Seeking Symmetry

[Grace]

We all mostly seem to have one side of the body that dominates in strength, of course.

For me it's the right side that is both stronger and also tighter in the muscle tension.

An example from Intu-Flow: in the neck work, when I lean my head toward my right shoulder there is almost no tension and it moves easily. When I tip my head to the left there is strong tension in the muscles at the base of neck on the right shoulder. Were I to press it, it would be painful, but of course, I only go up to the point of tension and am working on relaxing those muscles.

So my questions: when there is tension, is it advisable to work the more tense side more times to loosen it or to keep an equal number of movements on each side?

If my right shoulder is noticeably weaker than the left, should I do more reps on the left to "catch up"?

I'm not especially strong to begin with, due to myositis (autoimmune muscle inflammation) and to resulting disuse weakness of muscles not directly attack by disease. At the moment the inflammation is mostly controlled by anti-inflammatories, and yes, I do have doc's consent to exercise.

Any insights most appreciated. Thanks.

[wildman]

hello grace. i read your intro a while back. its good to see you here, i've been looking for your posts. i grew up on an equestrian therapy horse farm in ohio where my mother did a large amount of therapy with individuals with your condition. so i feel very strongly about your issues and i'm really rooting for you. i think you may have found one of the best resources available in rmax.

in response to your questions.

i would recommend that you keep the numbers symetrical between your tense and less tense sides. and that you keep the numbers the same between your stronger and less strong side.

keep the numbers low. 3 to 5.

in my personal experience i find that adding numbers to one side will only increase the tension and lack of balance. if you are looking for more release then you can do the actions from intu flow more frequently.

and take care to work the surrounding joints as well. as coach sonnon states at the introduction to Intu-Flow®, the site is often not the source.

there is a book called "anatomy trains" that is often recommended,

http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Trains-Myofascial-Meridians-Therapists/dp/044310283X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239640709&sr=1-1

it may help you better understand where the source of tension may be, by helping you trace the myofacial meridians.

in regards to your second question about working the weak side more than the strong. i would once again advise against it. what ever you can do with your weak side, i would advise that you copy with the strong side. your goal is to create symetry of sttength, movement, and relaxation.

it would be great if a couple of the coaches who are real therapists could chime in and give a more qualified opinion than my own.

keep posting and i'll give you as much help as i can.

rooting for ya

[lorenzodamarith]

hello,

grace, echoing wildman... rootin' for ya!

thanks

[Grace]

Hi Mark,

Thanks so much for your insights and encouragement. I will look for the book you mentioned.

It's the strangest sensation of my body being split in two halves vertically, from the back of my head to toes--with the tighter tension and greater strength in the right side than the left. I can feel it in my neck, front and back, my torso, all the way down to my toes. The one massage therapist I've gone to even mentioned feeling the difference in tension in my muscles from one side to the other.

Starting Intu-Flow® has definitely increased my body awareness--that sense of where my body is, in space. I try to consciously recruit the left side muscles because if I do a move mindlessly the right side will automatically do all the work. I'm also paying attention to moving in a symmetrical way, for example, to pick something up off the floor, doing a semi-squat (as far as I can) with weight equal on both legs instead of leaning over with all weight on right foot. I even notice that when I stand at the kitchen sink one hip tends to come forward more with weight on one foot. Much of this is from gradual adaptation to the muscle weakness and I try to correct it, whenever I notice.

[QUOTE=wildman;158960]i grew up on an equestrian therapy horse farm in ohio where my mother did a large amount of therapy with individuals with your condition. /QUOTE]

That's interesting! I was thinking the other day that the only way I could ever get up on a horse was by a lift. Though, I haven't ridden a horse since Girl Scout days. Although, I see in the photo at the bottom of this page (http://www.mda.org/publications/fa-myosi-qa.html), that someone does still ride, using a platform to mount.

Ironically, horses do get myositis, too. Oddly enough, my first muscle biopsy was read at the UC Davis Veterinary School--they assured me they had 28 years of experience and it was an excellent, detailed pathology report.

My personal 100-Day Challenge is to do Intu-Flow® and some other moves to strengthen back, abs, and legs at least 7 out of every ten days. This will tell which muscles can be strengthened and which are too atrophied by the muscle disease. Already, the Intu-Flow® is improving balance, though I still need support on the one-legged stances.

The 5-lb mini-Clubbells feel very heavy to me and I don't know whether I'll ever be able to swing them (after going through the Intu-Flow® and Xtension, of course) but even just holding them vertically in my hands for a few moments every so often seems to be making subtle improvements in strength.

It's an inch-by-inch process.

Meanwhile, I'm loving reading about all the amazing things that CST folk are doing! Many of the videos are breathtaking. What a wonderful corner of the world this is.

[Grace]

Hey, lorenzo,

Every "root" much appreciated!

Thanks.