Interoceptive anatomy: three bones theory and the sensory stations of the deep core

Interoceptive anatomy: three bones theory and the sensory stations of the deep core

In short what I am going to say is that there is a new anatomical construct called the deep front line or deep core. The importance of this discovery cannot be underestimated. The deep core is a single continuous and unified system of muscle bones and fascia that runs down our deepest center from the tongue to the toe. This structure acts as our deep postural core and its actions are to stabilize and centric our joints both while at rest and in motion. Although credit for the discovery of the specifics of the anatomy goes to Tom Myers throughout history we have been communicating with the score to the variety of different meditative movement practices. yoga or tai chi are good examples but so is the practice naturally taken by anyone who is gently reprogramming their motor control. We can see this kind of thing when people are “going through the motions of a dance step or other pattern movement where they feel the most awareness and control in slow gentle movements. These movements require a great deal of concentration and it is this plasticity offered by the muscles and this system of postural muscles in particular that is so valuable.

By identifying this anatomy and by having its patterns imprinted in our consciousness our interior life will begin to change because those natural moments of internal physical self-awareness will now become more coherent as a system: we will begin to make new connections within ourselves and with ourselves.

I am going to present what I believe is the absolute simplest form of the system. By this I mean that I am going to identify the key, major junctures. I identify only three. It is common to divide the body into a tripartite structure. Thomas Myers himself does this and it is fairly obvious if we think of the two ends of the spine and the end of the legs as three main junctures.

Because my discussion will focus on the bio mechanics we will not consider the top of the head as meaningful in this context. We are going to focus on the physical realm.

A number of features become apparent. First we noticed that there are three prominent bones that play a major structural role at the center of each juncture. These are the jaw, the pubic bone, and the big toe. We will discuss these bones in detail as each one has been injured by modernity or what is called evolutionary mismatch, Resulting in the collapse of the core and loss of its sensitivity.

As a postural system, the Deep Core is largely self organizing. When healthy the deep core works naturally to maintain our balance and poise and ease of motion. The purpose of the pastoral system is to maintain a whore ability to respond and adapt.

The deep core also maintains the pressurization in our bodies and so has a great deal of effect On the respiratory and circulation systems. The body is not just muscles and bones but is really a series of pressurized chambers including the chest and abdomen but all of the muscles themselves grouped together into compartments actors pressurized chambers. In this way our movement can be spring and buoyant, a great savings in terms of energy use.

This system has collapsed to a significant degree at this point in the course of the development of modern culture. We can see this played out in the atrophy, distortion, and dissociation Of these major bones and structures they are the center of. Three bones theory tells this story in detail and recommends a diagnosis for sedentarism or sitting disease that can be called postural collapse syndrome.

But here we are interested in interoception, a term from somatic psychology that really means self-awareness. Intrasession can perhaps be measured using statistics and other corm forms of data, such as an EMG goniometer. However knowledge of interoception, research on interception, and the data describing interoception – none of these are interoception. By describing the anatomy of the deep core in terms of its sensory stations I would like to call your attention to these parts of yourself that you can know empirically. It is a marvelous part of the structure that the points where it emerges to the surface it does so in a cornucopia, blossoming in a tremendous variety of different sensory organs, from mechanical, tactile and neurological to chemical, hormonal, and erotic. It is not it coincidence that the places where we know The external world, exteroception, are the same places where we must know and feel and touch ourselves from within, interception.

It is very stressful when our inner state does not match our perception of the external world. When we cannot find safety and harmony and support that we are forced to drop down in the cascade of functions towards the more superficial ones. it is my hope in describing this anatomy, the anatomy of interoception, that it does for you what it has done for me and many of my clients. I hope that it will provide for you inalienable resources of your very own that you can call upon at any time for any reason In order to find your center, ground yourself, pull yourself together, find insight and self-awareness and wisdom. In this way, I hope, we can begin to make more organic and wiser choices and in so doing not simply re-create the status quo but create the world of freedom and safety and abundance that is our birthright.

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False anatomical shoulder