I wrote an ebook called “The Body: Position and Movement Trauma Patterns” that goes into a little more detail on this topic as well as includes a table at the end with different body positions and movements that a person can test.
Just like limiting subconscious programs can affect our bodies, there are body position and movement patterns that create aberrant signals in the nervous system. It could be these body position or movement patterns trigger the sympathetic nervous system to fire up, sending the body into an incomplete or awkward fight/flight/freeze/fawn mode. Or it could it these body position or movement patterns cause the nervous system to malfunction in another way.
Here are some possible causes:
- A person took a step forward with their right foot, slipped, fell, and landed on their bottom. This created a pattern where, whenever this person takes a step with their right foot, their body gets “stressed out.”
- A person was hit in the chest with a ball and got the wind knocked out of them. It took them a couple of minutes to catch their breath. Now, whenever this person takes a breath in, their body gets “stressed out.”
- A person was constantly pinched on the back upper arm as a child. Now, whenever someone touches their upper arm, their body gets “stressed out.”
- A person had a left hip replacement where their leg was placed in a frog leg position during the surgery. Now, whenever this person mimics a movement pattern close to the frog leg position, their body gets “stressed out.”
- A person is constantly criticized as a child and picked on by others. They learn to round their shoulders and hunch forward to appear smaller, attempting to make themselves a smaller target. Any time they try to bring their shoulders back in a more erect position, their body gets “stressed out.”
- Basically, any physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or social stresses can possibly cause the body to “stress out” when performing certain movements or in certain positions.
Once the positions and movements causing the body to stress out are identified, the person is able to correct these patterns through the methods suggested below. If for some reason the person isn’t able to correct the pattern on their own, they may want to go to a professional to help them address that pattern. And, of course, if a person is uncomfortable addressing the positions and movements on their own, it would be in their best interest to seek out a professional to help them.
Why Identify and Clear the Pattern?
It’s important to identify and correct these position and movement trauma patterns so the body is able to function better, hold treatments better, and improve overall quality of life for the individual.
Identifying:
Personally, I locate these patterns on others and myself through muscle testing. I’ll have the person perform the activity and then I’ll immediately perform the muscle test.
If it’s a trauma, accident, surgical procedure, or a physical activity that wouldn’t be good or realistic to replicate in the office, I’ll have them visualize the position or movement. I’ll muscle test them while they’re visualizing that position or movement.
I haven’t tried pendulum or sway testing for this work, but you can always try it out to see if that works for you. Regarding how to muscle test, pendulum test, or sway test, there are basic descriptions and pictures that can be found in “Revealing Your Diamond” ebook. There are also many blogs, books, seminars, classes, and the like that you can take that do a great job explaining how to do muscle testing, pendulum testing, and sway testing.
The most important aspect with muscle testing is focusing on the intention of why you’re muscle testing. For this work, your focus and intention with muscle testing is: if the arm goes “weak” or doesn’t “lock”, the body is telling you that the body position or movement in question is stressing the body out. If the arm stays “strong” or “locks”, the body is telling you that the body position or movement in question does not stress the body out.
Recently, I read a comment under a YouTube video that was a video on Applied Kinesiology Muscle Testing. The comment was by a gentleman named Andy Graham who suggested hanging a 2lb weight from the patient’s arm instead of pushing it down. The thought process behind this is to make sure the practitioner performing the muscle test isn’t subconsciously pushing down lighter or harder on the patient’s arm. I tried it out on myself and will be trying it out on my friends to see if they notice a difference. If you try it out, please share your experience in the comments!
For me, if I hold a 2lb weight with a straight arm, it doesn’t take long for my arm to fatigue and drop. However, my arm didn’t tire out on its own when I assumed the following position: used a 1lb weight, had my upper arm beside my body, and elbow bent at a 90° angle with thumb turned up towards the ceiling. I asked questions and noticed that when the answer was “no”, my arm would sink slightly and the weight felt heavier in my hand. Is this placebo effect? No clue, but I liked the suggestion and will be trying it out in the future.
Also, the results from this make sense to me anyway because I notice how heavy objects seem when I’m carrying them while I’m in a more negative head space. If I feel uncomfortable and pick up objects while in that space, the objects feel heavier to me. Is it because I’m stressed out, so my muscles aren’t firing at their optimum level? No clue, but it’s something worth checking out for yourself and see if you notice any differences when you pick up objects while in a positive mood versus a negative mood.
Correcting:
A way to correct the position or movement trauma pattern is to have the person hold the Crossy-Cross Position while visualizing their body in the position or movement that stressed their body out.
While the person is in the Crossy-Cross Position, they close their eyes and imagine the position or movement trauma pattern. They maintain the Crossy-Cross Position while they are going through their visualization. They visualize the position or movement until they feel they are “finished.” Once they are done, the position or movement is re-tested. If the muscle is now “strong” or “locks”, then it indicates that position or movement no longer stresses that person out.
If the position or movement involves eye movement patterns, then the person can keep their eyes open while performing the eye movement. The same goes for any of the other head, neck, thoracic, and lumbar positions or movements. As long as it doesn’t involve the person uncrossing their wrists or ankles, they can physically perform those movements or hold those positions (eyes closed if they aren’t doing any of the eye stuff).
A person can do the Crossy-Cross Position with visualization for surgery, trauma, birth, improve performance, and any other situation that they feel would be beneficial to address.
If the position or movement pattern doesn’t correct, the person may want to go to a professional to rule out other potential causes. Personally, I use this technique with my patients at the end of the session after they received bodywork (chiropractic adjustments and soft tissue work), so it’s possible the body may need some other form of care before this corrects.