How To Identify A Good Functional Movement Trainer
Functional movement replaces effort and repetition with brain and body awareness. It boosts the immune system, reverses chronic pain, releases emotional trauma and removes energetic blocks. Use the 5-point checklist to quickly identify a functional movement trainer who’s the right fit.
The journey to find a good functional movement actually begins with one’s own decision making process. First, a person has to consciously decide to work with the body’s innate wisdom. Then, it becomes important to understand how this relates to one’s values and ideas about personal wellness. Finally, it becomes possible to identify a good functional movement trainer with whom to work.
Why work with the body’s wisdom?
The nervous system functions as an intelligent, brilliant circuitry within the body. Once the decision is made to tune in and turn on that brilliance, it becomes possible to rewire the connections between body and brain from the inside out.
Repetitive activities, such as stretching, may help in the short term. However, external modalities can be limited in their ability to improve mobility or affect healing in the long term. That’s because functional movement is important to personal wellness. Even professional movers, such as athletes or dancers, can improve their comfort and performance and avoid injuries through functional movement awareness.
Limited movement can limit choices
Blocked movement can be an expression of one’s inner story. Trauma and emotions often become trapped in the body. If one’s movement is limited, it may be that one’s personal power, agency, or ability to feel supported in life are also limited. In these cases, a functional movement trainer will leverage the brain’s neuroplasticity to activate deep, organic integrations which encourage whole body healing.
Too, mobility, flexibility and comfort decline as one ages. External fixes don’t affect this trajectory. But functional movement changes the brain to more efficiently coordinate the use of muscles, bones, breath, posture and movement. The result is a balanced distribution of mobility within the body. Healthy, balanced movement offsets the declining trajectory that is symptomatic of lifelong habits of the body, mind and emotions.
How to Identify a Good Functional Movement trainer
A good functional movement trainer will be able to focus on the specifics that increase one’s ability to make movement easier by using the brain, without effort, repetition or imitation. He or she will understand what is needed to unlearn healthy movement habits and make whole body-brain connections.
In other words, students should seek a mentor who understands the unique brilliance of the nervous system and can guide them to access and activate the intelligence of the body to rewire a wide range of experiences, compensations, strategies, and limitations.
Is the functional movement trainer a good fit?
Here is a quick checklist to help identify whether a functional movement trainer is a good fit.
- Does their definition of wellness and mindset align with that of the student?
- Does s/he respect body awareness and understand the interconnectedness of movement, thinking, emotions, posture, and behaviors?
- Does s/he know how to change the “software” in the brain in order to optimize self-healing and outcomes?
- Does s/he know how to communicate the significance of functional relationships needed to recognize and reverse damaging habits?
- Does s/he honor the power of self-referential healing versus interventions?
Ultimately, the answers the body holds are unique to each individual. Accessing this wisdom can be incredibly profound, changing outcomes and creating freedom. Improving movement improves all facets of experience: thinking, feeling, and quality of life. When working with an aligned functional movement mentor, life becomes infused with relevance, significance and profoundness. It’s an exciting personal journey of discovery, healing, and agency.
When one accesses the deeper intelligence of the body-brain relationship, it’s possible to tap into the resourcefulness needed to solve any problem.
Ready to tap into the body’s wisdom? Email Judy here.
Judy Ban Greenman
Judy Ban Greenman is a Natural Pain Relief and Empowerment Coach. She helps people access physical and emotional freedom, so they can transform struggle, reduce symptoms, move freely, and live fully with ease, choice and connection. Learn more about her work at Body Brain Freedom, https://bbfree.co/.
