December 23, 2024 • 21 mins
Picture this: you're on a treadmill, and suddenly, you trip—your body reacts instinctively, keeping you from hitting the ground. This episode of Heart of Motion unpacks how our bodies maintain balance, whether on a treadmill or in everyday life. I guide you through the fascinating world of balance, exploring the harmony between our vestibular, visual, sensory motor, and musculoskeletal systems. These intricate systems work together to ensure we stay upright, whether we're engaging in sports, or simply enjoying life to the fullest.
Get ready to expand your understanding of proprioception, often dubbed our sixth sense, which allows us to sense our body's position without relying on sight. We'll dive into the critical roles of ligaments, tendons, muscles, and fascia, emphasizing their importance in maintaining stability and preventing injuries.
Heart of Motion Podcast host Susannah Steers is a Pilates & Integrated Movement Specialist and owner of Moving Spirit Pilates in North Vancouver, BC. She is passionate about movement, about connections and about life.
Through movement teaching, speaking, and facilitating workshops, she supports people in creating movement practices that promote fitness from the inside out. She loves building community, and participating in multi-disciplinary collaborations.
Along with her friend and colleague Gillian McCormick, Susannah also co-hosts The Small Conversations for a Better World podcast – an interview based podcast dedicated to promoting the kind of conversations about health that can spark positive change in individuals, families, communities and across the globe.
Social Media Links:
Moving Spirit Pilates Instagram
Moving Spirit Pilates Facebook
Susannah Steers Instagram
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Susannah Steers (00:00):
Welcome to the Heart of Motion podcast.
I'm Susanna Steers and I'll beyour host as we explore the
heart, soul and science ofmovement as a pathway to more
active, vibrant and connectedliving.
Nothing happens until somethingmoves, so let's get started.
A bunch of years ago, I was atthe gym on a treadmill.
(00:22):
I was in my late 40s andtreadmills were fairly new for
me.
I was almost finished myworkout and I dropped something
onto the treadmill.
Without thinking, I stopped topick it up.
The treadmill was still moving.
You can imagine where this isgoing.
Somehow, though, I didn't end upin an Instagram fails highlight
(00:42):
reel, because in the splitsecond that I reached down to
pick the thing up, my brainrealized that the treadmill was
still rolling and, with my headstill down, I simply hopped up
and landed with my feet on thestable rails on either side.
It wasn't conscious thought.
My body simply reacted,counting myself lucky.
I stood up, turned off mytreadmill and shook my head at
(01:04):
what had almost happened.
I saw the folks around melooking over with their mouths
agape.
I had managed to unconsciouslyavert what most in that moment
probably figured would be adisaster, or at least something
funny to tell their friends Icould say it was luck and there
was definitely a good dose ofthat.
But my system reacted to thesituation quickly and the
(01:25):
problem was solved even before Iregistered there was one.
Mostly, I have to thank ahealthy vestibular system and
years of training in moderndance, which taught me to move
in different ways in relation togravity.
Thankfully, my brain was ableto make sense of things while I
was upside down and direct mybody to do what it needed to do
(01:45):
to rescue me from a potentiallydisastrous situation and
tumbling off the end of thetreadmill in a heap.
Today, on the pod, we're divinginto the subject of balance what
it is, how it works and what wecan do to get better at it.
My little story was a real-lifeexample of how our sense of
balance can help us navigate ourworld safely and effectively.
A few weeks ago, my colleagueAllison Burt and I presented a
(02:08):
workshop called the Ins and Outsof Balance to introduce the
different aspects of balance andexplore what we can do to
improve it.
We broke our presentation downinto elements deep inside the
brain and the nervous system andthe outer or the
musculoskeletal part.
Today's podcast is based onthat presentation.
At its most basic balance isabout distributing your weight
(02:31):
in such a way that you can standand move around without falling
or recover if you do trip.
It's important in sports andother athletic pursuits Biking,
skating, running, snowboarding,paddleboarding, surfing, hiking,
dancing, rock climbing anythingyou can think of.
As we age, good balance iscrucial so that we can live
independently for as long aspossible and continue to do the
(02:53):
activities we enjoy.
Often when we talk aboutbalance, people bring up the
ability to stand still on onefoot without falling over.
And, yeah, being able to dothat is important, but it's only
one small element of balance.
True, functional balance isactually about movement.
It allows us to move throughthe world on our feet and
(03:14):
injury-free.
Balance means different thingsin different contexts.
Think about a balanced diet,work-life balance, a balanced
checkbook, balanced flavor in arecipe.
All of these scenarios have acommon theme in which different
elements of the whole areoperating in the correct
proportions for the elegant andeffective function of the whole
(03:37):
thing.
When we apply this to the body,it means that you need many
different systems working inharmony with one another.
