Changing Results

The Brain as Decision Maker

My background includes studying ideokinesis and how much what we think influences how we move. I understood that whenever movement occurs it does so because the brain has sent a message through the nervous system to the muscles to contract and create movement. If there is a disruption anywhere along the way, such as a spinal cord injury that results in paralysis, movement will be affected.

This is why using visualization and imagery can be so useful in dance training. If a dancer has an accurate image of what needs to happen then the brain can figure out the best way to implement that image. It's also why we need to be careful as teachers with our descriptions and how we correct our students. I have found so many students who are overworking their rotators because they thought they needed to 'feel' their rotators working all the time as an indicator they were using their turnout correctly. By keeping the turnout muscles always turned on they actually decreased their functional use of their rotation... but that is different newsletter for another time.

The first big takeaway I had from my recent studies was clarifying why ideokinesis worked so well. The graphic below shows how the brain is involved in everything we do.

We are constantly gathering information about the world around us through all of our 5 physical senses, vision, touch, hearing, taste and smell. We also are gathering inputs (information) from our body that we are less aware of such as our thoughts, temperature, blood pressure, internal sensations, immune system, etc. Doesn't matter whether the input is internal or external - the brain processes them all - constantly and at lightening speed:)

These inputs are integrated and processed in the brain so it can make a decision about what to do with the information. It makes a decision and creates an output. This output can be movement - but it can also be pain, fatigue, balance, flexibility, immune functioning and so on.

Why ideokinesis works so well is that thought can be considered an input. When I guide a beginning student into imagining a demi plié as sliding up an down a pole like a carousel horse it is a different input than stating the hip, knees & ankles are all flexing. What about a dancer who is told to tuck their pelvis and bring their knees over their feet when doing a plié? All of these different instructions may create different motor outputs. As teachers we don't always know which idea is going to work best for what dancer - which is why we have many different ways to guide our students.

What I didn't have insight into prior to this year was how much our visual and vestibular systems can influence the motor output. I felt well versed in proprioceptive training as that is where most our dance training is focused.

Try this. Turn your head to the right noting how far you rotated by putting your finger on your nose and then extending it forward and marking the spot.

Next you are going to close your eyes and slowly (to the count of at least 8) rotate your head again to the right, then open your eyes, and notice how far you turned. Did you go farther?

Most people do👏 Why? We changed some inputs. I asked you to move super slowly and you had to count, and I took away your visual inputs. We changed inputs and the motor output was also changed.

This basic concept of how the brain works helps me as a teacher and as a human trying to improve my own physical well-being understand that if you want to change an output - you have to change your inputs.

So simple... and yet so profound.

To your success,

Deborah