From Misconception to body-blessing

Wie 1980 an der Grundschule Anatomie unterrichtet wurde.
Wie 1986 an der Grundschule Anatomie unterrichtet wurde.
Time and time again I am asked where all these misconceptions about our own bodies come from.
I like to show pictures from advertising mostly. Advertisements from manufacturers of matrasses or pseudo-orthopädic-magazines, which spread strange misbeliefs  – which boost the sales of pseudo-healthproducts. What a market!

While tidying up one day I found an old school book of mine: “Biology 4th class – 1986”

The content of Mrs. S´s lessons (God have mercy on her soul) was that we had to copy from the board what she drew on it – copying it herself exactly from her material of the 60´s. Grads were based on the exercise books that were checked for “correct copying”. Any questions we had were rejected. But I will tell you more about this – at another time.

Leap in time: It must have been 2010. During my training as a teacher of the Alexander technique so-called “body mapping” was on the schedule. The content of this class was to compare your own body concepts with the anatomical reality and to observe the effect, that this redefined knowledge produces.

I remember vividly how I just couldn´t let my eyes off the vertebra. I kept thinking: “What about the spinal cord? Where is the spinal cord? If the whole body weight weighs on the spinal column the spinal cord will be squeezed!”

It took a long time until I understood: The vertebrae together with the discs are stable, weight-bearing elements. The canal for the spinal cord is “further back” and a bony structure.

The result was amazing! Unconsciously I had tried all my life not to burden my spine with too much weight, for in my belief it would be dangorous for the spinal cord. My self-perception shifted from unconscious cautiousness to conscious trust in my back. And the quality of all my movements shifted accordingly.

And I started asking myself where this rock-solid conviction originated: that my spinal cord runs right through the discs. Today I know. You too. What a (body-) blessing!

Which wonderful misconceptions do you have to offer? I am looking forward to hearing about it!

Vocabulary:
Rückenmarkkanal = spinal canal
Wirbelkörper = body of vertebra

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