Embedded Files
Post date: Jun 11, 2016 11:52:47 AM
Zen Body Being by Peter Ralston
Chapter Six. Structural Alignment. “The universe has its rules; our success lies in following them.”
We can ‘align’ ourselves to an ideal of value by adopting a state of mind and actions that are consistent with this belief. Lining things up to effectively perform a task, placing oneself in line with some principle. Alignment is essential to body being work.
We must align our body’s condition and activity and our mental and emotional states with the principles. A ‘surrendering’ to the principles must take pace. Let the principle ‘take over’ and guide us.
Example: If we truly want to experience the principle of relaxation you must surrender all muscle tension, mind stress and adopt an attitude of openness and search out the least strenuous ways of getting things done. Adopting a state of grounding relies that we surrender to gravity and align the body to our physical reality. Our body-state, mind and actions must all align.
Alignment of our feeling-state with whatever mechanical structures and principles that are most useful for performance is key to being effective. The feeling-state (the sensitivity to all these principles) is what brings experience to life. The one feeling contains all the details necessary to produce the desired result. We cannot think about doing things mechanically correctly. We must develop the feeling of doing things correctly.
Body Design. Every system and body part is designed to maintain life. They are all designed to serve particular functions. When it comes to accomplishing a task, aligning to its structural design is extremely important. Three basic categories of body operation:
Standing.
When standing upright we want everything to relate to the feet and the ground. For maximum potential, the tissues need to be relaxed, the joints open, the body balanced and ready to go. Adherence to functional design reduces stress on any one part.
Moving.
When we move, general standing structure should remain, but other factors come into play. Momentum adds force. The ever changing body shape requires smooth continuous transitions while still maintaining proper body structure. In movement, we want to keep the entire body unified, directed primarily from the center. Being centered requires the feet to be underneath the body. Breathing becomes of greater concern the more we move. Therefore, we must practice breathing deeply and rhythmically.
Performing a task.
As we shift to performing a task, a new set of demands arises: producing results. For maximum efficiency in any task, we want the whole body coordinated. As increased strain is put on the muscles and joints, alignment matters even more. More precision is needed as well as a more specialized response when it comes to exertion of force, quick response and increased need for balance. Seek to maintain integrity structurally. Have no breaks in the system. We must enter states of body awareness and perceptive sensitivity conducive to higher performance and injury prevention.
Fourteen points on structural alignment
Standing:
Feel the whole body.
Stand our own two feet.
Step evenly onto the whole foot.
Keep knees in line with toes and pressing over the feet.
Keep the pelvis between the feet, the spine balanced above the pelvis:
Remain spatially aware.
Breathe into the belly. When moving faster, breath faster.
Moving:
Be mindful when shuffling weight from one foot to the other.
Allow every joint to move freely without inhibition.
Coordinate the body to move from the center and act as one whole.
Functioning:
When reaching up or out, sink down.
Don’t let a single joint become the focal point of strain.
For power, find the ground and use the whole body.
Align the body so that all energy is channeled through the foot or other part contacting the ground.
Being aware of structural alignment
Standing. Feel the whole body. Feeling is the only way we can do anything with the body. SImply feeling the body takes us a long way towards alignment and moving more effectively and with ease. Feeling the body naturally causes it to relax. The more we do it, the more relaxed we become. Distressed or painful areas will begin to heal simply by feeling them. Healing may not occur immediately, but by simply feeling it we begin to align and unify the body to correct the problem. Feeling awareness is the starting point of all body improvements.
Stand on your own two feet. In essence, a matter of balance. The entire body should be resting on the feet or whatever body part is resting on the ground. Miscalculating the exact shape and weight of the body will throw balance off. Any insensitivity or lack of inclusion will cause trouble. Balance is a function of the whole. Being balanced means feeling the whole body.
Test this out: Stand on one foot and notice your balance. If you are noting minor to major wiggling in the foot, you are not balancing but continuously managing slight losses of balance. See if you can actually find true balance, when the body comes to rest and no adjustments are necessary. Every time we can capture this feeling we get a better sense of what balance truly is. If easy, put body in a posture that challenges balance. Practice feeling the body as a whole and then balancing that whole over the whole of the foot. Carry the feeling over to balancing on two feet.
As we find balance we so too find the force of gravity. In order to balance, the body must be aligned to the force of gravity. Become sensitive to this and what it takes to keep the body aligned to it--an essential part of standing on our own two feet.
Relax the legs and every other part of your body and allow the weight to drop downward, all the way to your feet. Do not lock the knee joint. Eventually, the legs will loosen up and strengthen. Through consistent practice, circulation will improve and stability will be enhanced.
