outer layer of joint capsules. If you wanted to really get into a hip opening posture, using a modified Trikonasana (Triangl) pose that focused on the anterior hip capsule would be a great way to stimulate the Ruffini Endings to access the CNS to inhibit sympathetic activity. See my post on 3-D Hips: Focus on the Capsular Ligaments

It's amazinig that yogis thousands of years ago had an intuition about the body and how it works. They did not have the sophisticated methods of measuring the neuromusculoskeletal system, but they had logic, experience and wisdom on their side. After thousands of years, this movement art has also become a science. However, we must be willing as practitioners and teachers to be willing to learn about the science of yoga. When we do, we can really optimize our time on the mat so that our time off the mat will be also reflect the preparation and execution.

As always, questions and comments are welcome. Please feel free to email me at yoga-pilates_will@hotmail.com or leave notes in the COMMENTS section.

Namaste'