Elements of your vestibular andyour visual systems are working
together with your sensorymotor system and your
musculoskeletal structure toprovide awareness, sensation,
stability, mobility,responsiveness and adaptability.
(03:58):
The better your balance, themore freedom you have to push
the envelope in your favoritesport or just to live a full and
confident life at every age.
So let's dig in.
Think about the last time youwalked on an uneven trail or
rode a bike, or simply stood upfrom a chair.
Each of these actions requireda complex interplay of different
(04:19):
systems inside your body,constantly adjusting and
readjusting to keep you uprightand moving.
Then let's think about the lasttime you slipped but didn't
fall, or maybe then slipped anddid fall.
In both of those situations,the same kind of inner dialogue
has to happen.
When you didn't fall, theconversation was successful.
(04:41):
Your brain, your body and yournervous system figured out what
was going on, made a choiceabout how to correct it, and you
had the physical capacity toright yourself before things
went too far sideways.
But that time you fell down,the inner dance was less
successful.
Somewhere along the chain,something didn't get those
instantaneous calculations quiteright.
(05:03):
Maybe you didn't have thecapacity to manage the situation
you found yourself in, so youweren't able to recover before
falling.
At its core, balance is aboutharmony different elements
working together in the rightproportions to create a stable
yet flexible whole.
No matter what you're doing,the more you practice, the
better you get.
(05:23):
Evidence shows that while agingdoes create changes in the
vestibular system, a much moreimportant factor in the decline
of balance in older people islack of use.
The inner workings of balanceare largely managed by your
vestibular system, which is alittle like your built-in GPS.
Your brain takes in informationfrom your eyes, from your inner
(05:43):
ear and proprioceptive organsall over your body and then
synthesizes it all to keep youon your feet.
The intricate connectionbetween our eyes and our brain
allows us to fixate on objectseven as our heads move, a
phenomenon known as thevestibular-ocular reflex.
If your eyes are fixed in oneplace but your body is in motion
(06:04):
ocular reflex.
If your eyes are fixed in oneplace but your body is in motion
, that same reflex will let youknow that your body is moving,
but that the world around you isnot.
I think it's fascinating thatabout 20% of the neural fibers
that connect your eyes to yourbrain relate to balance, not
just division.
Part of this whole systeminvolves proprioception, which
is basically about differenttypes of nerves measuring your
(06:27):
body's position in space, itsexperience of gravity, the
amount of effort it's using andthe amount of force being
exerted on it.
These proprioceptive organs getsensory information from your
joints and your muscles and skinand fascia and they're
constantly feeding thatinformation to the brain.
The information is processedunconsciously in the cerebellum
(06:49):
and the brainstem and you canrespond very quickly without
conscious thought.
In your inner ears there arefive organs that are dedicated
to balance.
Their job is to translatemechanical information that they
detect into electricalinformation to be interpreted by
the brain.
How do they do it?
It's a fluid system.
All those inner ear organs usea mechanism involving hair cells
(07:13):
in fluid.
When you move your body, thefluid inside the inner ear moves
in response, which bends thoseinner hair cells and excites the
nerves leading to the brain.
They measure two differentkinds of information Linear
acceleration, which happens whenyou're doing something like
accelerating in a car or goingup in an elevator, and angular
(07:34):
acceleration, which happens whenyou move your head in relation
to your body, looking up as youprepare to serve a tennis ball,
for example.
Nestled deep inside your innerear, imagine three tiny, loopy
water slides about the size of apinky nail.
These are the semicircularcanals, and as the fluid moves
(07:54):
around within them.
They can measure whether theangle of your head is changing,
nodding up and down, shakingside to side or tilting.
Now imagine two tinyjelly-filled water balloons
nestled in your inner ear, eachabout the size of a grain of
rice.
These are called your otolithorgans, nature's very own
built-in levels.
They are the saccule and theutricle that's what they're
(08:17):
called.
They measure whether your headis moving in space, but not
whether it's moving relative toyour body.
The utricle, the larger of thetwo, is like a horizontal
hammock swinging lazily in yourskull.
It's like the couch potato ofthe pair, preferring to feel
motion in the horizontal plane.
If you're walking forward andbackward and you can feel
(08:39):
yourself moving in space, that'syour utricle in action.
Meanwhile, the saccule standsup like a little eager meerkat,
always on the lookout forvertical movements.
If you can feel gravity actingon your body right now, that's
because of the saccules aredoing their thing.
Training these is relativelysimple.
(08:59):
In addition to traditionalbalance exercises that you might
be doing at the gym,incorporate movements that
include changes in your body'sorientation to space and your
head's orientation to your body,while the physical components
of these organs don't succumb toage-related damage the way, for
example, your hearing does.
If they are used lessfrequently, if you're not
(09:23):
practicing stuff that challengesthem, the neural pathways they
generate will dissipate when itstops getting used.
