exploration: independent mobility of the spine

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Independent mobility of the spine

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last update: 30.5.2021
Name: Independent mobility of the spine

Instructions

  1. Carry out this exploration in a warmed-up and mindful way.
  2. Stand in tadasana about half a metre in front of a wall to have a reference.
  3. Hold your upper body in position and turn your pelvis to the right.
  4. Bend slightly in the right knee joint so that the right hip is lower than the left. The upper body remains unchanged.
  5. Tilt the pelvis forwards into flexion at the hip joints, creating a hollow back.
  6. Rotate the chest to the left.
  7. Curve the thoracic spine into flexion.
  8. Tilt the chest to the left side so that the left shoulder is lower than the right.
  9. Tilt your head to the right.
  10. Turn your head to the right.
  11. Put your head back.

details

  1. This exploration serves to prove and experience that and to what extent the spine can be moved largely independently of each other in the three areas of the cervical spine, thoracic spine and lumbar spine. We therefore perform the opposite movement to the one below in the area above. The wall serves as a reference to better confirm the movement performed and estimate its extent.
  2. Basically, the spinal column between the head and the sacrum usually consists of 24 vertebrae (more is not uncommon) and the spaces between them, in which the intervertebral discs are located. Two vertebrae with the intervertebral disc in between are referred to as a segment and form the vertebral joint in which the movement takes place. The mobility of the spinal column is therefore made up of the individual segmental mobility. It is not possible to control each segment individually. This is both neurologically unimplemented and completely unnecessary in the context of the activities that the human species has developed and trained to date. Furthermore, it would certainly lead to a significant loss of stability in the overall WS system. The spinal column is secured against unphysiological movements of the vertebrae relative to each other by several ligaments in the spinal canal and on the outside of the vertebrae, some of which are quite stable. This protection would be much more difficult to ensure with completely independent segmental mobility. In addition to the ligaments, movement in the individual segments is restricted by the fact that the vertebrae are connected by various muscles of the entire system of autochthonous back muscles, which cover different numbers of segments. For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that some muscles of this system also insert on the iliac crest, the ribs and the back of the head. Each of these muscles can only contract as a whole and therefore acts more or less evenly on all the segments it covers. Essentially, the large areas of the cervical spine with its 7 vertebrae, the thoracic spine with its 12 vertebrae and the lumbar spine with its 5 vertebrae can be moved independently of each other. The muscles that radiate from one large area into a neighbouring one naturally limit the counter-movement(s) there. This can be reduced to a certain extent by promoting flexibility.
  3. The categorisation into the three areas of cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine naturally stems from the rib cage. Its construction consists of ribs, each of which is movable against the vertebrae with two joints, and a sternum on the opposite side, to which they also attach with limited mobility (more or less pronounced via cartilage). As the elasticity of the bony ribs is quite limited, the rotation of a vertebra in relation to the vertebrae below it, for example, is slowed down by the sternum, on which the ribs press from one side and on which they pull (via the joint capsule and ligaments) on the other side. The cartilaginous attachment of the ribs to the sternum allows a significantly greater degree of movement due to its limited mobility than if the ribs were attached directly to the sternum. In addition, the intercostal muscles between the ribs restrict their movement in relation to each other. Similar restrictions apply to lateral flexion, which, apart from the vertebral segments themselves, is probably mainly limited by the intercostal muscles, and extension, for which the same applies, which, depending on the individual flexibility of the intercostal muscles, can also be experienced directly in the form of stretching sensations during deep inspiration.
  4. From the limited mobility of the thoracic spine derived above, it follows that this area must have the least mobility of the entire spine if the other areas do not have even greater restrictions. In the lumbar spine, movement is limited by muscles such as the psoas major and, if present, the psoas minor, but more so by the quadratus lumborum and, above all, the oblique abdominal muscles, all of which move the pelvis or, in the case of the psoas major, even the leg in relation to the spine. The long rectus abdominis, which connects the sternum and ribs to the pelvis, can also have a limiting effect.
  5. In the case of the cervical spine, there are also some muscles that move the trunk or the shoulder blade supported on it against the head, i.e. they cover all segments of the cervical spine, but our movement patterns with emphasis on the head and upper extremity have a greater degree of flexibility here than in the area of the lumbar spine.
  6. In principle, any other combination of three-dimensional mobility of the spine can be tried out. It makes sense to perform the opposite movement in one area to the area below and above.