In the introduction to my Pilates video, I refer to the idea of receiving information from the body to encourage the exchange of information between it and the mind. The teaching method I use today, informed by my Pilates and dance training, continues this approach. There is a strong emphasis on interoception, the sensory system that allows us to feel and understand what is happening inside our body.
The term Interoception was coined by the British neurophysiologist Charles Sherrington over 100 years ago, but its use was mainly confined to academic circles until 1994 and the publication of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio’s book Descartes Error, written for a general readership. In it, he challenges the historical separation of thinking and feeling, arguing that our ability to choose and act is driven by feelings shaped by signals from the body. In its simplest form, this could be knowing you’re hungry when your stomach rumbles or understanding that you’re anxious if your skin goes clammy.
When we lose that connection - as one of Damasio’s patients did after surgery to treat a brain tumour - we may still be able to reason with perfect logic about, for example, the pros and cons of different modes of transport. But without the emotional signals that help us predict what that choice will feel like, our reasoning is inhibited and we can’t choose.
Many people begin the Resolving Chronic Pain process with little access to their range of movement or a real understanding of what’s important to them besides getting out of pain. They want to eliminate their pain and don’t have the headspace to consider anything beyond this urgent need. They’re sick of the exhausting and debilitating process of meeting specialists who ask them to repeat the information they’ve relayed many times before. Pain has dominated every waking hour for as long as they can remember, and their existence is centred on this one goal.
That’s why I am constantly in awe of the people I teach. Learning about the neuroscience of pain involves being open to new ideas and changing the way they think about pain. My approach involves fluidity of movement, thought and visualization, enabling people to begin to sense the way their own body is communicating and moving. Developing attunement to sensory input cultivates mental strength; the ability to know themselves and what matters most to them.
Interoception is one of the most fundamental ideas introduced to everyone I teach. When asked ‘how do you feel on the inside?’, many people initially respond by saying they don’t really feel anything. This apparent reluctance or inability to share their feelings is often the result of learned acquiescence or conflict avoidance, arising from having been belittled and diminished by others. When you’ve trained your responses to deny what you really feel, the neural pathways can become used to a general sense of uneasiness. It becomes a habit to override any objections and to go with the flow. Ultimately, the unconscious mind can only take so much of this behaviour until it deems it necessary to send a pain signal to alert you to the fact that what matters to you is being ignored in the interests of conflict avoidance. The understanding of how you really feel is lost and persistent or chronic pain ensues.
I often hear ‘I knew how to enjoy myself when I was a child, things weren’t so complicated then.’ Sometimes this may be true or it could be a mask. What I think is true is the purity of emotional recall experienced when we are young. As we grow older and navigate emotional hazards things get a bit more complicated. We can become disconnected from how we feel, and might tell ourselves how we feel rather than really tuning in by listening to our body’s sensations. We might, unknowingly, be fearful of listening to our bodies. What might we be exposed to? This helps us to understand how we might have become vigilant in routinely overriding emotions. Persistent pain serves as a reason to disregard the recognition of feelings.
Interoception - feeling yourself from the inside - is a learned skill. The pain signal is a sensory input and listening to it will help you understand what you feel, need, and want.
Rosanna Davison: Mags Clark-Smith has an as a unique approach to teaching which is derived from her dance background which means that she uses an awful lot of visual imagery to illustrate her methods, her approach. It means that there's a great flow through all the movement that we do. I think particularly the way Mags teaches it gives you a mental strength a certain strength of character. Body Centering Pilates DVD Introduction
Online copy of the Body Centering Pliates videos, the same content as on the physical DVD.