Perception vs. Reality: Self-awareness can help improve how your body moves

By Dr. Andrew McHardy, Chiropractor

“Movement is written in the language of feel” – Gray Cook

Everyone sees the world through their own eyes. That is, everyone has their own perception of reality and reality itself changes from person to person.While this is all true -- it’s important to remember that reality is what it is. It doesn’t actually change to adapt to our viewpoints, regardless of how realistic our perception might seem. So, could your perception be affecting your body’s movement? Yes, it could.

Perception Influences Movement

It all comes down to this. The better we move, the closer our perception and reality are aligned. If this is not the case, how you complete a movement or technique could be a bit ‘off’. If your movement is negatively influenced by perception, you could be unconsciously harming your body’s parts or balance.Joint position sense, or proprioception (in other words, your feel of where things are) is governed by receptors in your body sending signals back to your brain. If a joint is stiff with limited movement, these receptors aren’t stimulated. Therefore, there is a decrease in signalling to the brain.Proprioception reduces our ability to perceive where things are and how our body is moving. A bit like trying to use an old-world map to find a new local street. This is common outcome if you are recovering from a serious injury or operation, or if your body has simply gotten a bit lazy over time and remembered bad habits.

Reality Informs Improvement

The value of seeking advice or coaching from a health professional, like your chiropractor, is that we can help your body align so that it can perform optimally. Not only can regular adjustments enable the receptors in your body to be firing messages to your brain properly, but we can also guide you to perform a movement correctly. When you can feel the correct position, your brain adjusts its perception to more closely reflect reality.Recording a video of yourself completing a movement is also a great way to be self-aware. For example, stand up and hold your arms out parallel to your body. When you refer to your video, you will be able to see if your perception of holding your arms parallel matches reality! If it doesn’t, you can easily see how you need to adjust your movement for it to be correct. When you feel the difference, your receptors are activated to update their perception. This leads to greater input to the nervous system, and ultimately, the accuracy of information being fed to your brain.

Learn More

At Sydney Spine and Sports Clinic, we put you first. We believe in offering chiropractic care that enables you to make informed and educated choices about your health. If you are suffering pain and would like to talk to us about how we can help you get mobile and active again – get in touch right here.