The structures are also reallysensitive to oxygen, so if
they're not well oxygenated theywon't function well.
So good blood flow andcardiovascular health are really
important for your balance.
That's pretty much true forevery system in the body, but
(09:44):
particularly for the brain.
So if the vestibular systemprovides our own high-tech,
built-in GPS, then themusculoskeletal system provides
both your sleek chassis and apowerful engine.
But let's get real.
Your body is way cooler thanany car.
It's like having a living,breathing work of art that can
dance, jump, play and maybe evendo the occasional cartwheel.
(10:07):
While our internal systemsprovide the information, it's
our musculoskeletal system thatexecutes that intricate dance of
balance.
Did you know that even when youthink you are standing perfectly
still, your body is throwing atiny little dance party In every
moment?
Our bodies are making tiny,constant adjustments.
(10:28):
This is called postural swayand it's a subtle, ongoing
conversation between our bodyand the forces of gravity.
You want to feel it?
Try this.
Stand up in the middle of theroom, making sure you have some
space around you.
Stand with your feet togetherand feel what happens in your
body.
Notice how it moves.
Now holding the same position,close your eyes.
(10:53):
What do you notice in your bodynow?
Any wobbles or wiggles.
That's your postural sway.
When we have enough mobility toallow our body parts to react
and soften any disruptions orbalance challenges, and when we
have enough stability andstrength to counterbalance and
right ourselves, we likely havegood postural sway and probably
(11:16):
pretty good balance.
The body can kind of flowthrough its organizational
challenges around all the thingsit's looking after, and the
body sorts itself out easily.
Often, though, holes in theintegrity of the musculoskeletal
structures show up here.
If there are areas of the bodywith too much mobility or too
(11:37):
much stiffness, our ability toeither hold ourselves stable
enough or permit enough motionto maintain balance can be
compromised.
Beginning to understand yourpostural sway, where it shows up
in a more pronounced way, wherethe postural sway gives in to
losing balance and so onunderstanding those things can
(11:58):
help us understand what we needto improve to improve our
balance.
Before I go any further, Ishould probably talk about
proprioception again.
You've heard of the five senses, right.
Proprioception is oftenconsidered your sixth sense.
It's the body's ability toperceive its position, movement
and action without relying onvisual cues, facilitated by
(12:20):
proprioceptors located inmuscles, tendons and joints,
which send information to thebrain about body positioning and
movement.
It plays a crucial role incoordination and balance,
allowing us to performactivities like walking or
catching a ball withoutconsciously thinking about our
movements.
It's how you can touch yournose with your eyes closed.
(12:41):
It's how high-level athletescan somehow find a puck with
their stick or catch thebasketball while flying through
the air eyes nowhere near theirtarget.
It can almost seem like magic.
Sometimes, all this magic ismoved into motion by real
tissues in our body, also knownas the musculoskeletal system.
(13:02):
The key players in this outersystem of balance are the
ligaments, the tendons, themuscles and the fascia.
They work together to providestability, transmit force and
allow for movement.
They're basically the physicalmanifestation of our body's
balanced systems.
At work, your ligaments are thetough guys.
They connect bones to otherbones and provide passive
(13:24):
stability to the joints, whichallow your muscles to make finer
adjustments to balance withoutlosing stability in the joints.
If you slip and one leg goesflying out, the ligaments can
provide a kind of check reins tothat movement, helping to
prevent injury.
So you don't go too far to thatmovement.
(13:44):
Helping to prevent injury, soyou don't go too far.
Tendons are like cables thatconnect your muscles to your
bones.
They transmit the forcegenerated by the muscles to the
skeleton, allowing for movementand stability for the bones.
Like ligaments, the tendonsprovide a base level of tension
that allows muscles to makefiner adjustments without losing
joint stability.
That allows muscles to makefiner adjustments without losing
joint stability.
They also have a littleelasticity, which allows for
(14:06):
really rapid force transmission,which allows for a quick
response when there areunexpected balance challenges.
Muscles are the real movers andshakers.
Muscles generate the forcenecessary to maintain and adjust
posture.
They contract and relax inresponse to signals from the
brain, allowing you to maintainyour position and adjust
(14:28):
dynamically.
They're constantly in play.
You can feel it in your ownpostural sway and when you slip,
the muscles are the onestensing up to save you faster
than you can say oops.
Muscles provide activestability to joints,
complementing the passivestability that we talked about
with the ligaments.
This is really important inweight-bearing joints like the
(14:49):
ankles, the knees and the hips.
I've often talked aboutconnections and relationships on
this podcast.
What I might not have spent somuch time talking about is the
idea that the health ofindividual tissues can play a
role in how those relationshipsplay out in the body.
