This past weekend I was lucky enough to take a course with Dr. Brent Anderson founder of Polestar Pilates. The Course was entitled Pathokinesiology of the Spine, and just like the name sounds the workshop was full of useful, technical, and profound information. As I've been teaching throughout the week I have continued to process the information, make connections, and hopefully shared some new insights with clients in classes. Many tiny yet huge paradigm shifts were sprinkled throughout the course. Those moments when a simple concept is presented and it changes the way you think completely and forever… A point at which you realize that your perception of the world will never be the same…a moment where a relatively simple idea blows your mind. When Dr. Anderson was talking about loving the intervertebral discs I had one of these moments. Understandably you might be thinking, ‘Really Katrina your mind was blown? Really?’ Well to that I say read further and maybe your mind will burst a little too!
In one of the lectures in this course Dr. Anderson spent a great detail of time reviewing the details to the structures of the spine. We covered degrees of rotation planes of transverse processes, angles of transverse processes, segmental movement of the spine. Then we came to the intervertebral discs and Dr. Anderson picked up a soft ball and started talking about how we talk about the discs. He mentioned words like slipped disc, bulging disc, degenerating disc, prolapsed disc and so on…then he went on to speak about the importance of speaking positively about the intervertebral discs, and finished with, “Do you know why disc replacements don’t work? Because we can’t figure out how to make something as good as the intervertebral disc.”
At this point, I was thinking, ‘ok I get it love the discs. Awesome…’ Though, it was “how to” that created the paradigm shift. First, lets explore the anatomy of the discs. What are the components of this fabulous piece of our body? The intervertebral discs are considered cartilaginous. The outside (Annulus Fibrosus) of the disc is made up many layers of cartilage, which offers protection to the center of the disc (Nucleus Pulposus).
There are several things that can happen to these discs if they are not “loved” enough. Disc degeneration occurs when fibers of the Annulus Fibrosus begin to degrade causing the disc to lose pliability and flexibility. A bulging disc occurs when one part of the Annulus Fibrosus weakens and then the Nucleus Pulposus begins to shift from the center of the disc to the edge. The Herniated disc occurs when the Annulus Fibrosus splits or bursts and the Nucleus Pulposus escapes. There are also flattened discs, and flattened discs that then lead to deformation of the vertebrae.
Ok Now! How do we love the discs…How do we keep them at their flexible, strong, spongy glory…Well here’s the easy part. With movement! The best way to nurture the discs is with a balanced combination of compression and decompression. In flexion of the spine the bodies of the vertebra compress the front of the disc and decompresses the back of the disc, in extension of the spine the body of the vertebra compresses the back of the disc and decompresses the front of the disc. In lateral flexion the body of the discs compresses the side of the disc while decompressing the opposite side.
During this part of the lecture you might remember that I had mentioned that Dr. Anderson had picked up a soft ball and while he was speaking he was “playing” with it. He was gently squeezing it and releasing it. And as we were listening we all became slightly mesmerized with this soft ball. The ball became the discs and his hands became the vertebra. I felt my spine start moving with his hands and the shift happened…Love the discs, don’t fix the discs, don’t be static be mobile…Spread the love between all of the discs not just a few. Love the discs, Love the discs, Love the discs!!!!!
Now how do we love the discs! Think movement of the spine. During your day find times when you ask the spine to bend forward. Ask your spine to arch towards the back space bend from side to side. In the video below I have recreated Dr. Anderson’s demonstration with the soft ball. It was such a clear visual for me and I wanted to share it with you. Thank you Brent Anderson for a great workshop and experience!
Katrina Hawley C.M.A, R.S.M.E
Co-Owner The Pilates Studio
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