Seashells, Slings, and Spiral Things...

Working in the garden yesterday, I was reminded of the importance of spirals in the body, as my garden is full of sea shells collected from some of the small barrier islands in the area. For a long time I didn't know what to do with them so they sat in baskets in the house but once we did our landscaping I decided they looked so pretty sprinkled in the garden.

Nature informs so much of human movement and while I was shoveling dirt back into the massive hole my 85lb golden retriever, Fido, had dug next to the back door I realized just how much those seashells were informing my ability to rotate from internal to external rotation with each toss of the dirt.

* Fido, not as innocent as he looks

Formation of sea shells by the mollusks that inhabit them are a geometrical representation of expansion from the inside out and compression from the outside in. The body is always twisting, even our bones are twisting, and our heart is spiraling into and out of itself. It is this geometrical phenomenon that allows for motion at all levels. Here is a beautiful video on the mathematics of sea shells.

Spirals are everywhere in the human body as well as in human movement, so it makes sense why there are movement systems like PNF, Thomas Myer's Spiral Lines, DNS, PRI, and so may others that are informed by the geometry of movement. (Not sure if geometry of movement is a thing but it just sort of spiraled out of my brain nicely 😅).

It also makes sense to me why training these qualities can go a long way in improving the skill of movement (macro level) to improving the availability of movement / relative motion of joints (micro level), to potentially even improving the tissue compliance / elasticity (nano level). And now that I think about it, this is basically what I'm trying to emphasize and teach to students in my Empowered Performance course. 

If you watch many of my instagram videos you might think she's this functional movement woman, but it's more than that to me. It's not just novel exercises for the sake of complexity. I mean, sometimes it is 😂, but movement should be fun, right? And we have to explore the spiral nature of our bodies to stumble into useful applications that improve our capacity, spirality, and elasticity at the macro, micro, and nano level. 

In my Alchemy Strength class last week I explored this concept using the concepts of Slings and the anterior and posterior sling. I believe these concepts were originally brought to life by Thomas Myers and Karen Gurtner, but maybe I also should give credit to Serge Gracovetsky and his Spinal Engine Theory and Andry Vleeming. Likely it is many schools of thought and for all of these, I am grateful.

I am also informed by my own view of human movement which was influenced very early on by my love of gymnastics and the ability of my own human body to be able to compress and expand itself into twists and flips of all kinds so I could somehow defy gravity. 

In this exploration last Wednesday, I realized there is so much carry over and possibility for how we use exercises to improve the skill at the macro level (motor control), restore range of motion at the micro level (joints), and improve elasticity at the nano level (tissue - muscle, bone, connective, etc.). 

Below are 4 exercises that I created that can help explain how all of these things may come together in a meaningful way for me and inform my love of movement.

A couple of helpful definitions:

The Anterior Oblique Sling is the coupling of the external and internal oblique connecting with the contralateral adductor muscles via the adductor-abdominal fascia.  

The Posterior Oblique Sling is the coupling of the latissimus dorsi, glute maximus, and the interconnecting thoracolumbar-abdominal fascia.