If you've ever sprained yourankle, you know that unless
(15:10):
you're diligent with your rehab,that ankle may be susceptible
to future strains and sprainsBecause the tissue maybe didn't
knit back together as stronglyas the original ligament.
You might even have had theexperience of injuring the same
ankle in the same way many times.
In this case, the integrity ofthe ligament has been
compromised.
You have less passive stabilityaround the joint and you're
(15:33):
maybe more prone to going overon that ankle again.
It's kind of like a game inwhich one player isn't passing
messages along properly ormanaging their role adequately.
The good news is that, likewith any great team, when one
player isn't working at theirbest, other players on the team
can pick up the slack.
If you sprain your ankle, andespecially if you've done it
(15:54):
multiple times, you might wantto look at training the muscles
that stabilize the joint morerobustly.
That way, the muscles can takeover or help the ligaments in
their job.
Overall.
Muscle imbalances, muscletensions, weak and overactive
muscles, places where there'sbeen some kind of injury All of
(16:17):
this can affect how well we'reable to maintain and move with
good posture and balance.
Ideally, we create balancedtone around our joints, connect
to a responsive core system,strengthen our muscles in a way
that promotes both power andmobility.
That often gets forgotten.
(16:37):
Some of the most importantareas to focus on from a balance
perspective are your ankles andyour feet, your hip muscles,
your back and your abdominalmuscles, your neck and your
lower legs.
When you're training tostrengthen your muscles,
remember that too much stiffnessor lack of mobility due to
overactivity will affect balancetoo.
(16:58):
So you've got to remember it'snot just strength training.
Your body's got to be able tomove.
If your body can't allow agentle postural sway that you
need to soften whatever balanceperturbations you're dealing
with, you're going to be introuble.
Stamina, strength and mobilityare equally important.
(17:19):
Now, in my little anatomyroundup there, I didn't include
fascia.
Research into the nature androle of fascia in our bodies is
an emerging and exciting science.
Fascia is a continuousthree-dimensional web of
connective tissue that surroundsand penetrates every muscle,
bone, nerve, artery, vein andorgan in the body.
Fascia is rich inproprioceptors and provides a
(17:42):
body-wide tensional network.
Fascia can be described as aproprioceptive organ and just
like muscles, when the fascia isdehydrated and tight or if it's
too loose, it can lose some ofits ability to sense and
communicate to your brain and tothe rest of your body what's
going on.
Layers of fascia can sometimeslose their slide, which affects
(18:05):
mobility and, consequently,balance.
We could do an entire episodeabout fascia, or really about
any element of the balancesystem really, but in short, the
best way to work with fascia isto move.
Move often, in as manydifferent ways as you can,
hydrate the tissues with waterand with movement.
(18:26):
Balance is about relationshipswithin our bodies and between
our bodies and the world aroundus.
It's a constant negotiation, agive and take, much like the
delicate balance we see innature.
Remember the Polynesian oceanwayfinders I talked about in the
very first episode of thepodcast?
Their ability to navigate vastoceans relied heavily on their
(18:49):
sense of balance not just thephysical balance on their canoes
, but a balance of knowledge,intuition and connection with
their environment.
Improving our balance isn'tjust about preventing falls or
enhancing athletic performance.
It's about developing a deeperconnection with our bodies and
with the world around us.
(19:10):
Take some time and some care toplay with your balance in
different ways in yourday-to-day and I think you'll
find it pays off in maybe someunexpected ways.
Practice mindful movement.
Pay attention to how you movethrough the day.
Challenge your balance fromtime to time.
Try simple exercises likestanding on one foot while
you're brushing your teeth.
(19:30):
Move your eyes and your headaround while you do it.
Explore different movementpractices, things like Pilates,
tai Chi, yoga, dance.
Those can all enhance yoursense of balance.
Connect with nature.
Spend some time outdoors,feeling the ground underneath
your feet and the air around you.
There's something wonderfulabout the unpredictability of
(19:52):
the terrain and the conditionsthat you find in nature that are
all good for balance.
And then think about it.
What other aspects of your lifecould benefit from some
attention to balance?
Remember, it's not a staticstate to be achieved.
Trying to keep things evenSteven, all the time is not only
exhausting but impossible.
(20:13):
Balance is a dynamic process tobe lived.
It's about finding harmonyamidst constant change, much
like the ebb and the flow of thetides or the changing of the
seasons.
We are nature after all.
So there you go, A brief littleprimer on balance.
(20:33):
I'd like to thank and givecredit to my colleague and my
partner in crime, pilatesteacher and Franklin Method
educator Alison Burt, whocollaborated with me in the
creation of the Ins and Outs ofBalance workshop, which is an
experiential and playful deepdive into all things balance,
giving people practicalstrategies for understanding
their balance, recognizingindividual challenges and
(20:56):
learning what to do to improveit.
