Our central axis / vertebral axis and it’s importance to make us healthy and evolve further.

One must know the very basics of our own central axis (  brain and spinal cord) while working on our own body physically. So we will understand the importance of our vertebral column/spine and how to make it healthy with the conscious movement of voluntary musculature, which is the only medium in our hand

Part 1 , Let’s understand,The brain and spinal cord :-

The brain is a complex organ made up of specialized nerve and supportive tissues. It’s surrounded by many bones that together form the skull. The part of the skull where the brain sits is called the cranium. The base, or lower part, of the brain is connected to the spinal cord. Together, the brain and spinal cord are known as the central nervous system (CNS). Many nerves send electrical signals to and from the brain and spinal cord.

Structure and function of the brain

The brain is the body’s control centre. It constantly receives and interprets nerve signals from the body and sends new signals based on this information. Different parts of the brain control movement, speech, emotions, consciousness, and internal body functions, such as heart rate, breathing and body temperature, digestion, excretion, etc.

The brain has 3 main parts: cerebrum is conscious brain , cerebellum is unconscious brain and brain stem is subconscious brain.

The cerebrum is the largest, the outer and folded part of the brain.

 It is divided into 2 halves called the left and right cerebral hemispheres. 

The right half of the cerebrum (right hemisphere) controls the left side of the body. The left half of the cerebrum (left hemisphere) controls the right side of the body.

Each hemisphere is divided into 4 sections called lobes. These include the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes.

1) The frontal lobe controls movement, speech, behaviour, memory, emotions, and intellectual functions, such as thought processes, reasoning, problem solving, decision-making, and planning.

2) The parietal lobe controls sensations, such as touch, pressure, pain and temperature. It also controls the understanding of size, shape and direction (called spatial orientation).

3) The temporal lobe controls hearing, memory and emotions. The dominant (left side in most right-handed people) temporal lobe also controls speech.

4)The occipital lobe controls vision.

2) Cerebellum – small brain

The cerebellum is located under the cerebrum at the back of the brain. It is divided into 2 parts or hemispheres and also has grey and white matter.

   The cerebellum is responsible for:

movement

posture

balance

reflexes

complex actions (walking, talking)

collecting sensory information from the body

3) Brain stem

The brainstem is a bundle of nerve tissue at the base of the brain. It connects the cerebrum and cerebellum to the spinal cord.

The brain stem has 3 areas:

midbrain (also called the mesencephalon)

pons

medulla oblongata

The brain stem sends information to and from the other parts of the brain to the rest of the body and controls:

breathing

body temperature

blood pressure

heart rate

hunger and thirst

digestion of food

The brain and spinal cord together form the central nervous system, or CNS. The CNS acts as the control centre of the body by providing its processing, memory, and regulation systems. The CNS takes in all of the conscious and subconscious sensory information from the body’s sensory receptors to stay aware of the body’s internal and external conditions. Using this sensory information, it makes decisions about both conscious and subconscious actions to take to maintain the body’s homeostasis and ensure its survival. The CNS is also responsible for the higher functions of the nervous system such as language, creativity, expression, emotions, and personality. The brain is the seat of consciousness and determines who we are as individuals.

Peripheral Nervous System

The peripheral nervous system (PNS) includes all of the parts of the nervous system outside of the brain and spinal cord. These parts include all of the cranial and spinal nerves, ganglia, and sensory receptors.

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The somatic nervous system (SNS) is a division of the PNS that includes all of the voluntary efferent neurons. The SNS is the only consciously controlled part of the PNS and is responsible for stimulating skeletal muscles in the body.

Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a division of the PNS that includes all of the involuntary control.The ANS controls subconsciously, such as visceral muscle tissue, cardiac muscle tissue, and glandular tissue.

There are 2 divisions of the autonomic nervous system in the body: the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.

1) Sympathetic. The sympathetic division forms the body’s “fight or flight” response to stress, danger, excitement, exercise, emotions, and embarrassment. The sympathetic division increases respiration and heart rate, releases adrenaline and other stress hormones, and decreases digestion to cope with these situations.

