Daily Maestroism

DM #175

Monday, November 14th, 2016

DM #175: Alright movement folks, let the nerding out begin.
We all have compensatory patterns and positions, and as per the discussion we had in DM #172, these dysfunctional positions are often times positions of strength and relative safety for the nervous system.
To that end, the person whose nervous system finds strength while in cervical extension (NKT testing is a quick way to confirm this) will have a super tough time getting rid of their Quasimodo hunch backed posture if all they're doing is “releasing” their pecs and strengthening their upper back.
Why? That rounded upper back comes with some real nice forward head posture, and in order to keep your eyes oriented with the horizon, cervical extension.
For the person who is stronger while in cervical extension, standing up straight and getting rid of that rounded back now puts them into position of relative cervical flexion, even though it's technically in neutral. That nervous system that preferred cervical extension is now in cervical flexion, and no longer feels as safe and strong.
What does that mean? All the cuing in the world to stand up straight ain't gonna do jack if you don't figure out why they're in that position in the first place and then make the nervous system feel safe with your intervention.
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