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Form Follows Function
One of the principles of Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique (SMRT) is that muscles may feel tight for a variety of reasons, one of which is that the bone the muscle either attaches to or crosses is out of its natural pocket. In our anatomy courses we generally learn the adage “muscles move bones at joints.”
The idea is that what initiates bony movement is always muscle contraction. But I have found that this is not always the case. There are times when muscles become tight because the bone has moved out of its natural pocket. One example of how this can occur happens when we sleep. Many of us are side sleepers, and when sleeping on our sides we roll slightly forward move out top leg anterior and toward the bed. Most of us sleep more on one side than the other and we spend a significant amount of time on that side with that top leg flexed at the hip and knee, turned into medial rotation and in adduction. We are passive as we sleep, but we are giving very distinct messages to our tissues.
Another of those adages that many of us hear during our training is “form follows function.” This basically means that your muscles, bones, and connective tissues will strengthen, tighten, weaken, loosen, etc. based on the activities you perform and the positions you habitually put yourself into. So, when you sleep predominately on one side with the opposite leg forward and moved toward the bed, the top hip twisted anterior and medial, and the bottom leg and hip posterior, your tissues will assume this is the position you desire and they will move accordingly. Over time, those tissues will stay in that position.
I have this particular issue in my right thigh. I tend to sleep on my left side with my right leg flexed and forward. My right femur is anterior which causes pain in my right knee and my right SI joint. SMRT is one of the few treatments that can alleviate this pain for me because it releases not only the muscle tissue but also pays attention to the position of the bone and releases the bone.
I told a class recently that when I crawl into bed and really, really comfortable – so comfortable that I begin to fall asleep immediately – alarm bells go off in my head and I hear, “this will not go well for you, you need to move right now!” It is only when I am somewhat uncomfortable that I know I will not wake up in horrible pain. These releases will be taught in Tampa in December.
To register or for more information, please go to https://efullcircle.com/workshop-schedule/