2) Parasympathetic. The parasympathetic division forms the body’s “rest and digest” response when the body is relaxed, resting, or feeding. The parasympathetic works to undo the work of the sympathetic division after a stressful situation. Among other functions, the parasympathetic division works to decrease respiration and heart rate, increase digestion, and permit the elimination of wastes.

Enteric Nervous System

The enteric nervous system (ENS) is the division of the ANS that is responsible for regulating digestion and the function of the digestive organs. The ENS receives signals from the central nervous system through both the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system to help regulate its functions. However, the ENS mostly works independently of the CNS and continues to function without any outside input. For this reason, the ENS is often called the “brain of the gut” or the body’s “second brain.” The ENS is an immense system—almost as many neurons exist in the ENS as in the spinal cord.

Therefore, the skull with vertebral spaces is very important to protect the brain and spinal cord. 

Part 2 , Importance of our central axis to prevent us from diseases and enhance our organ systems to evolve further:-

The central axis is the most important part of our body and most ignored by all physical training programs and therapists.

The secret of health and further evolution lies here at our central axis.

The central axis, our  axial skeleton, is the most important part of our body to survive . It governs the body as a whole. 

Central axis and health:-

It not only provides the framework for our skeleton but also  supports and protects the brain, the spinal cord, and all the internal organs.   

  If the body’s framework is not supported from within by elastic muscles and soft tissues, it will tend to fall in around its centre. The organs will  collapse away from the musculoskeletal wall and  will be felt as a dead weight to be carried around passively. Stiffness and hardness of musculature can’t stabilize structure and puts extra stress on bones,  ligaments, and joints  This causes movement to feel restricted and  heavy, while posture along with muscles also loses its internal support. The organs may be felt as a burden rather than a source of power and vitality.

 We find that each organ gives support to specific bones, joints, and muscles. Each has its relationship to every part and can be brought into a supportive alignment with other organs, bones, and  muscles according to the unique needs of each individual’s overall patterning or form. We experience misalignment or stress in one area, which may be reflected in the other. While working with the knee problem, we might look at the alignment of the knees with lower backs  with the kidneys and the way kidneys are or are not supporting the lower back. Lack of organic support for the lower back will cause weakness there and tendency for the lumbar region to either collapse or hyperextend while sitting and standing. In either case, the pelvis is not free to transfer the weight of the body into the legs through a clear and balanced alignment. Stress will be thrown into the knees. This tends to lock or hyperextend to maintain balance. For a particular individual, it may also be helpful to suggest a feeling of tensile support or counter movement between the kidneys and elbows, sternum.head ,neck, or heart according to the different needs of each person.

It is important to understand the evolutionary lineage of the axial skeleton. The human axial skeleton consists of 80 different bones. That’s about 40% of all the bones in our body. Health and smooth movement of axial musculature is most important 

It is the medial core of the body and connects the pelvis to the body, where the appendix skeleton/ extremities attach. 

The head/ skull bone is connected to the neck vertebrae, the neck vertebrae are  connected to the upper back ,upper back vertebrae connected to rib cage  and lower  back vertebrae connected to sacrum with tailbone which is connected to pelvis.

    This skeleton of the central axis transmits the weight ( it’s not about fat it’s about skeletal ) from the skull through each vertebrae to sacrum towards hip joints to knees, ankles and feet. It consists of slightly movable joints where joint stability is most important to protect the internal organs. 

Physical instability is leading us towards anatomical distortion, not only with structure but increasing pressure and load on all organs systems physically and physiologically, too, which further slows down the functions. Hence, instead of enhancing their function, it’s deteriorating at an early age.

It is a wrong concept that the axial skeleton doesn’t move.  You can turn your neck and move your back, but the movements of the axial skeleton are more subtle than rigid. For physical stability and mobility, frictionless smooth movement in each axial skeleton joint is most important to function. Though it provides more of a support function.

         As a biped species,there is tremendous pressure on our axial skeleton, so in our nervous system, it makes us physically stable.

