What is proprioception?
Divo Muller at a recent Fascial Fitness workshop in London defined it as our 6th sense; the"body and movement"sense. Without a proprioceptive sense we could not feel our bodies.
To have this 6th sense we need to have sensory feedback, we only need to remember the tragedy of the Romanian orphans, who were left without sensory feedback in the form of touch, to know how damaged a person can become when deprived of this proprioceptive sense of body.
The proprioceptive sense is perceived using our nervous system. There are some medical conditions where the nerve endings become damaged and a lost of proprioception occurs. Ian Waterman had such a medical condition, many in his situation cannot walk, he taught himself to walk using his mind and his other senses such as sight, however when the lights go out he falls to the floor as he has no idea where his body is. You can see part of the BBC documentary about Ian Waterman on Youtube.
The fascial (connective tissue) system is far more innervated than muscle, it can be argued that proprioception and kinaesthesia are primarily fascial not muscular.
There are 10 X as many sensory receptors in our fascial tissues than in the muscles ( Stillwell 1957).
The receptors include: Golgi tendon organs which measure load ( by measuring stretch in the fibres). Paciniform endings, which measure pressure. Ruffini endings which inform the central nervous system of shear forces in the soft tissues. Interstitial nerve endings which do everting the others do plus, apparently, pain (Stecco et al 2009, Taguchi et al 2009). This means that when, you think, you feel your muscles move you are more likely to be connecting into your fascial network.
From a Pilates, Yoga or movement teachers point of view, particularly those in rehab or re-medial practices, proprioception has another interesting property. It has been suggested that pain and proprioception cannot exist at the same time, like oil and water they do not mix. This follows research done by Helene Langevin amongst others.
For all the above reasons we should encourage our clients to keep their fascia fit and to hone their proprioceptive sense.
How can we do this?-
Pilates, yoga, tai chi and other holistic exercise practices already improve body awareness.
Lying in semi-supine, in pilates neutral for instance, gives the client feedback or a proprioceptive sense of how their back is positioned. They will know how much pressure is being placed at different places along the spine or across the shoulders for example. They will be able to feel changes when limbs are moved or lifted. At first many of my clients would look blank when asked how their back felt, their awareness of movement and their proprioceptive sense was not yet honed. Many associated pain with movement, they insisted they could not feel anything unless it hurt. Bringing awareness and the proprioceptive sense into the exercises makes a big difference.
The Pilates machines provide even more opportunity for proprioceptive feedback.
Footwork on the reformer provides proprioceptive feedback for the back as it lies on the carriage, the shoulders if they touch the shoulder pads, the feet as they rest and push against the foot bar . Swan on the barrel provided proprioceptive feedback at the heel/foot, at the hips and pubic bone and the front of the body as it takes on the shape of the barrel.
In my studio improving body awareness, the "6th" sense is a big part of the Pilates training.
Tracey Mellor
March 2012
