Fundamental Health

by Michael Tonetti

Why Structural Health?

Structural health is fundamental; how we feel, how we function and how long we function are all affected by our structural health. Structural health is the health of the neuromuskuloskeletal system. The structural care and maintenance of our bodies has been incredibly overlooked by modern medicine and athletic trainers. Vast numbers of people have joint and muscle aches and pains and an extensive array of problems that are directly or indirectly related to structural health. This reality has inspired numerous ingenious bodyworkers to explore and develop the process of creating structural health. This work is dedicated to exploring the issues of structural health as they pertain to movement and the activities that enrich our lives. It is a quest to investigate the movement potential of the human body. The process involves joint stabilization exercises and a thorough investigation of movement that starts with the effect of footwork patterns on the whole body and goes on to coordinate all of the body segments, which are structurally interdependent.

The body's structure is it's anti-gravity system. Mechanically, it is made up of those parts of the musculoskeletal system that extend up from the earth in response to gravity: arches, knees, hips and the pelvis, spine, ribcage complex. The shoulder girdle has important functions as well, but structurally it is too superficial to play a primary role.

Structural health boils down to: muscles out of balance / compressed joints or muscles balanced / decompressed joints. When the weight-bearing joints compress and lose their full range of motion, the muscles go into a gridlock pattern; the deep layer muscles disengage and the superficial layer muscles grab on to stabilize. The shoulder and hip muscles get pulled into this last ditch effort at stabilizing the segments that they originate from and this throws the extremities out of balance. Under these conditions, the anti-gravity system is severely hampered.

Every segment of the body must align to allow all of the layers of muscle to perform their functions. All of the layers of muscle must function to align and decompress the joints. When the structure collapses the deep muscles cannot perform their functions; they get overstretched and atrophy. The deep muscles must be of normal length and counterbalanced in strong relationships to align the bones to erect the structure. This circular set of conditions makes the activation of the structural system complex. The longer a body has been structurally collapsed, the harder it is to renovate. There are numerous complicating factors such as weight, attitude, self image, emotional backlog, employment activities, ergonomic environment, recreational activities and basic movement patterning. The process is tricky but doable and rewarding.

Mechanical factors interplay with mental/emotional/spiritual and chemical factors in a circular manner. A friend who was feeling lousy with low energy and a headache, asked me for a shoulder rub some time ago. I started working on her very tight upper shoulder muscles and realized that her spine was extremely bent and her head was forward and there was no way to free these muscles without getting her to straighten her spine. I asked her to roll her pelvis forward, lift her ribcage and draw her head back. Her reply was, "If I felt good I would already be sitting like that". Structural collapse inflames the joints and muscles, interferes with breathing by immobilizing the ribs, and all of the tight muscles block the flow of fluids through the tissues and the flow of energy through the meridians described in oriental medicine. The flow or lack of flow of energy in the meridians affects digestion, elimination, the heart and lungs, the glands, the sexual drive, the life force and ultimately how you feel.

True Potential

Our bodies are incredibly well designed to move with grace and efficiency. Many of our muscles are rarely called upon in everyday movements. Bodies thrive on movement. Movement moves fluids and activates muscle. Movement strengthens bones, increases the numbers of mitochondria per cell and the density of our capillary beds.

The twisting and extending asanas of Hatha Yoga can help but the poses do not get the bones floating in their web of muscle and connective tissue. The only way to get the bones to float is to move in a pattern that activates and utilizes the deep layer muscles that support the body structurally.

Yes, this takes work. Fortunately, most of the work looks and feels like play. And yes, it is worth it; when I started this process in 1982 I was muscle bound in my hip and lower back and in pain. It took a few weeks and a number of deep tissue massage sessions to create enough change to feel free of my old pattern but the awareness that I began developing then is still with me and still increasing. This is truly a lifelong process. My movement patterns have changed and so has the shape of and feeling in my body but I still catch myself moving in the patterns of my childhood and teen years. I've used movement, stretching, chiropractic and massage to correct the problems that I had developed. Fortunately, in spite of less than perfect movement form, I have spent most of my life since 1982 pain free and more coordinated than I ever dreamed I would become. Since then I have seen many people change their movement habits and join me and the rest of the pain free population in much more active and involved lives. Haphazard movement invites disaster. Conscious, graceful, decompressing movement invites a more profound experience of life. Fortunately we can make peace with gravity and learn to move well. Healthy movement patterns are fundamental; gravity must be dealt with. Having a great diet, lots of exercise and imbalanced strength is like having a car with a big, strong engine, the best gas, and the wheels out of alignment; something is going to break down. Only through paying attention to and refining our movement can we develop structural health and structural health is the key to healthy feet, knees, hips and spines that are free to move so that when things go well in our lives we will have the energy and strength to enjoy them. Decompressed movement feels good. When we feel better, everybody wins.