The Power From Within

/ Education, Feel Better, Live Better, Mindset, Mobility, Move Better, Rehab, Running, sports, Strength, Therapy / By
Picture of Dr. Mitch Broser

Dr. Mitch Broser

There is a clear relation between what you are thinking and what you are doing – your mental-self influences your physical-self and vice versa; your psyche influences your physiology and vice versa.

Here’s a little story…

You’re playing golf and you walk up to your ball to make a long put. You ask your friends to be quite because they are “getting in your head’, making you lose focus. Your friends go quiet as you step back and take you few practice swings. You envision the smooth swing and effortless tap as you hit the ball along the perfect line at the perfect speed. You step up to line up your put. You wiggle your fingers and feel your grip relax and your forearm muscles reduce tension. You feel your hips rock back, you shift your body and you follow through like a pendulum as you watch the ball, just as you envisioned, roll right to the hole and in. Some disgruntled moans rise as you walk to the hole with you head held high.

There were several psychological and physiological interactions throughout that short story. We’re going to get a little deeper into the mind-body connection in movement preparation and performance – Mental Imagery. As we review mental imagery, relate back to our golfing story.

…

Mental Imagery is a self-generated cognitive process of creating and using images and metaphors in the mind, including envisioning movements – with or without physically performing the movement. Mental imagery comes in 2 main forms:

  1. Visual Imagery – involves mental pictures or sights associated with the task or scene from either a first- or third- person perspective.
  2. Kinesthetic Mental Imagery – involves mental images of sensation associated with the movement (for example, the imagined sensation of contracting a muscle).

Similar brain areas are activated during both imagined movement and physical execution of the same movement. EMG (electromyographic) studies have shown that imagining lifting a heavier weight resulted in greater activity within a muscle than did imagining a lighter weight. Studies have shown that with training, mental imagery can further increase muscle strength (9), increased isometric force production (via muscle contraction) (3), increase flexibility and range of motion (1), and reduce stretching-related discomfort (8).

Within muscle, mechanisms of Mental Imagery include increased motor unit recruitment (6), increased activation levels and increased firing frequency (9). Proposed psychological mechanisms include enhanced motivation, reduced anxiety and augmented levels of self-efficacy, information processing, and focus of attention and body schema (2). Mental imagery has also been found to modulate and reduce pain, potentially through mechanisms such as expectation, placebo and reappraisal (4).

Fascia, or connective tissue, is “a network of interacting, interrelated, interdependent tissues forming a complex whole, all collaborating to perform movement” (2). It is what helps with human form and function, including movement, sensory function and wound healing through the action of a full body tensional force transmission system (7). Mental Imagery has the potential to affect and be affected by fascial tissue in a designated manner through various channels, including modulating both the autonomic nervous system and cognitive-psychological elements such as body schema (the collection of processes that register one’s body position in space) and pain (2).

Fascial Dynamic Neuro-Cognitive Imagery (FDNI) is a division of fascial mental imagery that specifically targets fascia and its dynamic structure (5). FDNI uses various Mental Imagery modalities (visual and kinesthetic) and types (ex. anatomical, physiological, biomechanical and metaphorical) as well as other neuro-cognitive strategies such as self-talk and self-touch. This combination aims to promote one’s awareness and embodiment of fascial tissue as well as fascia-mindful movement, with the goal of improving movement, body schema, and mental imagery ability, as well as reducing pain. Specifically, FDNI promotes the individual’s awareness towards fascia and changes in its perception through self-noticing and focusing attention to it (2). Some may refer to this as being “in-tune with your body.”

Mental imagery can be a powerful tool to augment your movement practice. Practicing different methods of mental imagery to specifically influence the tensional connective tissue architecture of your body can help optimize your treatment, rehab and performance training. Using mental imagery in your Kinstretch will help amplify the effects of your tissue-specific movement practice. In each session, bring more attention to your self and fully submerse yourself in the movement, in the moment, to squeeze the most benefits out of your Kinstretch practice.

References:

  1. Abraham, A., Dunsky, A. & Dickstein, R. (2017). The Effect of Motor Imagery Practice on Elevé Performance in Adolescent Female Dance Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/jirspa-2016-0006
  2. Abraham A, Franklin E, Stecco C, Schleip R. Integrating mental imagery and fascial tissue: A conceptualization for research into movement and cognition. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2020 Aug;40:101193. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101193. Epub 2020 Jul 9. PMID: 32891273.
  3. Di Rienzo F, Blache Y, Kanthack TF, Monteil K, Collet C, Guillot A. Short-term effects of integrated motor imagery practice on muscle activation and force performance. Neuroscience. 2015 Oct 1;305:146-56. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.07.080. Epub 2015 Aug 1. PMID: 26241339.
  4. Fardo F, Allen M, Jegindø EM, Angrilli A, Roepstorff A. Neurocognitive evidence for mental imagery-driven hypoalgesic and hyperalgesic pain regulation. Neuroimage. 2015 Oct 15;120:350-61. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.07.008. Epub 2015 Jul 8. PMID: 26162551; PMCID: PMC4594156.
  5. Franklin E., Fascia Release and Balance: Franklin Method Ball and Imagery Exercises, OPTP, 2014.
  6. Helm F, Marinovic W, Krüger B, Munzert J, Riek S. Corticospinal excitability during imagined and observed dynamic force production tasks: effortfulness matters. Neuroscience. 2015 Apr 2;290:398-405. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.01.050. Epub 2015 Jan 30. PMID: 25639231.
  7. Schleip R, Jäger H, Klingler W. What is ‘fascia’? A review of different nomenclatures. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2012 Oct;16(4):496-502. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2012.08.001. Epub 2012 Aug 22. PMID: 23036881.
  8. Vergeer I, Roberts J. Movement and stretching imagery during flexibility training. J Sports Sci. 2006 Feb;24(2):197-208. doi: 10.1080/02640410500131811. PMID: 16368630.
  9. Yao WX, Ranganathan VK, Allexandre D, Siemionow V, Yue GH. Kinesthetic imagery training of forceful muscle contractions increases brain signal and muscle strength. Front Hum Neurosci. 2013 Sep 26;7:561. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00561. PMID: 24133427; PMCID: PMC3783980