The Hidden GPS Inside Your Body Proprioception Explained

How Proprioception Works And How Yoga Supports It

Here’s an important thing to understand about proprioception: it’s fast! Your brain instantly sends messages back to your body to adjust your position and keep you upright regardless of what you are doing.

Imagine you’re riding on a bumpy bus and although it may be uncomfortable, you still manage to stay upright without a lot of conscious effort. For that, you can thank your proprioceptors. In fact, if you are sitting here reading this and you’re not falling off your chair, you can thank your proprioceptors.

You can walk down the street, balance on a bicycle, balance in Vrksasana, Tree Pose.

Yoga helps to optimise proprioception because you get to practice all sorts of different ways to stay upright, balanced, and safe in lots of different positions, fast or slow; whatever kind of yoga you do.

A bit of Fun to Explore Proprioception.

Try this: sit with eyes closed and touch the tip of your right forefinger to the tip of your nose. Then try the same thing with your left forefinger. Pretty easy, right? You should have no problem. But, let’s shift the degree of difficulty a little bit. Sitting again with eyes closed and arms spread wide, touch the tips of both forefingers together out in front of you. Did you miss? Did you come close but not quite hit the mark? Did you nail it?  If so, you are ready for the big test. Stand in Tree pose, with your eyes closed! Stand near a wall! One of the reasons I encourage you in class to close your eyes at times is to practice pratyahara withdrawal of senses inwards so increase proprioception.

Proprioception and Improving it

Lesondak reports that proprioception is impaired when the muscles are tired, and also if living with chronic pain for example fybromyalgia. Robert Schleip has found that our fascia is the most pain prone tissue in our body, far more sensitive than our muscles. If this is so, then poor proprioception may be a cause of chronic pain. If that concept is true, then better proprioception should reduce pain. Some studies suggest this is true and clinicians have observed it anecdotally, but there is not enough evidence yet to verify it.

However in my own body, my practice definitely has supported my recovery from broken vertebrae and pain from this time. My own experience is that practicing yoga with eyes closed seems to help maintain my proprioception and balance especially as I have permanent vertigo. The big test, standing with eyes closed in Tree pose, is still beyond me. Timber! Ooops!! Yogi down!!

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