Over the last year or two, the question of mobility vs. stability has taken rise within the therapy world. Many argue that mobility must come first while others claim that if stability is not first established, mobility will lead to injury. While its fun to debate and talk about these complex theories of healing one’s body, the truth is is that there is no one correct answer. Not only is everyone’s body different, but every joint within one’s own body is different! There are something like 640 muscles in the body, 206 bones, and 200-400 joints! Do we really think there is one answer that is right all the time in the mobility vs. stability debate!?!
I contemplated all this during my morning yoga practice today. I realized that the question, at least for me, does not come down to mobility vs. stability, but comes down to alignment and tissue integrity. The moment you align a joint, or a series of joints in a yoga pose, you have moved into physical and (and probably) psychological integrity. From this place, the magic can happen. Your body will tell you where its safe to lengthen the tissue or where its not safe and you need to stabilize. All this comes from being in proper alignment.
Proper alignment is what heals the body. It is our teacher. When we practice yoga, it is very easy to not be in integrity; to push past our limits, over stretch, and try to look good. This is our ego talking and in the words of B.K.S. Iyengar, it is a breach of the first Yama, Ahimsa, or Non-Violence.
So the question for me here is not mobility vs. stability, but one of integrity and non-violence. Can we contact our bodies when we are in pain and allow them to move? And not just move, but take them to their limits while being honest with our capabilities, and not causing ourselves harm? If we can do this, we can heal. And if not, we are often just perpetuating our old patterns.
To me, that is the real question. And its answer has potential to reach far greater planes than just our physical bodies.
