Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE

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Body memory

We've talked about muscle memory before, particularly with the use of our fingers in playing an instrument or some other skill such as golf. Our ability to 'remember' is clearly not isolated to the function of the brain, but also within our muscles too. They record patterns of tension, so with repetition they become 'accustomed' to working together in a particular co-ordination to perform specific tasks. Learning to tie our shoe laces as a child takes quite a bit of thought, but soon we can do it without thinking at all; the muscle memory serves a helpful purpose.

However, we can expand this principle to not just muscle memory, but to a whole body memory. There isn't a great deal of difference, as our body is made up of hundreds of muscles that all work together (hopefully) in a co-ordinated way. But as muscle memory aids repetition (good and bad!), they 'remember' how they did it last time, collectively they are influencing our whole bodily movements all the time too.

Body memory is working all the time.

This means, that whatever you do, be it limping for a few days after twisting an ankle, your body 'remembers' the pattern of co-ordination that creates the limp, and may continue to perform the limp, even though the painful symptom that encouraged it may have disappeared. It becomes a habit. The nature of habits are such that they will function without our conscious awareness. And as they repeat themselves automatically (body memory) they become more ingrained by means of the body memory that created the habit in the first place. It's a self fulfilling cycle. So as we get older, our habitual tendencies become more and more pronounced. We become a caricature of how we once were, an exaggerated self.

If we sit in a twist at our desk with our legs and ankles wrapped around the chair then this too becomes a habit and ingrains itself more as we repeat it. The body remembers what we did, so this is what we will do. This also applies to hunched shoulders, a spinal twist, lordosis, holding our breath, facial grimaces or frowns or a stammer.

Body memory can serve to help us if we practice a skill with great care to do it accurately. Hillary Hahn says the Beethoven violin concerto 'was in her fingers'. It's important to practice accurately, so we develop helpful body memory. But if we practice a golf swing, or darts throw, or play an instrument with no thought or awareness as to 'how' we do it, then there is a real danger that unhelpful patterns of movement, tension and posture become ingrained into our system by means of our body memory. But on the other hand, if we do give attention to 'how' we do things, then we can establish a terrific technique which will serve us well, now and in the future.

So bear in mind, if you notice that you have certain postural tendencies, certain ways of sitting, walking bending or any other physical habit, then each time you repeat them they are becoming a more permanent feature of you. But on the other hand, if you can catch yourself doing something, or even better, catch yourself before you do it, then you have a real chance of weakening the habit and of changing your muscle memory.

In the Alexander Technique, this business of 'catching ourselves' and preventing a habit before we do something is called 'Inhibition'. We can learn to inhibit the harmful tensions and postural tendencies that interfere with health and performance. If you inhibit the tendency to do your habit a few times, you are starting to set up new and better body memory and this will serve you in a positive way.

Whatever you do, your body memory will be working to 'aid' you do it again next time, and again and again so it happens without you thinking. There is a danger with this, but it can also serve you.

See if you can notice any unhelpful characteristics or habits and inhibit them. Choose 'not' to do them. Leave yourself free and in better balance.

Body memory is working all the time, and we can use consciously to make life better and better.

:-)

Posted by Noël on February 1, 2007 7:38 AM | Permalink