We'll be running that workshopagain in the spring of 2025, so
keep your eyes on the MovingSpirit Pilates website for more
information if you're interested, and with that, the conclusion
of the first season of the Heartof Motion podcast is upon us.
I've had a lot of fun, talkedto some amazing people and
learned some really interestingthings along the way.
(21:18):
I hope that my journey intomovement geekery is fun for you
too, and that maybe you'velearned something along the way.
I'll be investigating more aboutmovement and about life in
general in the new year.
Please let me know if there'ssomething that you're dying to
know more about, and until then,the podcast will be back on the
first Monday in January 2025.
(21:39):
See you then.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Subscribe and, if you love whatyou heard, leave a five-star
review and tell people what youenjoyed most.
Join me here again in a coupleof weeks.
For now, let's get moving.
Welcome to the Heart of Motion podcast.
I'm Susanna Steers and I'll beyour host as we explore the
heart, soul and science ofmovement as a pathway to more
active, vibrant and connectedliving.
Nothing happens until somethingmoves, so let's get started.
A bunch of years ago, I was atthe gym on a treadmill.
(00:22):
I was in my late 40s andtreadmills were fairly new for
me.
I was almost finished myworkout and I dropped something
onto the treadmill.
Without thinking, I stopped topick it up.
The treadmill was still moving.
You can imagine where this isgoing.
Somehow, though, I didn't end upin an Instagram fails highlight
(00:42):
reel, because in the splitsecond that I reached down to
pick the thing up, my brainrealized that the treadmill was
still rolling and, with my headstill down, I simply hopped up
and landed with my feet on thestable rails on either side.
It wasn't conscious thought.
My body simply reacted,counting myself lucky.
I stood up, turned off mytreadmill and shook my head at
(01:04):
what had almost happened.
I saw the folks around melooking over with their mouths
agape.
I had managed to unconsciouslyavert what most in that moment
probably figured would be adisaster, or at least something
funny to tell their friends Icould say it was luck and there
was definitely a good dose ofthat.
But my system reacted to thesituation quickly and the
(01:25):
problem was solved even before Iregistered there was one.
Mostly, I have to thank ahealthy vestibular system and
years of training in moderndance, which taught me to move
in different ways in relation togravity.
Thankfully, my brain was ableto make sense of things while I
was upside down and direct mybody to do what it needed to do
(01:45):
to rescue me from a potentiallydisastrous situation and
tumbling off the end of thetreadmill in a heap.
Today, on the pod, we're divinginto the subject of balance what
it is, how it works and what wecan do to get better at it.
My little story was a real-lifeexample of how our sense of
balance can help us navigate ourworld safely and effectively.
A few weeks ago, my colleagueAllison Burt and I presented a
(02:08):
workshop called the Ins and Outsof Balance to introduce the
different aspects of balance andexplore what we can do to
improve it.
We broke our presentation downinto elements deep inside the
brain and the nervous system andthe outer or the
musculoskeletal part.
Today's podcast is based onthat presentation.
At its most basic balance isabout distributing your weight
(02:31):
in such a way that you can standand move around without falling
or recover if you do trip.
It's important in sports andother athletic pursuits Biking,
skating, running, snowboarding,paddleboarding, surfing, hiking,
dancing, rock climbing anythingyou can think of.
As we age, good balance iscrucial so that we can live
independently for as long aspossible and continue to do the
(02:53):
activities we enjoy.
Often when we talk aboutbalance, people bring up the
ability to stand still on onefoot without falling over.
And, yeah, being able to dothat is important, but it's only
one small element of balance.
True, functional balance isactually about movement.
It allows us to move throughthe world on our feet and
(03:14):
injury-free.
Balance means different thingsin different contexts.
Think about a balanced diet,work-life balance, a balanced
checkbook, balanced flavor in arecipe.
All of these scenarios have acommon theme in which different
elements of the whole areoperating in the correct
proportions for the elegant andeffective function of the whole
(03:37):
thing.
When we apply this to the body,it means that you need many
different systems working inharmony with one another.
Elements of your vestibular andyour visual systems are working
together with your sensorymotor system and your
musculoskeletal structure toprovide awareness, sensation,
stability, mobility,responsiveness and adaptability.
(03:58):
The better your balance, themore freedom you have to push
the envelope in your favoritesport or just to live a full and
confident life at every age.
So let's dig in.
Think about the last time youwalked on an uneven trail or
rode a bike, or simply stood upfrom a chair.
Each of these actions requireda complex interplay of different
(04:19):
systems inside your body,constantly adjusting and
readjusting to keep you uprightand moving.
Then let's think about the lasttime you slipped but didn't
fall, or maybe then slipped anddid fall.
In both of those situations,the same kind of inner dialogue
has to happen.
When you didn't fall, theconversation was successful.
