Body Mapping

 by Upasana

I was first introduced to the concept of body mapping in a workshop conducted by Ken Thompson, to whom I am very grateful. It has helped my Yoga practice and teaching enormously.
There is a saying, “The map is not the country.” This is all too true in the case of body mapping, with far-reaching and often painful consequences.

What is a body map?
A body map is an internal representation of your body. It incorporates the size and structure of your body and its parts, together with a sense of how they function. Whether you are aware of it or not, you use this map to co-ordinate every action carried out by your body. You are not born with it, nor is it something which is fixed.

How is a body map created?
You begin to create your map in infancy, when you become aware of movement. Your experience of movement, your interpretation of that experience, and your memory of that interpretation, all contribute to a perception of yourself in action. Another contributory factor is touch, both touching and being touched.

The origin of errors

• Detailed, accurate anatomical knowledge is not available to an infant, nor is it necessary for the creation of a body map which is in tune with reality, provided you are able to develop and maintain a high level of body awareness from an early age. However, this is rare, and so the paucity of our anatomical knowledge results in a vague, inaccurate and incomplete body map.
• We absorb and unconsciously imitate the posture and movement patterns of our parents and other adults around us. We thus incorporate elements of their (often erroneous) body maps into our own. The natural grace and agility of a small child gradually disappears.
• Some of our colloquial expressions for body parts are vague; a group of people asked to define “hips” or “shoulders” will inevitably come up with a variety of definitions.
• Experience of abuse is likely to lead to a rejection of certain body parts, resulting in their distortion, or even absence, from our body map.
• One hindrance on the spiritual path is an attitude of contempt for the world. This extends to, and perhaps begins with, an estrangement from one’s own body which is viewed as the rebellious antithesis of all things spiritual. If one is interested only in controlling the body, not in listening to it, the resulting body map will be distorted.

Consequence of errors
Our body map dictates the way we move. If our map is at odds with reality, we will be moving in a manner that is not in harmony with our structure. The lack of alignment and economy of movement will be perceived as tension and awkwardness. Eventually it could manifest as injury and/or illness.

Some common errors

• Waist versus Hips: If asked to divide our body into top and bottom halves, we are likely to place the dividing line at the level of our waist. Whilst “waist” is a useful concept for tailors, it is less than helpful in mapping our bodies. If we think we bend forward from our waists, rather than from our hips, we create unnecessary tension and strain in our body, particularly in the lower back. A child naturally maintains the integrity of her spine when bending down to the floor. She folds her torso forward at the level of her hip joints, and her knee and ankle joints also bend. As we grow older and create increasingly inaccurate body maps, we commonly mistake our iliac crests, or some points on the outside of our upper thighs, for our hip joints. Having less and less idea of what is actually working when we move, those movements become stiff and awkward. Looking at a skeleton (and it’s possible to buy a passable little one on the internet for less than £10) it is immediately apparent that the hip joints, and not the waist, mark the division between top and bottom. Or simply measure yourself and co-operative friends, and notice where the halfway point comes.
• Shoulders: The arm structure sits on our torso like a coat draped over a hanger. There are four main joints in the arms, located at the wrists, elbows, junction of humerus and scapula (glenohumeral) and junction of collarbone and sternum (sternoclavicular). The last, which is the only joint joining the shoulder girdle to the torso, is generally absent from our body maps. Thus we imagine we are moving our arms only from the glenohumeral joints, reducing mobility in the collarbone and shoulder blade, which in turn adversely affects movement in the humerus.
• Spine: Because we can feel our own and others’ spinous processes under the skin of our backs, we tend to map the spine itself in our back, with serious consequences for alignment and balance. The weight bearing part of the spine, particularly in the lumbar region, is more centrally located than we usually imagine, and is padded back and front firstly by a layer of supporting muscles, and then, closest to the skin, by a layer of movement muscles. Giving the instruction “straighten your back” will activate and bring tension into movement muscles unnecessarily, whereas suggesting that one lengthens up through the core of the body focuses awareness on the actual centres of balance without straining the back.
• Head: The head balances on the spine at the atlanto-occipital joint, located between the ears. A body map which joins the head to the spine near the back of the base of the skull creates considerable tension in the neck and shoulder muscles.

There are innumerable possible mapping errors. When asked to describe the area covered by their lungs, some students pointed to their abdomens. Some restrict their necks to the area between their chins and the top of their shirt collars. And so on.

Correcting our body maps
Acquiring accurate anatomical knowledge is valuable, but only if it is assimilated on a bodily as well as intellectual level. A resolve to observe ourselves and our habits of movement, together with a willingness to embrace change, requires courage and commitment. Our bodies are precious – it is in our bodies that we experience the Divine.

Suggested reading:
How to Learn the Alexander Technique by Barbara & William Conable. The Anatomy Colouring Book by Wynn Kapit & Lawrence M Elson.