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Class 3 Theory

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     Welcome to Class 3 of the Heal Thyself Series. Today we will be working with everything between your knees and your low back. Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to discuss the simplicity of what we are actually trying to accomplish in this class. 

     We are teaching you the Art of Letting Go of your body. In order to do this we remove all muscular holding patterns and unnecessary tensions in the body. My plan for teaching you this is simple. 

   1. I will teach you the general anatomy of each area on your body. I will teach you generally what actions the muscles perform and at which joints. 

   2.We will use that knowledge to lengthen out every muscle in your body and release your connective tissue so you can see for yourself what it feels like to let go of that area. 

   3. You will learn to keep a watchful eye upon your body to intercept the muscular holding patterns as they try to return .

How do I lengthen a muscle?

     Lengthening a muscle is very simple. All you must do is place the muscle in a stretch and just continue to hold the stretch as the muscle lengthens. As the muscle lengthens, make a point not to resist it. Allow the muscle to lengthen. This gets easier and easier every day. There is no reason to feel pain. Just stretch right up to the threshold of discomfort and as the threshold moves, follow it. It's simple. If you practice manual palpation of the muscle (as discussed in Lab 1 and 2) you are trying to lengthen, the connective tissue will smooth out and you will achieve a quicker release of the muscle.

The Pelvis

The main topic of today's class is the pelvis. Our objective for this class is to align the pelvis underneath the ribcage and over our legs.

The pelvis is one of the main muscular hubs of the body. Everything that connects the upper body to the lower body must go through the pelvis. The pelvis is a very important structure. It is shaped like  a bowl and that bowl contains all of our abdominal contents (the visceral organs). It distributes weight from the upper body evenly between both legs. In this way, the pelvis balances out structural dysfunctions in the upper body. Whatever  gravitational stresses it cannot balance are left to be dealt with by the lower legs and feet as we discussed in our last class. The pelvis also serves to give an increased surface area for the muscles of the leg to attach. In fact a great many muscles attach to this pelvic bowl. 

     In this way the upper body can communicate with the lower. The abdominal muscles or back muscles pull the pelvis one way and the muscles of the leg respond by lengthening or shortening. All of this interplay affects greatly your weight within gravity. It had better be a healthy communication between these muscles or your life will feel very heavy.

Structural Implications

     Let's look at some of the structural implications of the positioning of the pelvis. For starters, you'll notice that the pelvis is directly connected to the spine. Therefore, the position of your pelvis will affect the position of your spine. 
Most of the pelvic dysfunction I run into in my practice is that of an anterior tilt. Let's say the pelvis is a bowl and the bowl is filled with soup. An anterior tilt would tilt the bowl forward (anteriorly) spilling the soup out in front of the person. This is literally what happens on some people. The pelvis isn't containing soup, but it does contain abdominal organs and these organs often spill/hang off the front of the pelvic bowl, because it is not containing them well. A lot of people who think they're fat are really dealing with a structurally misaligned pelvis. Well this also changes the position of the spine. It causes a "swayed back". Over time, this kind of posture can pinch nerves all over the body, impair blood flow and cause fatigue.  
     The opposite problem of a posterior pelvic tilt (i.e. the soup is spilling our behind you) causes different, but similar problems. Releasing all of the musculature and learning to keep muscular holding patterns at bay will eventually eliminate both problems. 

     Please understand that any dysfunction in your pelvis will create a dysfunction in your legs and in your spine through muscular attachment . Any dysfunction in your spine, must create a dysfunction in your ribcage, shoulder blades, arms, neck and head. Can you see how important this class is? Can you see why I say there is no such thing as an isolated problem in the body? A problem in your legs is a problem in your arms, in your neck, in your guts. Every problem is a full body problem and can only be fixed by treating the whole body.

     On this note, we should probably take a moment to discuss the musculature of the knees. A few of the muscles that attach to the pelvis also cross the knee joint. Therefore it is important to have your knees properly aligned if you want to align the pelvis. One of the calve muscles (gastrocnemius) that we lengthened last week crosses the knee joint. The hamstrings attach to the pelvis and cross the knee joint. The quadriceps cross the knee joint as well. The hamstrings and the quadriceps perform opposite actions. When the hamstrings shorten and contract, they flex the leg at the knee and extend the whole leg backwards. When the quadriceps shorten  and contract, they extend (straighten) the knee and flex the leg forwards. One last structure worth noting is the IT Band (iliotibial band). The IT  Band attaches to two of the upper muscles of the pelvis and runs down the lateral side of the leg crossing the knee joint and attaching on the tibia (outside bone of the lower leg). To release the IT band, we have to lengthen the two upper muscles of the pelvis that it attaches to. We will also have to make sure the IT band is not glued down by connective tissue to the quadriceps beneath it.

Now let's take a look at how the musculature that affects the pelvis is put together.

