I signed up for a “Hip Reset” course I found online to help me strengthen my hips. When I got inside the course, the first lesson was a passive reset: laying on your back with your legs on a box.
Immediately, I noticed my disappointment, frustration — and resistance to “doing” this passive “exercise.”
I was hoping for active exercises; things I could do to build strength and improve my functionality.
As if anticipating my resistance to “doing” this “exercise,” the person who created the program provided an explanation about why this approach is necessary:
If the body is stiff, tense, or generating pain, you need to calm down the nervous system before you can do active exercises.
As a yoga teacher and trauma-informed coach, I know this very well. In fact, I teach it to my students. I’d never start a yoga class without centering breathwork; this exercise was that same principle.
When we are caught in the throes of pain or strong sensations, our nervous system is dysregulated. In this state, we lose the mind-muscle connection that is essential for aligned movement. Without a functioning mind-muscle connection, we can’t train our body how to execute coordinated movements. One muscle will take over for others, eventually leading to injury.
The only way to train proper movement patterns is by starting with a regulated system.
This principle doesn’t apply only to physical activities. When the nervous system is dysregulated, it impacts working memory, cognitive bandwidth, comprehension, and processing — all functions required to learn, create, and interact with people.
Learning and growth can only happen from a state of a regulated nervous system.
As tempting as it is to try to “fix” something, “do more,” or “get right into it,” if we don’t start with the basics of a regulated nervous system we won’t get very far.
Just like sharpening the ax is an essential pre-requisite to chopping wood, regulating your nervous system is an essential pre-requisite to working with the body and the mind.
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