Dear Students:
Recently Brent came to me for a Functional Integration® session after he twisted his knee during a hike. He rested for two weeks and did Awareness Through Movement® lessons on his own but still needed some individual attention. He said he also developed pain in his lower back and thought it was due to compensating for his injured knee while doing his janitorial job.
To start, I asked him to walk as if he were at work. I noticed that he took very long strides and surmised this was probably the reason he was experiencing back pain as well as knee inflammation.
Next, I had Brent take one step in slow motion so he could feel what it was like to shift his weight from his standing leg to the one moving forward. He habitually took a huge step and landed on a bent leg that required his muscles to work unnecessarily to keep him upright. Then I asked him to step half the size he chose and then half that size. He soon discovered that a smaller gait allowed him to land on a stable, straight leg that offered him skeletal support. This permitted him to rest some muscles for a moment while he transferred his weight ahead. He became aware that this also provided him to use less muscular effort.
Then I began a Functional Integration® session with Brent. My hands sensed that the muscles in his feet were taut, likely from walking in this manner during his custodian tasks. I gently moved his tarsal bones to relieve excessive tension and to broaden his range of movement through his ankles, knees & hips. After that, I found it would be helpful to offer him more freedom in rolling his pelvis through his spine, in a similar way required for walking. I felt, that connecting these areas to the motions of his legs was a very important piece to calming his back pain.
At the end of the session, I asked Brent to walk with different step lengths. I directed his attention on how his pelvis moved differently with each stride. He immediately sensed that he created strain in his back every time he took strides that were too big. Brent expressed that he was pleasantly surprised to learn he could cover more ground at work at a faster pace with shorter gaits and without harming his knee or back.
May this story inspire you to explore self-awareness on a deeper level through Functional Integration sessions.
~Donna
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