          It is a complex job to balance the body on our feet and walk upright. Transferring the skeleton weight from head to feet with resistance of ground from foot to head for balancing right side with left side.  The muscles of the vertebral column, along with all other muscles, contract to stabilize different parts of the body and  help maintain posture as well as carry out other functions. 

The brain sends out electrical impulses to these various muscle groups to control posture by alternate contraction and relaxation. This is necessary so that no single muscle group becomes fatigued too quickly. If any one group fails to function, body posture will be compromised. In all this process, contraction and excitation of the muscle spindle is a strong force. Hence, muscle tissue, along with other tissues, become hard or calcified. Therefore, muscles that hold the frame and internal space get distorted. So never ignore short/ stiff/hard/rigid muscles instead of joint movements learn to move voluntary muscles.

     Each person must understand that  physical efforts for relaxation/ expansion is a more active process, whereas contraction is a very strong defensive force.Therefore, conscious contraction will not lead us  towards good health at all. This is an exact mistake people do , in the name of  physical activities and yoga Asana in the name of fitness 

 It is important to understand the evolutionary lineage of the axial skeleton. The human axial skeleton consists of 80 different bones. It is the medial core of the body and connects the pelvis to the body, where the appendages / extremities are attached.

    For now, let’s take a closer look at each of the areas of the axial skeleton. You can think of this kind of like the axis of the Earth. Just like the Earth has a centre around which it rotates, your body also has a center, and it rotates but from two opposite directions, vertically with rotating opposite directions horizontally. Otherwise, it will disintegrate.

That centre is our axial skeleton, It consists of the skull, spine, and ribs with sternum.

The joint between the skull and the top most cervical vertebra is the most mobile joint in the whole spine. 

C1 is so special that it has its own name – the atlas.  It comes from Greek mythology where Atlas was the guy who held the world on his shoulders.  ( In the Bible, it says “He hangs the world on nothing.”  The real Creator knows how He set it up!)  So the atlas “holds up” the head.  It is totally unique.

1. The atlas is the topmost vertebra, and the axis forms the joint, connecting the skull and spine. It is the most mobile joint in the whole spine. This is the “yes” joint.  It allows us to nod our heads up and down. 

The atlas and second vertebra called the axis are specialized to allow a greater range of motion than normal vertebrae. They are responsible for the nodding and rotation movements of the head.The atlanto-occipital joint allows the head to nod up and down on the vertebral column. The dens of the second cervical vertebra act as a pivot that allows the atlas and attached head to rotate on the axis, side to side.

  The atlas and axis are important neurologically because the brain stem extends down to the axis.

     There is also a lot more movement between the cervical vertebrae than any other section of the spine, allowing a lot more movement in the neck overall than any other part of the spine.  Therefore, never ever  ignore small hints of our body mechanism like  headache,neck pain,ear block, motion sickness,dizziness ,snoring, acidity, muscular injury etc  it’s sign of distorted space in skull and vertebral spaces)

   Because the spine is one unit – bones, ligaments and muscles all connected as they run down from head to tail – how head with the neck works affects the rest of the back with pelvis  and vice versa. And it all starts at the head,the muscles that run along the vertebrae continue down the back to the sacrum and so the movement of the neck does affect the shape and movement of the back that way.  The position of the head and neck has a huge impact on the whole axial skeleton system, which really affects the rest of the spine and extremities.

Part 3 , Relationship between Central axis and appendages :-

In the last part we saw the  role of the axial skeleton. Now we will see the  relationship between  the axis and the appendages. It’s not only about the movement of the skeleton but also the movement of organs, for their proper functioning. The secret of our overall physical and mental health totally depends on this.

The way our body  receives and transmits weight  from head to feet and feet to head and pressure of the atmosphere around our body not only influences structural alignment but also integrity and inner spaces too. Therefore, the equilibrium of forces within to adapt with the outer atmosphere environment is an essential factor to work physically.

Role of appendicular skeleton ( limbs) in the movement of spine (physical stability and mobility).

The appendicular skeleton is appended to the axial skeleton.It consists of upper limbs with shoulder girdle, which is attached to the rib cage. Lower limbs with pelvic girdle, which is attached to the sacrum and to the Spine.

