I like to start my sessions with a moment of pure experience, asking my client to take note of her sensations just the way they are. This sets a tone of non-judgementalness, which offers my client agency to take charge of pain and posture herself.
In this part of the session, I'll say:
"Nothing is right and nothing is wrong.
It's a matter of perception."
The crux of this mini-practice is that it develops the inner awareness of how we make movement - without help or hinderance from outside directives like coaching injections, well-meaning advice or TMI in general.
A Starting Point for Long-Term Pain Relief and Better Posture
The simple act of pausing and taking note provides a starting point for the bones, joints and muscles of the body to realign naturally.
Once natural body alignment happens, pain and muscle spasms that have been present for years easily release. Functionality improves. And clients report back that they've resumed intense activity - like competitive sports, backpacking, farming and gardening - they thought they'd never get to do again.
Movement is Like a Computer Output
From a neuro-lens, our movement is a lot like a computer: Sensory information from peripherals, in this case, skin, muscles, joints and even our internal organs, is received and processed by the brain, or CPU. The brain then issues an output, in the form of a movement response of some type and magnitude.
What I'm aiming to cultivate as I take a client through the initial few moments of the session is the ability to make clear movement responses.
Attention to Sensation: A Task and a Tool
Critical to the process is the acceptance to be okay with ourselves just the way we are.
The main task - and tool - for this is to keep one's attention on the sensations. Sensations have a direct influence on the quality and clarity of the output, or movement response.
If you'd like a taste of what this is like, below is one of my inner awareness protocols I give clients. This one is about breathing.
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Anne Asher is certified by American Council on Exercise as a personal trainer and health coach, and certified at the 200 hour level as a yoga instructor. She has 25+ years experience using movement and body alignment techniques to help people feel better both physically and mentally.
For over a decade, Anne was also an award winning health journalist for a large website owned and operated by the New York Times Company. Her "beat" was spine and chronic pain management.
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