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| Let\'s Talk About Chimps, Man |
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Our genus Homo sapiens sapiens – the One Who Knows He Knows – is a mere 300,000 years old, which in the grand scheme of things is not unlike a babe in the woods. This relative immaturity combined with the fact that we are the only mammals to exclusively stand and walk on two legs, offers us something of a challenge.
Our transition to upright posture required significant adaptations of our muscles and bones. Most primates can sit and stand, with some able to walk upright for short periods of time. What allows humans to sustain these acts is the primary and secondary curves running through our whole body— most significantly those in the lumbar spine or lower back. Chimpanzees, our closest ancestors among the primates, have a flat lumbar spine and as a result can’t sustain upright posture. It is our lumbar spine’s lordotic or anterior curve that enables our upper body and feet to bear and transfer weight.
There are other important differences between the human skeleton and that of the chimpanzees. Our knuckle-dragging cousins use their hands to help them move forward, and although they can walk on two legs for short distances, their walk doesn’t much resemble ours.
One reason for this is that our thigh bones slope inward from the hip to the knee, allowing our feet to fall directly under our center of gravity. This led us to develop powerful pelvic muscles called gluteal abductors which stabilize our bodies while in mid-stride. Chimps’ thigh bones slope outwards causing them to stand and walk with their feet wide apart. What’s more, their pelvic muscles are much weaker than ours, so that they have to move their entire body from side to side with each step, just to keep their center of gravity over whichever leg is bearing weight. Most importantly, chimps do not place their weight across the whole foot. Rather, they ground exclusively to the outside of the foot.
Human evolution followed many different paths. Our uprightness led to increased acuity of vision and the development of larger brains, which in turn required a wider-ranging diet including more high protein foods. To accommodate these advances, we needed to make our way down from the trees in order to forage over greater distances. In time, we began to do this exclusively on two legs.
Our descent from the treetops brought changes to the structure of our feet and the job that is required of them. The chimp foot requires an opposable “thumb” for grasping tree branches. In humans, the big toe has moved towards the midline and points in the same direction as our other toes. This seismic shift saw the big toe go from being a grasping digit to one which helps us move through space. In fact, when we are walking properly, every step ends with the entire weight of the body on the big toe.
Another evolutionary change in the foot is the move towards weight bearing responsibilities and the formation of the longitudinal arch. While many primates stand largely on their toes or on the ball of the foot, human beings stand on the whole foot. The human foot is a weight-bearing platform, with spring arches that act as shock absorbers.
These transformations were necessary steps towards increased efficiency. As we evolved from quadruped to biped, our new foot became solely responsible for supporting us and moving us forward through space.
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| Three Simple Steps |
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Walking is a core event initiated deep inside the trunk that has the capacity to provide health and healing simply by learning to do it correctly. When we walk, we move front to back, side-to-side and top to bottom as well. The key to energizing this movement is to have a strong center that allows the arms and legs freedom of movement.
The spine is literally the center of it all. The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord and feeds the peripheral nervous system (the nerves that go to the rest of the body) through the outlets between the bones of the spine. The nervous system runs the show that is our life. It is responsible for taking in information, assessing that information and formulating the bodys proper response. The quality of our posture and the integrity of our spine have a great deal to do with the proper function of our nervous system.
A carpenter finds a straight line to the earth by dropping a weighted string from a height. It falls straight down, with the flow of gravity. Imagine if your body lined up in that flowyour ears, shoulders, hips and ankles would all follow the plumb line of the body. Instead for most of us our calves fall backward, our thighs sink forward, our lower back overarches, our upper back rounds back and our head juts forward. What the FitzGordon Method does is align us with gravity, making it our ally instead of our nemesis.
Here are three easy steps to help you get into gravitys flow:
Legs Back- The goal is to get your legs underneath your pelvis. When you walk, as the right foot is forward of the pelvis, the left leg should be behind the pelvis, and then they switch. This action keeps the pelvis level and the spine happily balanced on top of it. Unfortunately for most, the legs tend to move in such a way that pulls the body backwards rather than forwards.
Belly Strong- As an experiment engage the muscles of the deep lower abdomen while you walk. To get a sense of these muscles feel what happens if you exhale a little longer than usual and with a little more force towards the end. Feel how the trunk tones towards the core and lower back lengthens with the engagement. This abdominal muscle (transverse abdominus) should provide key support to the lower spine but it tends to be underused compared to other core muscles. Building tone in this muscle is half the battle to good movement and an end to back pain.
Head Up- Imagine you are a marionette lifted by a string pulling you from the back of the neck. The jaw should release down and the throat softens when the pupeteer pulls you up. As the spine lengthens towards the sky feel the arms and legs begin to release effortlessly towards the ground and walk softly over the earth.
Extension of the spine provides for optimal release of nervous energy through the spinal cord. This simple concept should not be underestimated. Find a stable base, build a few key muscles and lengthen skyward and you are well on your way to walking and living with ease.
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