Preparing the Nervous System Part 2: Coordinating the Visual and Vestibular Systems
As I discussed in Preparing the Nervous System Part 1, even the most elemental movements we teach in the GYROTONIC Expansion System® are predicated on a healthy nervous system. This means not only that your nerves are healthy and sending appropriate signals throughout your body but also that you are processing your environment through your vision, your sense of hearing, your proprioception. In Part 1 I shared information about your vision and its important role in your everyday survival. In this blog I will examine the importance of the vestibular system and how it is linked to the visual system. Since GYROTONIC® Spinal Motions take the head away from a neutral axis, it is helpful to understand that performance of these movements depends on a well-functioning vestibular system.
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Anatomically, the vestibular system is comprised of 5 distinct organs: three semicircular canals that are sensitive to angular movements of the head (forward/back, side tilt, rotation) and two otolith organs, the utricle and saccule, which are sensitive to linear acceleration (forward/back, up/down, and side-to-side movements such as walking, running, jumping, swaying or sideways lunging).
Your vestibular system is your balance system, your “righting” mechanism. It is the first sensory system to develop in utero and is responsible for orienting us relative to gravity. Once born, we rely on our inner ears to continue orienting us as our visual system begins to develop. The two systems then work together and share the responsibility for maintaining your vertical axis and assisting with balance when seated, standing and moving in space.
Understanding that the inner ears and eyes should work together helps to explain common ailments such as dizziness, motion sickness and vertigo; they are symptoms of a dysfunctional vestibular system. Often, scoliosis is a result of vestibular issues, developing from a “sensory mismatch,” when the eyes, inner ears and spine do not experience the body’s position relative to gravity in the same way. Additionally, car accidents, concussions, or other head trauma can leave lasting effects. However, most of the ailments listed above can be improved by practicing visual and vestibular drills.
The Exercises
When you are doing these exercises, it is important to have an assessment; this is a movement(s) you use as a baseline to determine whether the drill you just performed makes you better, worse or is neutral. This movement is used before the trying the new skill and then again afterward. Common tests are spinal rotation right and left with arms fully extended and hands clasped, forward bend, spinal extension, shoulder flexion/extension. (Since all of these movements are a part of our GYROTONIC® exercises, they make sense to test.) Pick a movement that’s easy to repeat and that will give you a clear result. What you will notice is that repetition of the movement test doesn’t necessarily make you move better but a good vision or VOR drill will.
VOR (Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex): This movement stimulates the semicircular canals of the inner ear. It requires that your eyes and head move separately.Hold a pencil in front of your nose. You goal is to keep your eyes fixed on a specific point on the pencil (e.g. the eraser, a letter on the pencil). As you move your head, check that both eyes continue to see the visual target.There are a total of 8 patterns here with the head returning to neutral between each motion: head right, head left, head back looking down your nose, head down looking up under your brows and then diagonal combinations of up and to the right, down and to the right, up and left and down and left. Repeat each direction several times and re-test your assessment between each one. As you become more comfortable you can move right/left, up/down in sequence.
Otolith organ drills: These movements stimulate the saccule and utricle and assist you with moving your body in space.Find a visual target (a post-it with a dot on it affixed to the wall is fine). Place it so that the center is directly in front of your eyes while seated or standing.
Saccule drill: Bounce up and down keeping your head as still as possible and eyes on the target. You can do this seated on a physio-ball or standing.
Utricle drill: Option 1, Walk from a distance toward the target until it is immediately in front of you. Option 2, Sway side to side while keeping your eyes fixed on the target.
VOR-C (Vestibulo-ocular reflex cancellation): This is the ability to follow an object with the eyes and head moving together and the coordination we rely on for Spinal Motion Series.
Hold a pencil at arm’s length in your hand with the tip directly in front of your nose. As you move the pencil to a direction (8 compass points, as noted in VOR above), keep your focus on the visual target and the target in front of your nose, turning your head and eyes smoothly together. Make certain that your hand is not moving faster than your head.
It’s very interesting to observe how these small, seemingly inconsequential movements of your eyes and head can have a very large impact on your overall movement. I look forward to hearing about your experiments with them in your own practice—and with your clients.