(04:41):
Your brain, your body and yournervous system figured out what
was going on, made a choiceabout how to correct it, and you
had the physical capacity toright yourself before things
went too far sideways.
But that time you fell down,the inner dance was less
successful.
Somewhere along the chain,something didn't get those
instantaneous calculations quiteright.
(05:03):
Maybe you didn't have thecapacity to manage the situation
you found yourself in, so youweren't able to recover before
falling.
At its core, balance is aboutharmony different elements
working together in the rightproportions to create a stable
yet flexible whole.
No matter what you're doing,the more you practice, the
better you get.
(05:23):
Evidence shows that while agingdoes create changes in the
vestibular system, a much moreimportant factor in the decline
of balance in older people islack of use.
The inner workings of balanceare largely managed by your
vestibular system, which is alittle like your built-in GPS.
Your brain takes in informationfrom your eyes, from your inner
(05:43):
ear and proprioceptive organsall over your body and then
synthesizes it all to keep youon your feet.
The intricate connectionbetween our eyes and our brain
allows us to fixate on objectseven as our heads move, a
phenomenon known as thevestibular-ocular reflex.
If your eyes are fixed in oneplace but your body is in motion
(06:04):
ocular reflex.
If your eyes are fixed in oneplace but your body is in motion
, that same reflex will let youknow that your body is moving,
but that the world around you isnot.
I think it's fascinating thatabout 20% of the neural fibers
that connect your eyes to yourbrain relate to balance, not
just division.
Part of this whole systeminvolves proprioception, which
is basically about differenttypes of nerves measuring your
(06:27):
body's position in space, itsexperience of gravity, the
amount of effort it's using andthe amount of force being
exerted on it.
These proprioceptive organs getsensory information from your
joints and your muscles and skinand fascia and they're
constantly feeding thatinformation to the brain.
The information is processedunconsciously in the cerebellum
(06:49):
and the brainstem and you canrespond very quickly without
conscious thought.
In your inner ears there arefive organs that are dedicated
to balance.
Their job is to translatemechanical information that they
detect into electricalinformation to be interpreted by
the brain.
How do they do it?
It's a fluid system.
All those inner ear organs usea mechanism involving hair cells
(07:13):
in fluid.
When you move your body, thefluid inside the inner ear moves
in response, which bends thoseinner hair cells and excites the
nerves leading to the brain.
They measure two differentkinds of information Linear
acceleration, which happens whenyou're doing something like
accelerating in a car or goingup in an elevator, and angular
(07:34):
acceleration, which happens whenyou move your head in relation
to your body, looking up as youprepare to serve a tennis ball,
for example.
Nestled deep inside your innerear, imagine three tiny, loopy
water slides about the size of apinky nail.
These are the semicircularcanals, and as the fluid moves
(07:54):
around within them.
They can measure whether theangle of your head is changing,
nodding up and down, shakingside to side or tilting.
Now imagine two tinyjelly-filled water balloons
nestled in your inner ear, eachabout the size of a grain of
rice.
These are called your otolithorgans, nature's very own
built-in levels.
They are the saccule and theutricle that's what they're
(08:17):
called.
They measure whether your headis moving in space, but not
whether it's moving relative toyour body.
The utricle, the larger of thetwo, is like a horizontal
hammock swinging lazily in yourskull.
It's like the couch potato ofthe pair, preferring to feel
motion in the horizontal plane.
If you're walking forward andbackward and you can feel
(08:39):
yourself moving in space, that'syour utricle in action.
Meanwhile, the saccule standsup like a little eager meerkat,
always on the lookout forvertical movements.
If you can feel gravity actingon your body right now, that's
because of the saccules aredoing their thing.
Training these is relativelysimple.
(08:59):
In addition to traditionalbalance exercises that you might
be doing at the gym,incorporate movements that
include changes in your body'sorientation to space and your
head's orientation to your body,while the physical components
of these organs don't succumb toage-related damage the way, for
example, your hearing does.
If they are used lessfrequently, if you're not
(09:23):
practicing stuff that challengesthem, the neural pathways they
generate will dissipate when itstops getting used.
The structures are also reallysensitive to oxygen, so if
they're not well oxygenated theywon't function well.
So good blood flow andcardiovascular health are really
important for your balance.
That's pretty much true forevery system in the body, but
(09:44):
particularly for the brain.
So if the vestibular systemprovides our own high-tech,
built-in GPS, then themusculoskeletal system provides
both your sleek chassis and apowerful engine.
But let's get real.
Your body is way cooler thanany car.
It's like having a living,breathing work of art that can
dance, jump, play and maybe evendo the occasional cartwheel.
(10:07):
While our internal systemsprovide the information, it's
our musculoskeletal system thatexecutes that intricate dance of
balance.
Did you know that even when youthink you are standing perfectly
still, your body is throwing atiny little dance party In every
moment?
