Why your Child's spinal development is essential to their future health & wellbeing - 4 Signs to look out for
The spine protects and supports the developing nervous system which supports your child's every developing cell ... so it makes sense to understand what's required, right?
What are the natural requirements for a developing and evolving spine and nervous system? 'Shape governs function' is the universal law that rules in Mother Nature. When considering this concept, in view of your child's development, I think it makes sense to go back to these basics... and not to science and research, to enable a possible answer.
Inside Mum's tummy the baby's spine is 'rolled up and forward', a bit like the letter C. When your child is born he/she is 'programmed' to lift the head up to look for food/the nipple by activating the muscle chain that runs from the back of the head, all the way down the back of the body and eventually to the sole of the feet and into the toes ... quite a chain!
Lots of different muscles working together helping each other to stabilise this essential function, which initially was started by the 'the survival program/reflex' - to feed!
This movement lifting the head up and back is referred to as 'extension' of the spine and is the most important direction to be stimulated in the early days as the 'next program/automatic reflex' is based on it for its natural development.
The extension of the head, pulling up/back is opening up the cranium and aligns the brain for optimal function/development/hormonal releases ... it opens up the ribcage as the muscles in front of the neck are lifting the collar bones up which opens up the lungs, diaphragm, organs for a natural shape/development - this activation of the spinal extensor muscles is essential for your child's natural progress.
For this 'knock on' development to evolve naturally, a certain sequence has to be followed to allow for the correct order of the natural reflexes to be stimulated, or your child's development will be affected. Imagine if/when the opposite muscle chain, that pulls us forward into flexion, is activated first?
Let's step back now and take a helicopter view of the meaning of the previous section and what 'normally' is happening today across the 'civilised western societies'.
Fear and worries connected with the pregnancy ... am I ok, is my baby ok, what should I do, what should I not do etc etc followed by more fear and worries towards the end of the term about the delivery ... will it be painful, am I doing the 'right' thing, is my baby normal etc. etc. creates a state of fight/flight activation and the production of cortisol by you, the Mother, naturally.
This is also sensed/experienced by the baby inside who will also produce cortisol to get 'ready' for fight/flight ... imagine Mother Nature is already preparing the baby for what is perceived by the Mother, as a threat/fear?
The psoas muscle is an important member in our muscle system but also connected to our emotional state and it will contract and pull us into a forward position of protection as it runs from the spine to the groin/pelvis. The activation of the psoas muscle is linked with fight/flight, the survival instinct and is always prioritised.
This creates flexion of the spine which is opposite to the essential direction of 'extension', for natural spinal development, remember?
Each muscle works as a rule in pairs and when one contracts and creates the movement, the other elongates and 'stabilises'. Opposite the psoas muscle is the gluteus muscle group, a set of three muscles that together represents the biggest and also strongest muscle in our body. It stabilises the pelvis, which is the foundation for the spine, and is part of the chain that should pull the spine into extension as the first direction of movement, however, it is not activated when the psoas is given the priority to pull the spine/body forward into a protective position! Can you see where this is leading?
Now let's talk car seats and how they fit in before concluding on this most important chapter of the child's early spinal and nervous system development.
For the past approximately 40 years, car seats have been in use and we all know what shape they are in, the C-shape! Flexion of the spine into fight/flight position and supporting the already existing 'program' in the baby, from the pregnancy experience, of being primed by the mother's cortisol release and psoas muscle activation.
The 'convenience' of these car seats has meant that often they are used for prolonged times as a 'carry along' whilst the baby is quiet/sleeping sometimes for hours. When the baby finally wakes up and to stimulate the baby's development, it has become normal to provide toys for the baby to reach/play with which further stimulates the flexion chains and produce cortisol!
Remember that the most important movement for optimal spinal and nervous system/body development is ... in the opposite direction, extension!
In addition to this reversed order of muscle development, the structure of the baby's pelvis is held together by ligaments. These will develop with time to support the full weight of the sitting baby once the baby is able to pull herself/himself up into the sitting position from crawling, not before!
When these ligaments are loaded/stretched by taking the weight of the baby already from birth, in the car seat and in premature aids to allow sitting 'before time', the long term effects become devastating to the cranio-sacral relationship and the whole endocrine/hormonal system!
The cranio-sacral relationship is a system within our body that supports, regulates and maintains the the spinal cord/brain and its full function is essential for natural development. It is based on a movement relationship between the bones of the cranium and the pelvis which is linked to breathing and the correct movement of the diaphragm. This movement provides the foundation for the physiological function, development and maintenance of our entire body ... for life!
An optimal cranio-sacral relationship is essential for the pituitary gland to work and regulate all the hormonal releases which controls the development of your baby ...!
Now let's summarise what is the outcome of these 'normal' early days/weeks/months and how it may affect our future generations.
The spine naturally has three shapes. The primary shape comes from the 'inside' time, the c-shape that makes out the middle part and where the ribs are attached, the thoracic spine. The secondary shape, the neck or cervical spine, is achieved/formed after the extensor muscles have lifted the head up and goes the other way, a reversed c-shape. The final shape, the tertiary shape, is formed when the upright walking mode is achieved by activating the extensor muscles to pull up and back the whole spine from the crawling position into standing.
This final development creates an other c-shape, the lowback or lumbar spine and is in the same direction as the neck ... can you visualise it?
