Chronic Pain and Spiraling

Spiraling and rotating is an essential functionality of walking with comfort and ease.

What comes to mind when you hear the word spiraling? A lot of us think of “spiraling out of control” and give it a negative connotation. However, in Somatics spiraling and rotating has a very positive meaning. Being able to spiral and rotate is the foundation of moving with comfort and ease.

What we teach in Somatics is how to restore our movement patterns the way they were when we were healthy infants. Our whole body was loose and limber and our movements of walking, standing and sitting were unobstructed. There were no bracing patterns or tension held in our bodies. As we grew older, we started developing bad habits like sitting too long, crossing our arms or legs, posing, sucking in our bellies for extended periods of time, working out incorrectly and as a result our bodies started to become rigid and stiff.

Suddenly, our waist no longer rotates naturally when we walk. We lost the cross lateral connection of our opposite shoulder and hip when walking and our torso resembles a brick wall.  When we fall, it’s like a tree falling over, a rigid unit.

Have you ever noticed how children tumble to the ground? They spiral, twist and turn because their bodies are still supple and flexible. The risk of injury is far less when our bodies are loose and we can absorb sudden movements in the center of our bodies, being able to rotate, spiral and adjust. Chronic pain is less likely to manifest itself when the torso remains flexible and able to spiral and rotate. A rigid Soma / center is at the heart of all stress response patterns as defined by Thomas Hanna, PhD., founder of Somatics.

Join my next Somatics session and re-learn how to spiral into freedom of movement! https://www.somaticstampa.com/services