Our bodies are making tiny,constant adjustments.
(10:28):
This is called postural swayand it's a subtle, ongoing
conversation between our bodyand the forces of gravity.
You want to feel it?
Try this.
Stand up in the middle of theroom, making sure you have some
space around you.
Stand with your feet togetherand feel what happens in your
body.
Notice how it moves.
Now holding the same position,close your eyes.
(10:53):
What do you notice in your bodynow?
Any wobbles or wiggles.
That's your postural sway.
When we have enough mobility toallow our body parts to react
and soften any disruptions orbalance challenges, and when we
have enough stability andstrength to counterbalance and
right ourselves, we likely havegood postural sway and probably
(11:16):
pretty good balance.
The body can kind of flowthrough its organizational
challenges around all the thingsit's looking after, and the
body sorts itself out easily.
Often, though, holes in theintegrity of the musculoskeletal
structures show up here.
If there are areas of the bodywith too much mobility or too
(11:37):
much stiffness, our ability toeither hold ourselves stable
enough or permit enough motionto maintain balance can be
compromised.
Beginning to understand yourpostural sway, where it shows up
in a more pronounced way, wherethe postural sway gives in to
losing balance and so onunderstanding those things can
(11:58):
help us understand what we needto improve to improve our
balance.
Before I go any further, Ishould probably talk about
proprioception again.
You've heard of the five senses, right.
Proprioception is oftenconsidered your sixth sense.
It's the body's ability toperceive its position, movement
and action without relying onvisual cues, facilitated by
(12:20):
proprioceptors located inmuscles, tendons and joints,
which send information to thebrain about body positioning and
movement.
It plays a crucial role incoordination and balance,
allowing us to performactivities like walking or
catching a ball withoutconsciously thinking about our
movements.
It's how you can touch yournose with your eyes closed.
(12:41):
It's how high-level athletescan somehow find a puck with
their stick or catch thebasketball while flying through
the air eyes nowhere near theirtarget.
It can almost seem like magic.
Sometimes, all this magic ismoved into motion by real
tissues in our body, also knownas the musculoskeletal system.
(13:02):
The key players in this outersystem of balance are the
ligaments, the tendons, themuscles and the fascia.
They work together to providestability, transmit force and
allow for movement.
They're basically the physicalmanifestation of our body's
balanced systems.
At work, your ligaments are thetough guys.
They connect bones to otherbones and provide passive
(13:24):
stability to the joints, whichallow your muscles to make finer
adjustments to balance withoutlosing stability in the joints.
If you slip and one leg goesflying out, the ligaments can
provide a kind of check reins tothat movement, helping to
prevent injury.
So you don't go too far to thatmovement.
(13:44):
Helping to prevent injury, soyou don't go too far.
Tendons are like cables thatconnect your muscles to your
bones.
They transmit the forcegenerated by the muscles to the
skeleton, allowing for movementand stability for the bones.
Like ligaments, the tendonsprovide a base level of tension
that allows muscles to makefiner adjustments without losing
joint stability.
That allows muscles to makefiner adjustments without losing
joint stability.
They also have a littleelasticity, which allows for
(14:06):
really rapid force transmission,which allows for a quick
response when there areunexpected balance challenges.
Muscles are the real movers andshakers.
Muscles generate the forcenecessary to maintain and adjust
posture.
They contract and relax inresponse to signals from the
brain, allowing you to maintainyour position and adjust
(14:28):
dynamically.
They're constantly in play.
You can feel it in your ownpostural sway and when you slip,
the muscles are the onestensing up to save you faster
than you can say oops.
Muscles provide activestability to joints,
complementing the passivestability that we talked about
with the ligaments.
This is really important inweight-bearing joints like the
(14:49):
ankles, the knees and the hips.
I've often talked aboutconnections and relationships on
this podcast.
What I might not have spent somuch time talking about is the
idea that the health ofindividual tissues can play a
role in how those relationshipsplay out in the body.
If you've ever sprained yourankle, you know that unless
(15:10):
you're diligent with your rehab,that ankle may be susceptible
to future strains and sprainsBecause the tissue maybe didn't
knit back together as stronglyas the original ligament.
You might even have had theexperience of injuring the same
ankle in the same way many times.
In this case, the integrity ofthe ligament has been
compromised.
You have less passive stabilityaround the joint and you're
(15:33):
maybe more prone to going overon that ankle again.
It's kind of like a game inwhich one player isn't passing
messages along properly ormanaging their role adequately.
The good news is that, likewith any great team, when one
player isn't working at theirbest, other players on the team
can pick up the slack.
If you sprain your ankle, andespecially if you've done it
(15:54):
multiple times, you might wantto look at training the muscles
that stabilize the joint morerobustly.
That way, the muscles can takeover or help the ligaments in
their job.
