|
The Green Light Reflex
The green light reflex is the reflex involved in forward movement. When running for the train, sitting up at one’s computer for many hours, picking a child up, or standing all day long, all of the muscles of the back are engaged in whatever task you are undertaking. The back muscles can sometimes become so tight from constant engagement that, in the extreme, this reflex presents itself as a sway back. Conditions that can stem from habitually tight back muscles, as in the green light reflex, are herniated disks, neck pain, shoulder pain, and sciatica.
The Red Light Reflex
The red light reflex, more commonly known as the “startle response”, involves the contracting of all the muscles on the front of the body. It presents itself with rounded shoulders, depressed chest and the head thrust forward. It is a protective reflex found in all vertebrate animals and is a response to a change in one’s environment or prolonged distress or negativity. A loud noise, unexpected sound or sight or emotional trauma or long hours hunched over the computer can trigger the red light reflex, causing the brain to send a message to the body to protect itself, hold the breath, and contract inward. Left unchecked this reflex can lead to chronic neck pain, jaw pain (as with TMJ), a “widow’s hump” on one’s back, hip pain and mid-back pain.
The Trauma Reflex
The trauma reflex occurs in response to any physical or severe emotional trauma -- accident, injury, surgery, or long-term stress. It involves the muscles of the waist which, when tightened, slightly “hike” the hip on one side and twist the spine slightly. Examples of this would be the constant stress of holding a young child on one’s hip, limping on one side in response to a twisted ankle on the other side, falling on one’s tailbone in a fall or suffering from appendicitis. This postural reflex presents with side bending and rotations among the pelvis/trunk/shoulder/head. This postural compensation may be slight, or very noticeable, but its effects can be devastating. In many cases scoliosis is an example of an unchecked trauma reflex, creating a curve and tilting in the spine and trunk.
Unfortunately, due to Sensory Motor Amnesia, some people stay stuck in the extremes of these postural reflexes out of habit, not being able to sense the lack of balance in their bodies. In practice, Hanna Somatic Education resolves these problems through a process of cultivating awareness of the “amnesic” muscles first, then reeducating the brain to correctly reeducate the muscles to release and relax back to a comfortable and painfree length. This process results in better balance, coordination and proper functioning of the musculoskeletal system. Ultimately one becomes more self-aware, self-monitoring, self-regulating and self-healing.
|
