Essential Proprioception*— Part One
/Body Mandala Questions
Experiencing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease invites me to take another look at what I’ve called “body mandala questions.“
How is my body organized in space?
What do I sense within my body and around it?
How am I moving?
What does my movement express?
I’ve published a lovely (I think) book that cycles through these questions as a path to optimal somatic presence and self-possession. But perhaps I need to write another one —Your Body Mandala for People Living with PD.
The PD Experience
The couch potato state is not helpful in the long run.
When your body behaves in ways outside your control you can be seduced into checking out of your body entirely. I’ve done this—spent entire afternoons in the comfort of one British detective after another. But the couch potato state is not helpful in the long run.
PD research reaches for answers, cures, palliative cover-ups. So far the only thing shown to slow the progression of our difficulties is high intensity exercise combined with cognitive engagement. We must sweat and think at the same time. This is why boxing programs are popular among the Parkinson’s community.
But I need more than exercise to keep me off the couch. I need the awareness questions mentioned above. Most people living with PD (and most people in general) find little reason to notice their bodily organization or the quality of their movement. But with PD, “noticing” becomes essential.
What Happens to Your Inner Space?
Outer space stiffens and inner space diminishes.
Some of the manifestations of PD are a gradual and subtle distortion of body structure in response to 1) the repetitive motion of the Parkinson’s tremor, 2) the reduced joint range of motion for those suffering from bradykinesia (the slow-motion shuffle typical of some sufferers), 3) diminished accuracy of balance, and 4) a tendency to stoop, flexing the spine at the level of the diaphragm. The consequence is a body that does not maintain volume. Fat or slender, the inner space begins to shrink. Without resources to counteract this progression the body structure inevitably compresses. Fascia stiffens.
I’m lucky, because having devised resources to help others improve body awareness I’ve received the side benefit of refining my own. I can pay attention to what I’m doing.
Experiencing this disease invites me to simplify my approach. I’m boiling it down to what I think of as “essential proprioception.” This is the first in a series of posts about those “essentials.” Although inspired by PD, I’m pretty sure it will be useful to anyone.
Ask a Question
Today’s mandala question: how is my body organized in the space around me? Well, I’m leaning to the left. I sense more weight bearing down into my left ankle than my right. My left armpit draws in close to my chest. I seem to be smaller and denser on the left side of my body. That personal pattern, if allowed free reign over my movement, will create fascial restrictions that can only exacerbate the effects of the neurological static.
I can counsel myself to soften the fascial patterns, over and over throughout the day. But there’s one essential proprioception, one essential bit of body awareness that will help me restore my inner space without driving myself crazy with details.
An Essential Proprioceptive Signal
Here’s the first of my essentials: find your midline. This advice is carefully developed in Your Body Mandala. pp 62-67. I suggest you read those pages, because they’re lovely and true. But here’s a rough outline: look for the very crown of your head, the place where your newborn self’s “soft spot” knitted together about the time you began to sit up. (It’s farther forward than you think.)
Then look for the very center of your perineum, between your vagina/scrotum and your anus.
Crown and perineum — essential.
Crown center and perineal center are primal, intimate locations in your body. At first, simply feel them—taking time to know where they are. Then move them apart from one another, let them develop a polar opposition. Let each one project a vector into the world.
Refresh that polarity within your body over and over throughout the day. Establishing a dynamic midline in this way restores space within your structure. Even though your midline may curve and twist as you move about, its intrinsic polarity maintains your body’s volume while you are moving. By restoring volume, it facilitates balance. And provides a hedge against fascial adhesion.
Ancillary Interoception
You might feel your esophagus lengthen within your chest; you might feel the crease in the middle of your abdomen smooth out, or notice your ribcage enjoying a deeper, fuller breath.
That’s it: find midline.
*Proprioception is your sense of self-movement and body position. It is sometimes described as the "sixth sense".
© 2019 Mary Bond