These two units form the frame upon which the entire body is organized. Therefore, how you arrange and move your body through these units is most important to learn to evolve as a biped. 

Role of the shoulder is different from the hip. In the hip joint it had to bear weight and transfer it towards foot and the resistance of ground/ gravity from below towards the head.The shoulder is a suspension joint and has the widest range of movement of all the joints hence it is naturally unstable.

   One must understand that when the child is born ,the movement of legs and arms is already there, and this too is a reflex action. There is no control of the cerebrum over the action of the spinal cord as yet,so there is nothing to learn from these hand and leg movements in the name of any type of Physical exercises including yogasan. Here, step by step, the child will make efforts to move the torso/ spine from hand and legs and then stand and walk. Here, the centre of gravity gets adjusted, which differs with each child, but  that doesn’t mean we are not extended properly. In this process, the nervous system develops, but all these go into an àutomation. Whatever the child does in all these stages, exactly one has to learn intellectually. We as human species must understand the importance of the centre of gravity and its deviation,it’s collapsing, and to enhance this structure erect from collapsing.

Here,lower extremities create gravitational force, which is the foundation and locomotion for the entire body . Pelvic girdles hold the gravity where movement is behind and downward of our body towards the heel. The lower limbs/legs have to support the body weight and resistance of the ground.

The upper extremities/ hands  are used skillfully for manipulating objects in our environment. Here, the shoulder girdle is for creating anti gravitational force from ànterior side of our body and balancing left with the right side to make us stable.

As this shoulder girdle is attached to the rib cage, its role is to  expand the spine along with the expansion of the rib cage in  three dimensions.

    In the last part, we have seen that the axis is a spine with a head and ribcage. Here, the upper extremity attaches to  the rib cage, and lower extremity attaches to the sacrum/ spine.  The central axis has to bear tremendous weight of structure, and it is distributed  to the organs as well. That is the reason elasticity and expansion, two of these  properties of musculature, are most vital, and our physical efforts have to be in that direction.

Take e.g. of a car. It has a chaise in the centre that is connected to the four wheels. The movement of the wheels is circular, and this circular movement is converted to the linear movement of the body. The same principle is applicable for movement in infants. So, the relationship between the axis and appendages is through the shoulder joint and the hip joint. So, the circular pattern of a wheel is changed into different joints of the limbs. But the movement of the body/ torso is linear. The sliding movement of the torso does not have speed, but with the help of appendages, it becomes fast. Therefore, the quadruped animal can run faster than a human  being.They are horizontal to the ground ,gravity is their friend, and we  are vertical to the ground. Hence, gravity pulls us down.

In the quadruped animal, one side has a long neck and the other side the tail. With this, in movement at a higher speed during galloping, they can keep the spine straight and extended.

But we human beings, without extending our spine along with our full body,  are using it for day to day activities. Activities like sitting, standing,  walking, and exercising too. Therefore,we have to learn how to keep our central axis straight/ erect and extended vertically and horizontally.

The basic principle is the same; the circular motion is converted into the linear motion of the axis. Therefore, we teach the technique of how to roll over the belly and slide forward. Lying on the belly are dynamic postures.They help to understand the principle of locomotion. Alternate balancing on the left and  right sides is the control of the cerebral nervous system. This method of yoga is the learning process by using the biofeedback technique.

Therefore, the yoga posture is not to learn the movement of a crocodile or a snake but to take care of the spine in the movement. Human beings learn, turning, sliding, and crawling on forelimbs through these postures. In crawling (like quadrupeds) opposite side limbs are used for movement and  opposite limbs for anchoring. This is a crosswise axis, and  the centre is the naval point. This pattern of wave is like latticing of the torso (latticing means joining the opposite ends). In some yoga postures, we must learn this latticing to make our body stable and movable.

   Therefore,this is the basic principle that is to move the center from the periphery but while teaching asana they move the periphery from the center and  the same mistake is getting carried in physical activities hence leading us towards diseases instead of ease. Yogic movements are intellectual movements that are different from anatomical movements of  medical science, which are reflexes, which are leading towards devolution. We need to come out of reflex action to understand yogic movements for further evolution.

