Walking without a pelvis
The title of this blog is radical, I am not suggesting surgical removal though. Instead I'm hoping we can expand the way we label our body parts and think about our bodies.
The Pelvis consists of three bones; the two sides (in red) are called the innominate bones (the image below calls them 'hip bones') and the central bone (yellow) is the sacrum.
The Pelvis consists of three bones; the two sides (in red) are called the innominate bones (the image below calls them 'hip bones') and the central bone (yellow) is the sacrum.
In our modern way of looking at anatomy we have separated these bones from their surrounding bones (legs and spine) and labelled them as a group - 'pelvis'. By doing this we have made an inference that this is one fixed block, one unit, one bowl.
Many of us are walking around with our body expressing the belief that our pelvis doesn't move. That the swing of our legs in walking occurs at our hip joints (at the tops of our thighs). We can feel this type of walking quite easily if we tuck our tail under a bit and take a walk. The hip joints swing but the torso remains still. There is no side to side movement of the tail.
The following video shows us pelvic movement closer to reality.
Many of us are walking around with our body expressing the belief that our pelvis doesn't move. That the swing of our legs in walking occurs at our hip joints (at the tops of our thighs). We can feel this type of walking quite easily if we tuck our tail under a bit and take a walk. The hip joints swing but the torso remains still. There is no side to side movement of the tail.
The following video shows us pelvic movement closer to reality.
Look! The pelvis is walking. Each innominate bone swings with each leg and the tail swings side to side.
From the perspective of function we would be better off categorising our bones in the following way. Each innominate would be grouped with each leg, I'll call this group 'locomotion', and the sacrum would resume its belonging within the spine.
From the perspective of function we would be better off categorising our bones in the following way. Each innominate would be grouped with each leg, I'll call this group 'locomotion', and the sacrum would resume its belonging within the spine.
Now if we take a walk we can untuck the tail and imagine it free and long in the back space. We can see if we can allow our tail to move in a side to side motion. We can't force this movement and we can't manufacture it. So, go gently. We use imagination and letting go and observe with kindness if something shifts in our movement. If it doesn't, its ok!
Reclaiming this capacity of the free movement of walking is one of the primary goals of Rolfing. So if you don't feel it straight away you have company. If it were easy, Rolfers would be out of a job. Be gentle and inquisitive. The point of this article is to open our minds. Slowly. slowly our bodies will follow.
Reclaiming this capacity of the free movement of walking is one of the primary goals of Rolfing. So if you don't feel it straight away you have company. If it were easy, Rolfers would be out of a job. Be gentle and inquisitive. The point of this article is to open our minds. Slowly. slowly our bodies will follow.