What is Anatomy in Motion?
Anatomy in Motion (AiM) is a powerful movement based approach created by Gary Ward. It can be used to assess and guide your body back into alignment and create an environment for healing.
“A centered and balanced body is one in which the human body holds the richest environment for your healing to take place” - Gary Ward
AiM maps out how each joint in the body from the feet all the way up to the skull move together in harmony during the gait cycle (walking) and can be applied to sporting activities and static resting posture. It helps us to understand what each joint, ligament and muscle is doing (or ‘not' doing) throughout the whole body when we are in motion.
For our body to function at its best it is important that all of these individual structures move together optimally, with each part playing its role. If one area of the body reduces it’s movement (e.g. due to past injury, past surgery or to protect something) and isn’t moving as it usually would, then all of the other areas of the body can be impacted by having to overwork or alter how they would naturally move, which means our body isn’t able to function at its best. This can lead us to move and walk in a less appropriate way, leading to compensations. This also places other areas in the body at risk, which may or may not be the site of your pain.
Our brain remembers every injury, surgery or trauma we have ever had, from birth to current day. These held memories can lead us to walk or move differently. For example an injury to your big toe years ago may have caused you to limp initially for a while, avoiding fully weight bearing through that foot, then over time, even when the injury has healed, your body has adapted into a habit of this particular movement pattern and still avoids loading that foot and big toe, this then alters the mechanics of the foot, joint and muscular movements higher up in the body and you might find niggles or pain elsewhere that are nowhere near your initial injury to your big toe.
Therefore it’s VITAL to remind the body of what movements are missing and to encourage it back into alignment where it has the most movement options available to it, to allow for more movement choices and reduce the likelihood of future injury or reinjury.
AiM has been used to help:
- Chronic pain and long standing issues that haven't been resolved with other forms of treatment and therapies.
- Pain or limited range of motion. This could be post surgery, pregnancy or accident.
- The root cause of movement discrepancies/compensations. This can help improve mobility issues or motor imbalances to restore pain-free functional movement.
- Athletes recovering from injury needing to restore optimal movement, or athletes wishing to improve sporting and training performance.
- Anyone looking to improve their balance and reduce the risk of falls and injury.
What to expect during your AiM appointment:
Medical History
Firstly we’ll have a detailed chat to talk about your medical/injury history so I can learn your
body’s story. This is very important as your story will provide clues as to why you may be
struggling with certain niggles, pains or moving in a certain way.
Assessment
We will then work through a thorough biomechanical and anatomical assessment using gentle, safe movements to see how your body is currently positioned and moving. Based on these findings we can then use specific movements to create a safe environment for your body to explore new movement experiences to facilitate change and healing within your body.
Treatment
In some cases tools such as wedges may be used under your feet to assist your feet and body to experience a certain movement. After all, our feet are our connection to the earth, so it is vital to have happy feet that are able to move in order for all of the joints above to then be able to move as nature intended too without compensation.
Ready to unlock your full movement potential, move out of pain and back into a more aligned body?
Let's work together, contact us at 01642 903662 or click here to book your appointment.