Bodies by both function and design require movement. Generally speaking, our movement requirements as humans have evolved and devolved due to societal constraints. We no longer receive our daily requirement of movement as hunters and gatherers surviving in our environment. Because our environment has changed, the way we embody exercise and our daily requirement of movement must also change.
Our bodies require attention to perform optimally. For example, we need to provide the right fuel through food that feeds and supports our bodies. Eating the wrong foods leads to poor health and our vitality diminishes. The same is true with movement. If we don’t move well, our health and vitality diminishes. We experience this through discomfort, pain, and/or injury.
The good news is that we can utilize the quality of our movement as preventive maintenance. There is great wisdom in the saying: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” My go to preventative medicine is joint flossing. Joint flossing is the oscillation of movement across the joint and it is the preventive maintenance that your body craves. Joint flossing is the foundation that all your other movement activities build off of. Joint flossing is at the heart and soul of my personal practice.
Knowing that skills are developed over time, rarely can we jump into something new and be proficient. The nuance of activity takes time to develop. In movement, joint flossing is the developmental work our bodies and brain crave. However, because our mind is easily bored and is always looking for the next new and shiny adventure, it takes attention and discipline to develop a solid foundation. In martial arts they say: to master one thing leads to mastering many. With movement, this begins with joint flossing.
Skills development is a progression. One skill builds on the next. The movement programs I’ve developed in Dynamic Neuromuscular Assessment honor this progression. In each program, the movement skills are delivered incrementally so that your nervous system can respond sustainably. Whether you choose to dip your toe in the water and start with the Fabulous Feet program or take the deep dive with the Gait Master Course, after a few months of consistent daily practice, you body will reward your mind with the health and vitality that comes from recovering movement capacity that you didn’t recognize was lost. This is because the brain naturally creates a blind spot to the areas of our body we do not have access to.
Like all worthwhile endeavors, we must invest time and energy, and movement is no different. What you’ll find in joint flossing is that on the front end you must invest more time in skill development, however, the payoff is a greater expression of those skills on the backend. Your health and vitality will become more sustainable with this attention to the minimum daily requirement of quality movement.