Overall.
Muscle imbalances, muscletensions, weak and overactive
muscles, places where there'sbeen some kind of injury All of
(16:17):
this can affect how well we'reable to maintain and move with
good posture and balance.
Ideally, we create balancedtone around our joints, connect
to a responsive core system,strengthen our muscles in a way
that promotes both power andmobility.
That often gets forgotten.
(16:37):
Some of the most importantareas to focus on from a balance
perspective are your ankles andyour feet, your hip muscles,
your back and your abdominalmuscles, your neck and your
lower legs.
When you're training tostrengthen your muscles,
remember that too much stiffnessor lack of mobility due to
overactivity will affect balancetoo.
(16:58):
So you've got to remember it'snot just strength training.
Your body's got to be able tomove.
If your body can't allow agentle postural sway that you
need to soften whatever balanceperturbations you're dealing
with, you're going to be introuble.
Stamina, strength and mobilityare equally important.
(17:19):
Now, in my little anatomyroundup there, I didn't include
fascia.
Research into the nature androle of fascia in our bodies is
an emerging and exciting science.
Fascia is a continuousthree-dimensional web of
connective tissue that surroundsand penetrates every muscle,
bone, nerve, artery, vein andorgan in the body.
Fascia is rich inproprioceptors and provides a
(17:42):
body-wide tensional network.
Fascia can be described as aproprioceptive organ and just
like muscles, when the fascia isdehydrated and tight or if it's
too loose, it can lose some ofits ability to sense and
communicate to your brain and tothe rest of your body what's
going on.
Layers of fascia can sometimeslose their slide, which affects
(18:05):
mobility and, consequently,balance.
We could do an entire episodeabout fascia, or really about
any element of the balancesystem really, but in short, the
best way to work with fascia isto move.
Move often, in as manydifferent ways as you can,
hydrate the tissues with waterand with movement.
(18:26):
Balance is about relationshipswithin our bodies and between
our bodies and the world aroundus.
It's a constant negotiation, agive and take, much like the
delicate balance we see innature.
Remember the Polynesian oceanwayfinders I talked about in the
very first episode of thepodcast?
Their ability to navigate vastoceans relied heavily on their
(18:49):
sense of balance not just thephysical balance on their canoes
, but a balance of knowledge,intuition and connection with
their environment.
Improving our balance isn'tjust about preventing falls or
enhancing athletic performance.
It's about developing a deeperconnection with our bodies and
with the world around us.
(19:10):
Take some time and some care toplay with your balance in
different ways in yourday-to-day and I think you'll
find it pays off in maybe someunexpected ways.
Practice mindful movement.
Pay attention to how you movethrough the day.
Challenge your balance fromtime to time.
Try simple exercises likestanding on one foot while
you're brushing your teeth.
(19:30):
Move your eyes and your headaround while you do it.
Explore different movementpractices, things like Pilates,
tai Chi, yoga, dance.
Those can all enhance yoursense of balance.
Connect with nature.
Spend some time outdoors,feeling the ground underneath
your feet and the air around you.
There's something wonderfulabout the unpredictability of
(19:52):
the terrain and the conditionsthat you find in nature that are
all good for balance.
And then think about it.
What other aspects of your lifecould benefit from some
attention to balance?
Remember, it's not a staticstate to be achieved.
Trying to keep things evenSteven, all the time is not only
exhausting but impossible.
(20:13):
Balance is a dynamic process tobe lived.
It's about finding harmonyamidst constant change, much
like the ebb and the flow of thetides or the changing of the
seasons.
We are nature after all.
So there you go, A brief littleprimer on balance.
(20:33):
I'd like to thank and givecredit to my colleague and my
partner in crime, pilatesteacher and Franklin Method
educator Alison Burt, whocollaborated with me in the
creation of the Ins and Outs ofBalance workshop, which is an
experiential and playful deepdive into all things balance,
giving people practicalstrategies for understanding
their balance, recognizingindividual challenges and
(20:56):
learning what to do to improveit.
We'll be running that workshopagain in the spring of 2025, so
keep your eyes on the MovingSpirit Pilates website for more
information if you're interested, and with that, the conclusion
of the first season of the Heartof Motion podcast is upon us.
I've had a lot of fun, talkedto some amazing people and
learned some really interestingthings along the way.
(21:18):
I hope that my journey intomovement geekery is fun for you
too, and that maybe you'velearned something along the way.
I'll be investigating more aboutmovement and about life in
general in the new year.
Please let me know if there'ssomething that you're dying to
know more about, and until then,the podcast will be back on the
first Monday in January 2025.
(21:39):
See you then.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Subscribe and, if you love whatyou heard, leave a five-star
review and tell people what youenjoyed most.
Join me here again in a coupleof weeks.
For now, let's get moving.
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