Finding the elusive “neutral”
The constant search for balance in life is mirrored in our bodies or our health.
I’ll be using the terms body/health interchangeably throughout.
Humans are complex layered beings! We are made up of interconnected parts or bodies. Each as important or essential as the other. So finding balance or a neutral state of being requires attention to each of these bodies.
Our mental health/body is influenced by our experiences, ego, ideas, and stories.
Our emotional or feeling health/body is often pulled in one direction by our mind (mental body) and in another direction by our hearts.
Our breath or energetic health/body(how we breathe) responds to the balance of our mental,emotional, and physical body and in turn affects each of these parts of us.
Our spiritual health/body (the strength of our relationships with ourselves, a higher power, humans, animals, or nature) correlates with; and directs in some way shape or form all of the above.
And our physical health/body (which compensates for habit/nurture, injury/healing, genetics/nature)
Responds with pain, discomfort, illness, or disease when any of these “bodies” are unbalanced.
I believe it’s deeply wired within us to be drawn towards balance. We can feel it in our bones when we are too far away from neutral. It shows up in an infinite amount of modalities. The acronym H.(hungry)A.(angry)L.(lonely)T. (Tired) is used in recovery circles as a checklist for overall wellbeing or balance. I’m sure you’ve heard the quote “listen to the body when it whispers so you don’t have to hear it scream.” Or some sort of reference to “the body keeps the score.” Both of these bring our focus towards the search for balance or neutral.
While it may bring up visions of a weighted scale, equal parts on both sides creating balance, our mental, emotional, energetic, spiritual, and physical health/body does not fit into that box!
You can go through each of these parts of You and find examples of how different combinations of opposing forces work for different beings.
I’ll be focusing specifically on the physical health/body here but each of these parts of us offers a window into creating balance. All are equally essential and I recommend taking time on each. As a yoga teacher and practitioner I’ve found that I can get to each of these places within myself through the physical body. Ignoring any part of me,though, or focusing only on one piece of the puzzle creates this “compensation response” where one part of my existence over develops to compensate for where there is laxity. If my day consists of physical movement without mental, emotional, breath, or spiritual movement I fall into H.A.L.T. If I can move with intention and breath, slowing my thoughts and directing them beneficially towards gratitude, and strengthen my connection to myself and spirit or nature I am covering my bases and moving closer to balance!
So here is some direction that I’ve found helpful in this ever evolving journey.
Finding neutral/balance in our physical body first requires an understanding of structure. The position of the pelvis, the base of the spine or our anchor, is the best place to start. Finding neutral here extends or reaches the entire structure of our body. It is influenced as I said by habit/nurture, injury/healing, and genetics/nature. These different influences create a level of compensation. Muscles and facia become tight/short or loose/long in response to how we walk, stand, sit, and sleep. In order to balance the body we need to find our way home to neutral. Since every body has its own story starting with an assessment one on one with a body worker is the best starting point. A physical therapist, yoga teacher, Thai massage therapist, zero balance therapist, chiropractor, or osteopathic doctor that can explain the imbalance to you well!
This discovery of what it feels like when the pelvis is in neutral gives you a framework or baseline to work from. Resting in a position that supports this neutral position will give you feedback right away.
The only way our body’s respiratory system works properly and at full capacity is when the body is in this neutral position. The diaphragms of the pelvic floor and respiratory system work in tandem. If the breath you take in does not reach your pelvic floor your abdominal muscles are not stimulated or triggered to do their job, the muscles that support your spine are not stimulated or triggered to do their job, the respiratory diaphragm becomes weak which keeps the lungs from doing their job. The pelvic floor muscles become weak or tight or both which keeps them from doing their job!
Finding the correct movement from neutral is so important!
For example looking at the muscles that support the position of the pelvis (glutes or your “butt”, erector spinae, and abdominal muscles, and the pelvic floor) we need to identify tightness and laxity. If one side of the body is more developed and one side lacks tone you should focus on strengthening the lax side and lengthening the developed side. Short muscles will pull the pelvis out of alignment. They develop more because they are compensating for the unstable or lax muscles on the other side. It goes along with the understanding that flexibility is not safe without strength. And strength is not beneficial without flexibility.
Learning to listen to what our bodies have to tell us and finding how neutral feels in our own physical bodies opens doors and windows to all of the other pieces of US. It’s a beautiful starting point. It guides us to seek out direction and help with finding balance in all other areas of our lives!