Your movement patterns could be holding you back. This article offers four reasons that indicate you might want to re-evaluate your habits.
No matter your age or physical abilities, retraining your movement patterns can lead to several benefits for your physical and mental health. By taking a customized approach to your body’s mobility habits, it is possible to reduce pain, improve range of motion, and prevent injuries in the future.
To me, the choice seems clear—relearning how to move should be a priority for everyone who wants pain-free movement. But, as a physical therapist, I may be biased.
If these benefits pique your interest, then you should consider speaking to a professional about your options. Here are four reasons why you should take a step back and look at how your body moves.
You Want to Avoid the Need for Surgery
When you have inefficiencies in your movement patterns, they can cause damage that accumulates over the years. Whether your inefficiencies have been ongoing for years or decades, retraining yourself to be more efficient with your movements now can prevent invasive surgery in the future.
You Want to Reduce Chronic Pain Symptoms
Make time to explore movement. Many chronic pain symptoms result from years of moving poorly, forcing the nervous system to rely on inefficient patterns. Remember, recovery to higher levels of physical function as we age and especially after trauma or injury, relies not on our competence to perform more exercise or engage in just the right activity. But instead, rely on our capacity and proficiency to observe the sensations we feel during specific fundamental patterned movements. Depending on your symptoms, this could mean a drastically higher quality of life.
You Want to Improve Function and Mobility
The sensation of pain keeps people from having the physical abilities they desire. In some cases, your body’s normal response and function to pain are to reduce mobility and specifically impact a joint’s ability to have the full range of motion.
By retraining movement patterns that involve other joints, you can regain flexibility and strength where it is needed most. The benefits that this can have for your ability to walk, run, and balance will also improve your life. A trained professional can help you turn around the loss of function and regain any movement abilities that you are missing.
“Nothing is permanent about our behavior patterns except our belief that they are so.” – Moshe Feldenkrais
You Want to Prevent Falls
For seniors and those who have limited mobility, falling is a serious issue that can lead to an injury, not to mention complications arising from the injury. Enhancing strength and balance are natural by-products when you learn to experience more efficient movement patterns and perhaps, prevent falls from occurring in the first place.
A trained professional can help you pinpoint precisely where you need to address imbalances so that you can reduce your risk of injury from falling.
Don’t Let Your Movement Patterns Keep Imprisoned in Your Chair
How you move is just as important as where you are going. As Moshe Feldenkrais once said, “Movement is life.” When you have learned better movement patterns, you will improve your life, as well.
Talk to me today about how I can help you reach your movement goals. Don’t forget! I offer Telehealth Pain Relief in addition to my in-person services.