Have you ever discovered a forgotten serving of gelatin in the back of your refrigerator? Not brick hard, but intractable. Now imagine that substance inside your body surrounding tendons, ligaments, bones, muscles, holding them firmly in place. This is much the case with the blocks that keep our bodies from moving as they did when we were very young.
Old, dried gelatin
Our bodies are composed to a very high degree of collagen, the basic substance of connective tissue, which technically includes blood, bone, tendon, fascia and much more. In its most fluid state, collagen is the inner sea that fills all the spaces between everything else…the living matrix. Nutrients and waste move through this fluid to support cell life. So do the messages that initiate healing, that notify the entire system with critical information. In that very fluid matrix the messages travel at speeds way beyond what nerves can deliver…speeds like the fastest electronic superconductors.
But reduce that fluidity and the matrix cannot perform as it is intended. Think of someplace in your body where you can no longer move fluidly. Perhaps it is a stubborn shoulder. Raise your arm, elbow bent…with the bicep against the side of your head behind the ear, slide the hand around behind your head to the opposite jaw (keep your head vertical and turned 45° toward your hand). Can your fingers reach the corner of your mouth, or the middle? How about squatting all the way down with your heels on the floor? And so many more limitations that we gradually learn to live with. But we were designed to be able to move in these ways and started life (most of us) with that capability.
What happened? In a lifetime there are many possibilities…accidents, illness, misuse, and habits can all play a role as we gradually ask less and expect less from our bodies, chalking it up to “old age.” But it is not only seniors who experience these limitations. It can even be from overdeveloped body-builder muscles which are only asked to move in flexion in small ranges. Are we stuck with these results forever? Many of our blocks and limitations can be reduced and even eliminated if we return the matrix to a more liquid state.
Back to that dish of gelatin…what would you try first? I would set it in a bowl of very hot water and watch it liquefy. So how can you build heat inside your body? Movement and pressure. Remember high school physics. A really good massage can cause movement and pressure, but perhaps not in all the places you need it and maybe not as effectively as you can by moving your body in the right way.
Small, very slow, rotational, and widely varied movements (such as the Organic Stretching® principles produce) within and around the joints and throughout the body have that capacity. Gradual, tiny stretches of the fabric of connective tissue can help return the matrix to a more fluid state allowing more movement bit-by-bit. And even more important…you can regain better circulation of blood, lymph, and those critical messages that regulate and maintain the health of the whole system.
Author’s note: This has nothing to do with the Jell-O® product, but I loved the title. Eating gelatin will not give you Jell-O® joints.
