Kinesioid

What does it mean to be in shape?

Ok so the holidays are over and its that time of year that many people talk about “getting into shape.” Of course, for most people saying they want to “get in shape” means they want to lose their winter fat. I do think it is odd virtually no one talks about trying to gain winter fat as that is the other half of this seasonal caloric equation but let's not rant about that. Instead, let us figure out what are we really saying when we talk of “getting in shape” or “being in shape”.

Let begin by stating the obvious. We are always in shape or at least in a shape. Possessing shape is just a property of being part of the physical world. Like having weight or color we have shape. If something exists then it has a shape of some kind. The shape may be unique to itself, and maybe there is no name for this kind of shape, but a nameless shape is still a shape. So whatever form our bodies exist init certainly a shape of some kind.

Whatever shape our bodies are in, it a dynamic shape. We can curl up into a ball, extend ourselves to be long, or find ourselves in a number of other positions. However, we choose to contort our bodies at the moment whatever shape we happen to be is just one expression of the possible shapes we can manifest. Let's call the sum of all the possible shapes we can form a kinesioid. This combines Kinesio which means moving with the suffix oid which refers to somethings shape. So a kinesioid refers to the shape of all our movements, but it also refers to the movements that we can make based on our shape.

Our body understands how it should form itself to any giving situation faster and more accurately than we would be able to do thinking about it. This allows us to perform complicated movements without thinking about it, as anyone who has almost but did not slip on something can attest to. As we move from one expression to another in our kinesioid we may trace the same idisyntric holding, such as elevated shoulder or an inverted foot into many of our more common movements. Though either trauma or zoning out through the monotonous we learn less than ideal movement patterns that can cause pain over time.

One of the goals of massage should improve the many many expressions in our kinesioid. This does not mean we can magically or magikal erase all trace of injury. Perfect form is a perpetually receding goal. Some patterns though not optimal may be forever entwined with our physical bodies. That does not mean we should ignore them. Whatever postural glitches we have acquired will wane or wax depending on how attentive we are to them. Time will make it more pronounced. Injuries that happen in our youth can often cause problems as we age if we ignore them. That said many of our kinetic glitches can be at the least smoothed.

Is this what people really mean by "getting in shape". I doubt it, but I don't think that this is a common phrase is coincidental. The language we use often provides us with clues to greater realities. The shapes we make are in direct relation to our health. Does our shape often include a twisted spine.? Is our weight distributed evenly on both legs? Simple changes to our kinesioid can have a great impact on our overall health and mental state. So the better shape we are in the better shape we will be in.

Anthony Bruni