Liberated Body Podcast

Joanne Avison, author of Yoga, Fascia, Anatomy, and Movement, talks with me about fascia and why it has been overlooked historically (which includes a fascinating tour through the history of anatomy and its relationship to the Catholic church), how we form embryologically and what implications that has for biomechanics vs. biotensegrity (or biomechanics vs. biomotion), what that changes when we think about movement and the language we use about movement and the body, 

Juliet Starrett talks about the non-profit she and her husband Kelly have founded, Stand Up Kids, which aims to spread movement rich classrooms throughout the nation. They've started with their children's public school in California, which this August aims to be the first chair-free school in the United States. How can standing desks create a movement-rich classroom environment instead of just replacing old furniture with new furniture? Hear the key details that make that possible. How is a movement rich classroom environment and equality issue for boys and/or children with ADHD?How can you make this happen in your community? 

How have our "advances" physical disempowered infants and children? What long terms costs does that have? How might the epidemics related to poorly functioning nervous systems be linked to or influenced by this? How do we send the message that what is "out there" is more important than what is "in here"?What are some of the movement-related predictors and therapies for autism spectrum disorders? 

Frank Forencich and I talk about "the long body". A Native American term about how we are massively connected with the biological and social world around us. Where does the human body begin and end? Why is our perception of ourselves as isolated units dangerous? Why do we have nervous systems?Are we currently living in an alien environment?What are some of the features of our culture that make is a "short culture"?How is technology changing our nervous systems and our relationships? How has stress changed since paleo times?

Where are we teaching critical sensing skills (instead of just critical thinking skills)? What is true physical education? Are classical meditation forms incompatible with modern life and the modern mind? How do we use the expressive capacity of our bodies to connect as communities of humans? 

Barbara Loomis talks about the surprising symptoms that can spring from uterine malpositioning- urinary incontinence, constipation, fertility issues, and even knee pain with ovulation. We also talk about the normal movement of the uterus, what we can do to keep it in as happy a position as possible, and some of the cultural things that contribute to a malpositioned uterus. Additionally we talk about the risks of hysterectomies, and the controversies that spring up around whether or not women should lift- if that affects uterine issues or contributes to problems in pregnancy. .

  I am talking with Dr. Stephen Levin about what biotensegrity is, the many ways that we are not like skyscrapers, how the difference between the bicycle wheel and the wagon wheel can illustrate the concept of how we are “pre-stressed”, what viscoelasticity is, the shoulder as a sesamoid bone, some examples of the many tensegrity structures we can find in nature if we know what we’re looking for, what the ichosahedron has going for it and why we should care, and more!

  I talk to somatic pioneer Judith Aston about the Aston Kinetics paradigm and how it integrates seamlessly with other paradigms like yoga, Pilates, and personal training, how seeing the body is taught in those disciplines and what seeing the body even means, our bodies not just as self-contained units but also about their interactions with the physical world, thoughts on the impact of product design on our bodies, what the early days of co-creating with Dr. Rolf and other pioneers was like, and the meaning behind her quote, “sometimes we just need help interpreting ourselves.”

  Dr. Eyal Lederman talks about his paper, The Myth of Core Stability. We get into the assumptions that were pulled out of the research which have lead to the core stability model, how dividing muscles into “core” and “global” groups is a reductionist fantasy, why the focus on the transversus abdominus is faulty, and the problems training for core stability can create.

  Dr. Steve Gangemi, aka The Sock Doc, is a chiropractic physician and MovNat certified trainer who is merging functional neurology and nutritional biochemistry into mainstream natural healthcare. We talk about foot health as a gauge of a person’s overall health, the recent Vibrams 5 Fingers lawsuit, orthotics, the dangers of stretching, why you want to move your ass often but not quickly, long term effects of doing only high intensity workouts, and much more.

Gil Hedley is an ethicist and anatomist who runs unique human dissection labsthat are much more about discovering the reality of our connectedness than about finding the separations between things. We talk about how our model of the body determines our relationship with it, the superficial fascia and what’s up with everyone ignoring it?, different tissue layers as different antennea of the body, insights into the famous “fuzz speech” and more.

  Dr. Carolyn McMakin talks about Frequency Specific Microcurrent, our bodies as electromagnetic systems, the history of electromagnetic medicine, and the dramatic results of Frequency Specific Microcurrent on a diverse range of things from inflammation to shingles. As an expert in Fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndromes she also talks about the range of causes of fibromyalgia, and how we must understand what prompted an individual to develop fibromyalgia in the first place if we ever hope to resolve it.

  Amanda Joyce talks about her work as a Parkinson’s Disease Movement Disorder Specialist. We get into how powerful movement can be, even in progressive disease processes, and Amanda also talks about her own journey with scleroderma.

Mary Bond, author of The New Rules of Posture, talks about how and why the word “posture” is problematic, how poor posture becomes chronic, what muscular armoring is and how it interferes with our functioning, the distinction between support and stabilization, the relationship between facial and spinal tension, and what it means to be a tongue gripper and how that affects people.

Michol Dalcourt is the director of the Institute of Motion. He and I talk about what “farm kid fit” means and why it matters,  how are we are upright if our bones don’t touch?, how fascia moves the body- not just muscles- our body as a fluid organism and why we need to pay attention to its fluid dynamics, tensegrity! (one of my favorite subjects...), what he means when he says the body is a lever-less system and other concepts in the “new” biomechanics, why we need to zoom out and not just focus on the nervous system’s effect on muscles, and how the fitness industry’s go to approach of training for speed via more strength is actually slowing people down.

This being the week of Thanksgiving in the US, I am talking about Liberated Body’s self-care, movement scavenger hunt, holiday giveaway spectacular which kicks off on the facebook group (www.facebook.com/liberatedbody) on Friday the 28th. For 9 days I am giving away my favorite self-care gifts for 2014. Each day we will have a different movement to “find” as many times as possible throughout our day, and whoever uploads the best photo or video will win the self-care goodies of the day! In this episode I explain how it works and what will be given away.