Red Minis, Dalmatians, Pain and Movement!

It's true....."Where focus goes, energy flows".

Your thoughts are so powerful that they can change your biology and alter your perception of reality.

For instance, have you ever had an injury, pain or movement limitation that just won't go away despite all your efforts?

One reason can be the amount of time that you spend dwelling on the problem or trying to fix the symptoms. 

The more you think about the pain or injury the more aware you'll become of every twinge. The more time you spend bemoaning what your body can't do the more limitations you seem to find.

If you keep dwelling on the pain you're in, how stiff you are, how annoying your symptoms are and ways to fix yourself, this is all you'll notice and the situation can seem hopeless.

There's a little known part of the brain that's responsible for this. This area can also give us valuable insights into the relationship between sleep, emotions and perceived levels of pain.

Say hello to the Reticular Activating System (RAS), also called the somewhat less catchy Extrathalmic Control Modulatory System.

The RAS is one of the oldest parts of the brain that acts like an ignition switch, taking us from sleep to heightened awareness and has enormous influence over our behaviour.

Let's get to know the RAS a little better!

The RAS is a collection of neurons that links the brain stem to the cerebral cortex. The brain stem controls most of the essential for life involuntary bodily functions and reflexes. The cerebral cortex is the centre of our consciousness, logic and rational thinking. 

By linking these lower and higher centres of the brain the RAS enables your consciousness to assimilate sensory information from all around the body and create your internal experience.

The RAS has two systems:

• Ascending system = connects to cerebral cortex, hypothalamus and thalamus
• Descending system = connects to cerebellum and many sensory nerves (including visual, auditory, pain, touch and temperature).

What does the RAS do and how this apply to movement and pain?

In very simple terms the RAS processes all the input from your senses, filters out anything it deems unnecessary and then relays the remaining information to the relevant areas of the brain to take action.

Pain felt in any part of the body is relayed through the RAS for processing. The "fight or flight" response to threat is also directed through the RAS.

A very important role of the RAS is to filter the huge amount of sensory data that's constantly being absorbed and prioritise information to control what your mind focuses on. It can also induce a state of heightened awareness. This is why, when you set your heart on buying a red Mini car or you adore Dalmatian dogs you'll take much more notice of red Mini's and Dalmatians than a green Mini or poodles!

But it goes even further than this! 

The RAS learns what's consistently unimportant to you by identifying patterns in the sensory signals being sent by the nerves. This is how people can focus on their work in a busy open plan office, yet be startled by a car backfiring outside the building.

In short, the RAS is always looking for ways to confirm your core beliefs. If you believe it to be so, so shall it be. Challenging the RAS is how you can open your mind to new ways of thinking, experiencing the world, and alter how you respond to life situations. 

The RAS is also involved in regulating circadian rhythm, sleep vs wakefulness, muscle tone, posture, balance, coordination of movement and emotions.

There's an established relationship between lack of sleep, tiredness, mood, perceived levels of pain, balance and coordination. The RAS may be the common link here with it's connections to the thalamus, hypothalamus and cerebellum areas of the brain.

How To Get Your RAS On Side?

If the RAS determines where your focus goes and the way you feel / experience your body, how do you get it to cooperate so you can positively alter your response to pain, injury and other setbacks from frustrated or anxious to calm and rational?

Try these simple exercises:

• If you have a recurring pain that refuses to go away, observe what you're thinking when you feel this familiar pain.
• Bring awareness to any repetitive thoughts that run through your mind like a loop
• Notice if there's a trigger for a recurring pain - maybe it comes on when doing certain movements, if you've had a s**t night's sleep or are feeling low.

Once you become more aware of these unhelpful thought patterns or triggers you can now break that old programming and change where your focus goes.

Instead of paying attention to symptoms, fixating on the pain and constantly looking for ways to make the injury go away, you can spend more energy focusing on what your body can do and how your body is actually feeling - not what you think it can / should do.

NEXT STEPS

• Come to a Stretch, Yoga or Pilates class with me - here you can spend time observing how your body responds to different movements
• Attend a half-day mind-body retreat - these are deeply relaxing, fun, social small group experiences typically held in various locations within easy reach of Worthing, West Sussex
• Subscribe to my email list to receive "The Movement Chronicle", a weekly e-newsletter delivered directly into your inbox every Monday morning,

To find out more about my classes and retreats, or to join my email list you can contact me via any of these channels:

• Email at norma.pearson1@ntlworld.com
• DM me on Facebook Messenger 
• WhatsApp message to 07801 867361.