The middle C behind the ribcage, the top C reversed and open to the back sitting immediately above and the lowback C immediately and aligned underneath so when you drop a line from the ear it should go thru the shoulder and in the middle of all C's, through the hip and knee on the way down to the ankle and perfectly vertical.
The effects of chronic cortisol stimulation during pregnancy creates a 'program' adopted by the developing baby which is prioritised due to our survival reflex response and will stop the activation of our extensor chains and keep the baby in flexion.
This may also affect the birth itself as the positioning of the baby inside may be altered as both Mum's and baby's psoas is activated.
Once born, the car seat will inhibit the baby's natural extension chain development and the ongoing 'stress' perceived by the mother, trying to be a 'super Mother' and juggling baby, husband, work, self etc. will continue her cortisol release which is picked up and copied by the baby.
By now it is easy to understand that our next generation babies are hardwired for fight/flight and fuelled by cortisol and that's before they hit the floor sitting sitting sitting in kinder garden/preschool, furthering their pelvic weakness and fuelling the positionally induced fight/flight mode and more cortisol release!
The final blow is dealt by the 'normal' daily attendance requirement to the nursery/kinder garden/school where a lot of children/souls are experiencing great trauma from being left alone.
The effects of a ten minute cry, at that age, leaves scars for life and more cortisol release! The absence of Mum's 'vibes' anytime during the first 3-4 years is always perceived as stress by the soul of the baby.
They do 'get used to it' and somehow in our stressed and distracted minds, we interpret this as 'progress' - and ok!
'The stallions that run free have spirit ... the broken stable horses have not ... yes, we can brake a horse and a child but it ain't natural!!
Ok, so we can all see where this is going, right? When you are in fight/flight you are not meant to digest food, go to the toilet, grow/thrive or switch on your immune system to keep your overall balance fighting invading bugs and nasties.
All energy is required to fight - survive ... day after day in the school system. The early trauma to the soul is soon forgotten by the mind as our children 'get used to it' and move on ... but never forgotten by the soul which will remain hyper sensitised activating the psoas muscle and deactivating the gluteus muscle group.
The unfortunate effect of this structural impairment is that the pelvis remains weak and the essential cranio-sacral relationship for optimal hormonal releases, growth and development, is compromised.
All these compromised shapes and functions becomes the foundation for the child's future ability to express optimal health/vitality ... and basically, they will be unable to do so.
The ability to learn, relate, communicate and use the creativity to develop and progress the brain, is based on these early 'programs' and in what order they were introduced.
Did I say, 'the final blow' ... if only, the introduction of electronics at an ever earlier age is probably delivering the final and most impossible blow to reverse. This is due to the effects of sitting/standing/walking/living in flexion AND with a forward head position glued to the screen.
Unless this article is fully appreciated and shared, I remain very concerned about our future generations. Never in history has the natural development of the young spine/nervous system/body been so compromised by so many factors. This silent epidemic, as often there are no symptoms, is not being addressed/noticed by our conventional health care system but is fully noticeable when the following signs are evaluated.
Breathing - you may have noticed how your baby was breathing initially, ie into her diaphragm/stomach. The breath should remain here and there should be no involvements of the chest/shoulder area or deep sighing/yawning hence warning sign 1 - elevating/hunching the ribcage shoulders when breathing and activating the fight/flight mode.
Hand position - when your child is walking towards you, can you see the thumb and first finger only? Are all knuckles facing outwards and not forward? Are the hands resting by the side of the leg or forward of the leg? Only two fingers should be showing when approaching and the hands should be resting by the side of the leg hence warning sign 2 - the ‘Two Finger Test’ which is indicating an overactive psoas muscle and probably an active fight/flight mode.
Head position - when looking at your child from the side is his/her ear above the shoulder, above the hip and all in line with the ankle? When observing your child from the side, you should be able to drop a line from his/her ear through the shoulder, hip and lining up with the ankle hence warning sign 3 - ‘Forward Head Carriage’, where every centimetre counts, is a sign of a faulty extension/flexion muscle chain ratio and often resulting in an active cortisol release and faulty spinal development.
Foot/feet position - when standing, your child’s feet should be parallel and pointing forward. If one foot or both is deviating from this position hence warning sign 4 - ‘Charlie Chaplin’ is back on one side or both as the muscle/s are trying to compensate for the weak pelvis joints.
These signs show the beginning of faulty spinal, nervous system, body development and will inhibit the evolution of your child's full potential, strength and vitality. Symptoms that often follow a chronic muscle chain imbalance include:
Muscle/joint strains and pains including in the spine/pelvis/legs/arms
Scoliosis
Growing pains
Delayed physical/mental development
Hormonal imbalances
Constipation/incontinence
Visual/hearing impairment
Digestive and bowel problems
Weak immune system/frequent infections
Autoimmune disorders
Anxiety
Foot problems
Heart/lungs dysfunction
Fatigue
Organ dysfunction
etc. etc.
The inborn potential of your child is enormous, if not infinite, but these early developmental deviation will hinder the full expression of this power and symptoms later in life are inevitable when the body is unable to compensate anymore.
Like the rubber band analogue, when you keep stressing it by pulling on it - IT WILL SNAP.
The Body Resetting Protocol/Workshop was developed for you and your family to prevent future pain and problems.
