15 May Body awareness and Interoception for Riders
You will have noticed in our classes it’s not just about doing the exercises but HOW we do the exercises. There are loads of exercise classes out there but if you’re just going through the motions, without really being body aware, your posture and movement is unlikely to change for the good. Body awareness is really a crucial part of riding well. It involves the ability to notice subtle changes in your body (and your horses), awareness of your breath, posture and muscle tension but also your emotional state which is something less talked about.
Body Awareness consists of three systems:
1. Interoception
Detecting signals from inside your body- your breathing rate, your heartbeat, pain or discomfort and your emotional state. It helps you monitor and regulate your internal physiological and emotional state.
2. Proprioception
Detecting signals from your muscles, joints and tendons to inform you of your body’s position and movement. It allows us to have coordinated movement, balance and spatial awareness.
3. Exteroception
Detection of signals from the external environment using our 5 senses. This helps us sense our horses movement and the rest of our environment.
Interoception is something less talked about and something I’m going to be delving into a little deeper for you.
Interoceptors are our eighth sensory system. They are free nerve endings located around the body, there are lots in fascia. It’s estimated for every proprioceptive nerve ending in these tissues, there are more than 7 endings which could be interoceptive receptors! They are uniquely developed in primates and humans (not so much in other animals which is an interesting thought for our horses). Disruptions in our network can be linked to IBS, anxiety, depression, addiction, ageing, PTSD and more.
All three systems are crucial for high level riding. Proprioception gives you physical control, and interoception gives you emotional and physiological insight – together they build deep ‘feel’.
I’ll be posting some more on this later.