Proper distribution of the body’s weight will greatly reduce the amount of effort required to remain upright, while allowing the muscles to relax. Adjust the body so that it becomes just as relaxed as it is when you are sitting. Minor contributions in balance can produce major benefits to overall health.
On our own two feet means being balanced and having the body mass drive through the feet into the ground.
Always try to bring balance into the conscious arena and play with getting better both standing, moving and functioning. It will make a great difference in our effectiveness, no matter what we are doing.
Step evenly onto the whole foot.
Pay attention to the feet as you move. Is the pressure even? When stepping down, do you hold on longer than needed or do you let go. Take a look at the wear patterns of your shoes. Do they wear evenly?
Exercise: Find your Footing. Practice standing on two feet. Practice feeling pressure across the whole foot (heel to toe). Is it mostly on the outside edge? Inside? Heel? Toe? Feel the bottom of the feet and relax. Move the body ever so slightly until the ankle feels loose and floating and the foot is not disturbed by the body’s movement. Stand still. Try to feel the entire body balanced over the midfoot. The foot is soft clay being pushed into the ground. Now test yourself by bouncing up and down slightly with out letting the foot leave the ground. Feel where the pressure is in your feet. Make it even and with slight adjustments. Until centered. Feet remain relaxed and do not compensate for the slight body movement. Relax the legs and pelvis. Feel them directly connected to your feet. Once the entire lower body is felt resting on the ground, bring awareness to the entire upper body and rest it on top of the pelvis. Sense the pull of gravity, the whole being balancing on the feet. Once established, try to maintain this feeling in motion by taking a few steps. If the balanced, relaxed sensation is lost, reestablish it before stepping again.
Exercise Variation: Hang from a limb or bar. Slowly lower weight onto feet as focus is on allowing pressure to spread evenly on the ground.
The direction of the toes also plays a factor. Toes should point straight in the direction we are traveling. Note any deviation while walking. If it is not straight, attempt to straighten them. Note any strain in other areas when changing our gait. Some people require manual therapy and corrective exercise but it is worth it to fix the alignment of the the feet. This will prevent knee, hip and back problems later on.
Keep the knees pointing with the toes and pressing into the foot.
Because of tension held in the pelvic region, for many, hip range of motion is restricted, leading to habitually turn out at the knee and putting great great deal of strain on the joint. Save the knees by adhering to two rules:
While sitting, standing, bending, turning or otherwise moving make sure your knee caps point with your toes. When the knees point with the toes they are functioning correctly. When the knees and toes are not aligned, structural integrity is compromised. The knee is the only joint between the hip and ankle and can easily become the stress point.
Press the knees into the feet whenever you move.
Keep the pelvis between the feet and the spine above the pelvis.
Treat the pelvis like a bowl of water, don’t let water spill out
The spine and upper body should rest on the pelvis and be stacked over it.
Remain Spatially Aware
By keeping a conscious sense of the space surrounding the body, we are better able to balance in relation to our surroundings, overcome obstacles and realize more possibilities in which to move and feel the three dimensional nature of our human bodies. It has the effect of centering you like nothing else. To relate effectively we must be aware of every dimension of the relationship. When we don’t feel the whole body we don’t balance well. When we don’t feel the space around us, we can’t be centered in it.
Being three dimensionally aware affects the mind and awareness as much as it does action.
Exercise: Walking with a cape. Imagining a billowy cape gives us a better sense of posture and a sense of what is going on behind us.
Breathe into the belly. When moving faster, breathe faster.
Belly breathing is a way of breathing in which the diaphragm expands more than the chest, providing greater oxygen flow, relaxation and even massages the internal organs.
When moving faster, increase the depth and speed of the breath, before we are out of breath.
Moving. (Same considerations as standing as well.) Be mindful when shifting weight from one foot to the other.
In many endeavors, shifting weight is critical to the effectiveness of the task (throwing, striking).
When shifting weight, connect to the ground. Don’t push away, which serves to sever our connection to the ground. Instead have the idea of falling into the ground. Relax and stay connected to the ground when making shifts. Stability and potential for power then increase with less effort.
Exercise. Standing on Pilings. Imagine you are standing on thick poles high above the ground. Really use your imagination until you get a sense of standing high above the ground. Shift from foot to foot, feeling the foot’s pressure drive through the pole all the way into the ground where it is buried.
Allow every joint to operate freely without inhibition.
When we begin paying attention to how we move, we may notice that muscles and joints are unnecessarily restricted or tight. Eliminate all unnecessary tension. Pay particular attention to the muscles in the jaw and neck.
Joints should feel as if they are well oiled, smooth and slippery--easy to use, allowing ease of movement and quick changes. Feel and loosen every joint in the body. Practice moving without any resistance in the body.
