What is a Pandiculation?

By Kristin Jackson, Think Somatics -
In 25 Words or Less
Pandiculation - a stretching and stiffening especially of the trunk and extremities (as when fatigued and drowsy or after waking from sleep). Merriam-Webster Online Medical Dictionary

Let Me Explain
Do you ever notice how when your pet gets up from rest, she never just bounds up, but rises and does a couple of  "stretches"? She isn't actually stretching though. She's pandiculating. As she bows down and "stretches up," she contracting into her tight areas that were shortened as she slept, then slowly releasing the tension.

Pandiculations are the movement component of your Somatics lessons/practice. There are 4 steps to a pandiculation:

  • gently contract an area of the body (while simultaneously lengthening the opposing side of the body)
  • sense the tension you've created
  • then slowly release the contraction, with awareness and control
  • then take a moment to let the brain integrate (soak up) what it has done and senses within your body

By pandiculating, you are encouraged to sense what your muscles are doing. You want to avoid extreme contractions or forcing a stretch. Rather, move gently, giving your brain, muscles and nervous system a chance to reboot, so to speak, by turning off habitual tension that causes pain. The result? You move with more fluid, natural movement.

Think of pandiculating, like getting a knot out of a fine gold necklace. If it has a knot in it, what happens if you force, pull, stretch it? It gets tighter! But if you go "into the contraction" bring the muscles into the pattern of the tightness/knot, you become more aware of that tightness, and can slowly ease it out.

Our culture loves to use force to create change. Working hard, "fighting it, anger, etc. So it's no wonder we think to get out of pain is going to require more pain, but that's silly if you think about it. What happens when we are in pain? We tighten, recoil, close up, close down, feel like crap.

Somatics is all about less is more. With Somatics you gain freedom in your body, get rid of pain, lower your stress levels with ease. It may seem contradictory to all you've ever learned, but it really works because it goes to the root of all movement: our brains! I'd love to share it with you.

I work with people around the world, in person and online.
If you know of anyone else in pain, who has tried everything, please tell them about Somatics!

thank you,
Kristin



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why my osteoarthritis diagnosis is not a life sentence

By -
Image
Back in 2011 I was hit by a car while riding my bike. Being a movement and health coach for 20+ years, that day was going to put all my trainings and  beliefs  to the test. The way I looked at "posture and alignment," functional movement and how to get out of pain, was about to get flipped on its head. There were many things that resulted from that accident. One was, the day following my accident, I couldn't turn my head to the right, and my right arm was contracting like the limb of someone after a stroke. (Being a personal trainer, this was gonna be a problem.) I got x-rays of my neck. Diagnosis: I was told I had osteoarthritis and the start of stenosis in my cervical spine. My response: Yeah? So what. I didn't develop arthritis and stenosis in the last 48 hours. Why can't I turn my head?! Hmmm... no definitive answers. My doctor just told me to do the same things everyone does for pain; get some bodywork, acupuncture, chiropractic, physical therapy,
Read more

Improve Shoulder Mobility with Somatics

By -
Image
In the video below I share a popular movement to help with shoulder, elbow and wrist range of motion. It's a common move to prep your shoulders for a workout, your sport or just putting a healthy movement break into your day sitting at your desk. :-) But what if you can't do this move or it's really hard to shift your spine and shoulders around with ease? To make this move-- and the rest of your daily activities -- easier and more enjoyable, do Somatics!  With Somatics you will release tension patterns along the front, back and sides of your body and relearn to rotate your body with ease. Try the Daily Supplement playlist on my YouTube channel , or better yet, enroll in the Think Somatics Online Classroom for tons of recorded lessons created so anyone, anywhere in the world can learn Somatics. The image below shows all the ranges of motion of the shoulder, elbow and wrist. There's a lot of potential movement, eh? But, we often limit our movement potential
Read more

What does Pandiculate mean?

By -
Image
I just got my first batch of swag printed and now proudly wear and tote items saying: As I walk down Portland streets people look and ask me, "what does pandiculate mean?" If you Google it, pandiculation comes up and is loosely defined as stretching and yawning, usually when you wake up. But it's so much more than that. Humans (and all other vertebrates) are genetically programed to pandiculate. By doing so, our nervous systems reset our muscle length so we can easily move after being sedentary (sleeping, sitting, etc) for a period of time. This response to the tightness from being still and inactive is called the pandicular response. When we pandiculate, we contract and release muscles, which activates the nerve receptors in the muscles to reset to their natural resting length. I like to say pandiculations are the magic of Somatics, but there is true neuroscience to back it up, i.e. pandiculations reset the the alpha-gamma feedback loop between the nerve
Read more