E.g.“ Adho Mikha and  Urdhva Mukha shawnasan” developed, where the dog uses the hooves of rare limbs as anchor. Hips become a fulcrum, and the forelimbs become the moving axis, and the movement is extending the spine and opening of the rib cage. By this movement, the dog is able to extend the muscles of the paraspinal variety towards the hip and the front muscles of the belly and chest towards the chin. This dog anchors the rare limb backwards along with backwards pull and extends the front   body forward with the help of forelimbs.  

As the human has a vertical spine, there is a need to stabilize the spine first ,as its tendency is to fall downward.

Therefore, in yoga, a person has to learn two movements of extension in order to learn the art of movement as a biped. Here, with the pelvic girdle, the back side holds the gravity with muscle pull going towards heel and anchor.Then only the front side, i.e., Shoulder girdle, can create anti-gravitational force which is towards the head. Hence, before learning standing postures, we should learn extension of spine in lying, sitting, and standing postures.

Therefore, the peculiarity of a lying down posture on the belly is used as a sliding surface and latticing of the torso. Here, the type of movement is a wave pattern ( like a snake). Here, using the belly as a sliding surface is the typical natural posture in reptiles and quadrupeds. In human beings, it is the first step towards a biped.

Therefore, it is required to understand the exact role of shoulder and  hip joints. Only through these joints can circular motion be converted into linear motion.But this is just a mechanism of movement. Yoga does not talk about the mechanism of reflex movement, it talks about physical stability to evolve as a superhuman which are meditative poses which are not possible without equilibrium of forces acting on our body within and without. 

The human spine is curved and vertical to the ground, so it will also have a tendency to fall. One has to learn movements intellectually not to be stuck with reflex action.

Hence, it makes us physically stable and moves vertically. Natural movement (Gati) in human beings is, retroversion of shoulder girdles (rolling shoulder girdle freely backward and downward  on the rib cage) and  anti- version of pelvic girdle (Lifting pubis symphysis upward with ilium going backward and  downward). Only with these movements spine extend (elongate) and move like a cycle chain(vertically) , with the front side going upward (anti-gravity)  and the back side towards gravity.

Like four leg animals, we have to extend our spine from head and tailbone .But vertically upward with two limbs  on the ground and two hanging . Hence, we have got rotational movement in the spine (anti-clock and clockwise movement) to balance this gravity and anti gravitational force 

We have learned walking as a natural art and not as an intellectual art. Therefore, the aim of yoga posture is not to learn how to walk but to learn how to remain steady. This knowledge is gained while performing a posture like Trikonasana, Parshwa kone, how to move the torso with the help of the flow of muscle movements in hip and shoulder joints.

Once you work on your body correctively in postures then this becomes natural habitat in day to day activities there is ease in your body without loading our main four engines i.e heart, lungs,liver and kidney along with fuel tank and chemical factory i.e other organs. Further enhancing the function of all body systems.

If your car’s oil light went on once a week…and every time you checked the oil, it was running low…what would you do?

Shrug? Top up the oil tank (again)? Do your best to forget about it?

Or would you try to figure out the cause? Why did that oil light keep coming on? Why was your oil running low?

If you’re smart, you take your car to the mechanic. Where you learn that low oil is just a symptom. There, the mechanic looks for the real problem.

Why, then, don’t we take the same approach with our health? With our supplements?

 I agree that while something is wrong just to support a certain level, one may need this, but one must work on real cause.

  These two  girdles not only just  support but they  give stability and mobility to the limbs and the axial skeleton. But  for this, the most important factor is that two of the four properties of muscles are most important and i.e  elasticity and extensibility. Otherwise, all over the  soft tissues of organs have to bear the load of our body as a whole to make us stable.( We are ignoring this disease matter while treating and preventing it.

What I observe in the name of posture correction, Ignorance of basic principle, I.e. Anatomical distortion at the level of atoms leading towards slowing down Physiological function of systems which further lead to permanent Pathological changes.Person must learn to prevent this process and reverse it and make oneself healthy and enhance this human species which is stuck into diseases.