Exercise. Rag Doll:
Toss the whole body around from the center (pelvis) as if it was a rag doll or a wet noodle. This is an excellent way to loosen up if feeling stiff. The body must feel as loose as a noodle. This will help change nervous system habits and tissue. Start by moving just a little. Relax shoulders and arms. Relax more. Using nothing but the center, gradually increase the amount of pelvic movement and use it to begin tossing completely limp arms further away from the body. The arms flop freely as the center rotates. Do not control arms in any way. Let them slap and go whatever direction the hips send them.
This practice not only loosens the joints but also allows us to find our center and learn what it feels like to move from the center.
Coordinate the body and all its parts. It’s almost always more effective to use the whole body for each task. This must be done so that all the various components act in unison and toward the same end. Often, people are ineffective or strain themselves because they are “fighting” themselves--different muscle groups inhibiting others--serving inconsistent goals. This can be quite subtle.
As we go about any chore or physical endeavor ask--are all our actions completely serving the task at hand? Is every part of our body aligned to accomplish with ease and proficiency. With no wasted movement or contradictory efforts, even the most mundane physical experience becomes an agreeable training exercise. Using the center to direct the whole, repeat the Rag Doll exercise frequently.
Exercise. Nose with navel.
Practice turning the head and pelvis as one unit, wherever the nose points. Keep the navel pointed in the same direction. Combine with the rag doll exercise to get a sense of the whole body moving as one from the center.
No matter which parts are in contact with the ground, we can still move from the center to move the whole body.
Functioning. When reaching up or out, sink down. Connect grounding with use of a limb. When lifting a hand, allow any tension or strain to drain away from the hand all the way down to the foot. Hand up, you down. This affords power while allowing us to remain relaxed and balanced. Imagine being on a ladder reaching for a peach. We would naturally compensate for our extension by pushing down into the ladder. Reaching out and sinking down. The draining sensation directs our actions or efforts into the ground, rather than to the unstable tension created by the of the localized muscle groups.
Exercise: Lifting a melting candle. Use the top of the head to reach and the rest of the body to sink down. Imagine your whole body feels like soft melted candle wax at the top of the head is the wick of the candle. Lift the body from a squatting position as if the wick on the head is pulling the body up. While lifting up, feel the whole body draw downward like the melting wax. The only thing moving up is the wick. This image allows alignment to gravity and the embodies the ‘reach while sinking down” rule, assisting relaxation and establishing a stronger grounding.
Don’t let a single joint become the point of strain. Align ourselves so the whole body is behind a movement. To find real power do not allow one point to be singled out as a point of strain. Any break or leak in coordination will strain a particular joint. Be mindful of the joints during exertion. Force should travel all the way through the body and be dissipated into the ground without strain or break.
For power, find the ground and use the whole body. First, unify the whole body. If we can stay relaxed and move from the center, this is a good starting point. Check to make sure every body part is moving in the same direction and that no part is functioning at odds with your exertion. Once the whole body is involved, include the ground to assist in the effort. The force should travel through the body, from top to bottom, without strain or break, all the way to the ground. Using the ground allows for maximum force with minimal effort. Strength comes from compressing the body into the ground, not pushing off it. The more the whole body and ground are used, the more power is obtained with less strain.
Align the moving body so that pressure is channeled down to the feet or other ground contact point. Whenever we take on a task, place attention on making a feeling connection between the part of the body completing the task (usually the hands) through the whole body and down to the feet.
Learn how to best align and structure the body so that this can happen. The greater the force requirement, the greater the need for proper structural alignment. No matter the task, if we relax and feel the connection, it may surprise us to find out what is involved. Learn to find the alignments and channel the pressure in easier tasks first.
Exercise: Moving an Object. Find a moveable object, such as a chair on a smooth floor or a sliding glass door and choose a simple task such as sliding the door shut. Feel where in your body you may be moving in a direction maligned to the task. As discovery of these minor ‘errors’ occurs, make tiny adjustments until the body is moving as a hole. Now, keeping the body completely relaxed, use as little effort possible to move the object. Feel in the body where there is more tension. Relax. Practice until you can perform the task with an even distribution of pressure throughout the body. Now concentrate on the hand and the connection between the hand, the foot and the ground. Move the object without allowing any strain to build in the body. Stay relaxed so that any misalignment can be sensed. This approach applies to virtually every task. Practice until you can find alignments quickly and do it without strain.
It is by understanding the limits of movement that we can obtain real freedom of movement. Practice all fourteen points diligently . Breaking old habits and learning to use the body in accordance to its brilliant design will lessen the strain on parts currently used poorly. Tasks become less tiring as efficiency improves.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse