If I haven’t already told you, a hunk of my summer has been about healing. In July, I tripped on a pothole and sprained my ankle. I wouldn’t say that the recovery and rehab process is a “gift” but it has been an opportunity to re-experience the significance of proprioception - sometimes called the sixth sense.
Proprioception is our sense of our bodies’ presence in space (unless a person is missing certain receptors in their brain). You use your proprioceptive sense to know, for example, where your nose is (without looking in a mirror). Try this: close your eyes and touch the tip of your nose. The accuracy of that action relies on your proprioception.
It was illuminating for me when the Physical Therapist tested my ability to stand on one foot and then rise up onto my toes. I could barely do it on my injured leg. My balance was wobbly – and it hurt. The muscles were just not getting the signals I was sending. The “noise” from the swelling, and the injury itself, created interference that blocked the communication to my ankle. It was as though I couldn’t quite ‘find’ the muscles.
There’s some wisdom in this interference. The bruised and strained tissue of my foot and ankle need more rest. And yet I also need to move in order to heal, thoughtfully but not fearfully. It takes a “leap of faith” to follow the logic of exercise because it doesn’t “feel” like it would be a good idea! I have to call upon my curious self, “I wonder what will happen if…”. I use my integration of the Alexander Technique as I move my ankle.
Little by little, the interference (swelling, soreness) is diminishing and the nuances of self-perception are coming through. Each day I’m making some time for re-learning how to reconnect with myself at my ankle. It’s been a good excuse for more consistent fitness and some pleasurable, visceral time on the mat. It has been a process of re-membering and it takes consistent practice. (For a chuckle, look at this video - Brian Altemus and I drawing the ABC’s to move and lubricate our stiff, healing ankles).
Maybe you’ve experienced a similar process when you started using the Alexander Technique. Do you remember that you needed to practice re-organizing your patterns of moving? Did it take some re-membering? Even right now, as you're reading this, does it take a moment to orient and sense where your body is in space - perhaps in relationship to the floor? Proprioception sets the stage for you to take in other senses, like how the floor receives your weight. Is it kind of like starting all over from the beginning again and again? I'm right in there with you!!