Sometimes big words just make me smile. Take proprioception. Loosely translated, it means, knowing where you are in space.

In the late 90s, I tore a ligament in my right knee, the ACL. It happened in a self defense class; we were practicing being grabbed from behind by giant masked men in full body-armor, muttering disgusting things. Play-acting, but still pretty scary. When my turn came, the top 75% of me twisted, but my shoes were stuck in the gym mat, and …there went my knee. I told them I’d settle for bashing prospective attackers with my crutches.

In post-surgical physical therapy, my PT kept telling me not to limp. “I didn’t realize I was limping”, I whined. “With trauma we tend to lose proprioception”, she explained, and gave me some exercises to do.

Proprioception, from Webster’s: “Meaning “one’s own”, “individual”, and capio, capere, to take or grasp, is the sense of the relative position of neighboring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement.”

I did do the exercises, but simply repeating by them by rote didn’t seem to help me “grasp the relative position of neighboring parts”.  My brain/body map still seemed to have few dead-ends.  The limp was just part of how I moved. Over the next 10 years, this chronic uneven movement lead to increasing pain in my right hip and SI joint. I suffered a few more falls and injuries too. Figured I’d need hip replacement soon.

“When you know what you’re doing, you can do what you want.”
Moshe Feldenkrais

When I began doing Mind Body lessons I began to connect the dots, not only within my own nervous system, but in general: what was going on between movement, awareness, and learning: It was, and is, Inspiring. Easier, more comfortable movement is possible.

A new series of Optimal Movement for Balance Ease and Stability classes starts next Saturday, April 1st in Shoreline. No foolin’!  Find out more