Written by: Heidi Hadley, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Within Total Somatics, I teach people how powerful their subconscious mind is and how their body reflects it. Muscular tension, tightness, and rigidity reflect what is happening subconsciously. To live with chronically tight muscles is exhausting and detrimental to our long-term health. Releasing muscle tension and re-introducing muscle memory is very important for optimum health. When muscles learn how to relax and when to contract, we are breaking subconscious patterns of muscular contraction. When we understand at a deeper level and look through the lens of neuromuscular health, neurophysiology, and psychology, we develop a Total Somatic approach to health and well-being.
In my upcoming articles, I will dissect in detail various patterns of muscular tension and postures. However, before we consider them, I would like to delve into the power of your subconscious and how your brain influences your body.
Back in time
If we go back in time and consider the life of our ancestors, they lived very simply. For instance, the caveman would have hunted and rested during the day and week. When the caveman was out and about, he would have spent time grazing for food. At times though, a predator may have caught sight of the caveman. This is when the tranquil state of the caveman grazing for food would have changed. Let’s consider what would have happened.
The caveman would have noticed the predator and automatically or subconsciously, the state of his nervous system changed. The stress response would have been triggered. Suddenly, in service of survival, the caveman was acting in a response that would have been either fight/flight/freeze or fawn. His posture, breathing, musculature, internal organ state, and hormones would have changed dramatically. This response is triggered from the brainstem, the subconscious region of the brain.
Within the brainstem, we house postural reflexes, which automatically contract muscles and hold them chronically tight in stressful or intense situations.
If the caveman survived the situation with the predator, he would usually walk around, and discharge tension from their body with movement and pandiculation, allowing his nervous system to recalibrate, back to a state of balance or homeostasis. This created flexibility in his nervous system, allowing him to experience a range of responses, and having the resilience and capacity to return to homeostasis.
Today
Fast forward to today and we have the same nervous system as the caveman. Our lifestyle may be different, however, underneath our skin, our nervous system reacts to other triggers. Nowadays it could be family issues, financial concerns, health trials, and the overwhelm of life and juggling many figurative balls in the air. The difference between us and the caveman era is that our lifestyle today is very intense, filled with technology that continues to activate our nervous system and condition us to every notification and call. As a result of this, the nervous system becomes hypervigilant and overloaded with sensory stimuli, which dials up the stress response. Even if we think we have everything in order, we are reliant on technology, it is part of our life. The rapid manner we receive and deliver information causes an intensity in our nervous system, causing us to feel ‘wired’ more than regulated.
Subconsciously, we have allowed a layering of one stressful event to occur on top of another. This leads to a chronically activated nervous system. When this occurs, the nervous system continues to send signals around the body that we are in a survival situation. In this scenario, the nervous system doesn’t know the difference between perceived and actual danger. It is exhausting and detrimental to our health and wellbeing, to be constantly in survival mode.
To change the state of our nervous system and create a state of homeostasis, we must be able to sense and feel how we are internally. This can be a challenge for many who have lived in a survival state for decades and have disconnected from the subtle information or feedback from their body. If we can sense and feel from within, then we can make changes.
Within Total Somatics, I teach embodiment practices that allow people to learn how to sense and feel from within. It can be a challenge for many initially because they have tried to ‘fix’ issues cognitively rather than working somatically and releasing the subconscious patterns of muscle contraction plus other issues associated with brainstem postural reflexes.
Changing the state of our nervous system, learning to experience the full spectrum of stress, and then having the capacity and flexibility in our nervous system to come back into a state of balance and release muscular tension and postural changes triggered by our brainstem is very powerful.
When we learn Pandiculation and discover how it creates healthy muscle memory, improved posture, and mobility with a greater insight into our nervous system, we will discover an improved quality of life. Total Somatics has brought so many benefits to people’s lives globally with the power of pandiculation, nervous system regulation strategies, and embodiment practices.
In the next few articles, I will delve into the postural changes, what they look like, and how they impact on a neuropsychological level too. I will delve deeper into why a stretched muscle is just as inefficient as a contracted muscle with these postures and why pandiculation will reintroduce muscle memory.
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube, or visit my website for more info!
Heidi Hadley, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Heidi Hadley is a Certified Clinical Somatic Educator & Somatic Movement teacher. She started her career in mainstream medicine in the field of Neurophysiology. In 2001, Heidi started her private clinical practice in health, wellbeing & movement. She is the founder & creator of Total Somatics International®, an online membership designed to reduce pain, improve posture, increase mobility, develop mindfulness and allow you to resume or continue with the activities you love to do. She is the presenter of the podcast, Somatic Movement & Mindset. Delving into the fields of neuroscience, pain, mindset, mindfulness, habits and how to use your brain and body to create lasting healthy changes.