Take a look this drawing. This is a picture of vthe sartorius muscle and the rectus femoris. The names are not important. What is important is that you can tell by looking at them exactly what they would do to the pelvis if they shortened and contracted. Remember that a muscle has at least two attachment sites. When a muscle contracts, it shortens bringing the two attachment sites closer together. In this case, we are talking about muscles that attach to the front of the pelvis and the upper leg. Therefore, if they contracted, they would somehow bring the leg closer to the front of the pelvis. Either the muscles would lift the leg or they would tip the front of the pelvis down. Can you see why? This is important for you to understand. If these muscle are chronically tight, your pelvis will be chronically tipped forward into and anterior tilt. These aren't the only muscles that can give you an anterior tilt. Remember that for the front of the pelvis to tilt downwards, the back of the pelvis will have to tilt upwards. The two cannot be separated. Therefore, any muscle on the back that could pull the back of the pelvis upward would be in cahoots with the muscles on the front of the pelvis pulling the front downwards. 

Take your time rereading this sentence by sentence until you understand the concept. 

     Take a long look at the pictures. Look at the fiber directions of the muscles. Look at the attachment sites of the muscles and make sure you understand this.  

    Most of the muscles of the back don't attach directly to the back of the pelvis, but attach via a broad flat tendon sheath called the Lumbodorsal fascia. It is through this thick flat sheath that many of the muscles of the mid and upper back can tilt the pelvis forward. Take a long look at the picture and the muscles that mix into this tendon sheath. There is also a muscle underneath this sheath called the quadratus lumborum. Take a look at it. It does attach directly to the pelvis and your will feel it stretching in the lab exercises I'm going to give you. On the other side of the spine is the Psoas  muscle. It runs down the front of the spine, attaches to the inside of the front of the pelvis and continues on down to the upper leg. Remember when you are looking at these muscles that they are not separate from the connective tissue and in a very real way, not separate from each other. Many of their fibers interdigitate with each other. Allow these pictures to give you a general outline of what your body looks like underneath your skin, but remember that they all come together to form your body so never lose site of the whole system they create.

     As for the posterior tilt of the pelvis, it is created by muscle that perform the opposite actions on the pelvis. Mainly the hamstrings, gluteals, and abdominal muscles work together to tilt your pelvic bowl backwards. The hamstrings and gluts have attachments on the pelvis and upper legs. When they contract, they pull the back of the pelvis down towards the backs of the legs, vwhile the abdominal muscles pull the front of the pelvis upwards creating the same effect. Can you see why? Take a good long look at the pictures of these muscles.

     Ideally there will be a balance between the muscles that tilt the pelvis anteriorly and the muscles that tilt the pelvis posteriorly. We will achieve this over time by releasing all the muscles so we can start with a clean slate. This would be a good spot to let you know that usually the problem isn't as simple as an anterior tilt or a posterior tilt. Usually, through repetitive use of one side of the over the other, one side of the pelvis will be tilted more than the other. Symmetry in the two sides of the body is what we are reaching for ; a balanced middle.

How do these pelvic tilt holding patterns begin in the body?

     Remember we said that the way the body holds itself is linked into mindsets and the way we view life. Whatever patterns the muscles hold themselves in create the structure of the body and this structural pattern has a feeling to it. We get used to holding our body a certain way and we get used to feeling a certain way. Eventually we forget that it is nothing more than a feeling. We think that this feeling is who we are and we think that it is just how life feels. As we try to change it, we sometimes get scared because we forget what it is to not have that feeling. Who am I without that feeling?! Who am I without that feeling of stress, or that feeling of slouching? You may let go of a structural holding pattern for a moment, and feel a rush of energy through your body, but because you are not used to it, it may make you feel unstable at first. You may revert back just because you feel more comfortable with what's familiar.

The Two Main Reflexes of the Body

     There is said to be two main reflexes in the body. One reflex is used for forward motion, the other is used to retreat. The forward motion reflex lends itself to a structure that is very open in the front. The chest opens up, the arms swing back the pelvis tilts anteriorly and you find yourself moving forward. There is a time and place for this, but some people use it in an unbalanced way. People who are always rushing to get ahead or who are impatient, will often find an excessive anterior tilt in the pelvis. Some people are lazy, but still waiting impatiently. These people will also find this tilt in the pelvis. The opposite of this reflex is the second reflex of retreating. People who are very afraid will often close up the front of their body. They contract their abdominals pulling the pelvis into a posterior tilt. Their arms hang forward, their ribcage collapses. It is as if they do not want to let life into their body. They feel overwhelmed. Stand up now and practice these different postures so you can see how the way you hold your body affects the way you feel.

     Start by taking a deep proud breath and opening your ribs. Allow your arms to come back. Now tilt your pelvis forward. Can you feel the desire to take a step forward? 

    Now do the opposite. Let the air out of your lungs. Allow your ribcage to collapse. Tighten your abdominal muscles just slightly. Can you feel how this just zaps the drive right out of you and makes you feel tired? 

    The idea is to find a happy medium between the two reflexes. Sometimes you will need to move forward and consciously use one reflex more than the other, but when in a resting state, you are balanced between the two. On most people you will find reflex #1 in one part of the body and reflex #2 in another part of the body. The idea is to become aware of what is happening and begin using the information in the classes to change it. Today we'll work on the pelvis. Let's begin the lab.