Calming an Irritation (Fixing a Foot-Hip)
This post serves as a follow up to: A Path Towards Harm. Otherwise titled: The things I did wrong when I didn’t pay attention or have compassionate patience.
The tag to this blog used to read, “fix yourself.” But that implies that something is always inherently wrong. It guesses and negates the big picture and bigger purpose — understanding. The following serves as an example of all the little finds — the many things one can learn when they stop forcing and start observing, letting go of their desired time table and simply follow where their body (and brilliant friends) point. This piece is the culmination of about six weeks of gentle, curious investigation and threading of issues, which all masterfully connect in the way only these wondrous bodies of ours can.
What have you been objectively missing?
When things feel decent, what does the video tell you? Trying to film an athleticism post about sinking vs. dropping, I was surprised by how everything twisted into my right hip. The instinctual response was to try and utilize more of the left (and make things more ‘even’):
What resting/ generally used motor patterns are being affected?
Walking, standing, sitting. How is gait being affected? What postural compensations and/or adjustments have been made?
Effected left hip resisted the pelvic sling that drives that hip forward. No wonder it was sore; it was constantly putting on the brakes. Up the chain, the ribs were shifted forward and had no support from below, further placing an excessive twist in the system:
credit Nicole Uno for this observational direction
The wildest rotational disorganization occurred between the foot and the rest of the body. When trying to load the inner ball of foot, the knee, hip, and ribs would drift away or externally rotate. Extra tension and extra torque which removes available space to move. Harmoniously back in agreement, the system can better operate:
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What is happening at the foot/base?
A typically internally rotated left side had not only ‘lost’ it’s IR but also it’s ability to pronate. Middle toes took over for pinky and big toe. The transverse arch disappeared. The ankle stayed stacked and refused to drop in.
This awareness and insight could only have come from Adarian Barr. A conversation with him (along with a magnificent massage and use of his pronation clogs), set all this in motion and helped me realize where and what I wasn’t.
What problematic areas exist in the opposite half?
It is both tricky and difficult to look elsewhere. We want to focus on the area that is screaming. But we have to consider multiple causes (coming from multiple reasons/ places). Halves can be organized as top-bottom, left-right, front-back, or diagonals. My right shoulder had been been limited for some time. I mistook the scapula for the socket, and needed to implement the elbow for proper (effective) placement and stabilization:
Another nod from Adarian. I have complete trust in what he says, even if it takes some time to comprehend and apply.
What connection can be made between these two areas?
The cross pattern between right shoulder and left hip has been well documented and talked about, but that doesn’t mean I use it and/or consider it as a paramount relationship. It’s only when it crosses in front of where I am looking that it becomes a priority. Abducting the hip to get pronation felt relieving, as was utilizing the new scapular position (under load) to help set the hip. Being able to pronate under adduction or as weight shifted toward the midline is another means of contextualizing this confluence:
What middle pieces might be contributing to the faulty pattern?
We must remember that the middle or core is the literal exchange area. It dictates what stays or what passes on, and in what way. It translates and compensates for what is happening distally. My left oblique not only held the ribs in a compromised place, but that work made the right oblique default to doing everything else. It needed “to get wide” (an Unoism) in order to influence the half, correct the stack, and slide the right-shifted pelvis back to neutral:
Note how once attended to, the shoulder sits lower and pronation becomes naturalized.
Though these are presented in numerical sequence, they are actually realized, discerned, and grasped in spirals. Some come in bursts and some come more subtly and wrapped in other things. The digital chunks documented above are curated snippets of a longer story and study. The ‘answers’ are not static and universal. They simply fit my present skill of what to look for, what it means, and how to communicate it.