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[RC] fixing crooked rider - sbolinge

If you discover that you are out of balance, besides working to strengthen muscles on your weak side, you have to reprogram your brain. Here is an example: My brother lived with a very painful hip for years. He walked very crooked, with his right shoulder dropped way down and his body cureled to the right. This was his body trying to compensate for the pain. Then he got his hip replaced and had zero pain, but still walked the same way. He thought he was walking straight. So we would walk behind him and tell him when he actually was walking straight, at which point he felt totally crooked and out of balance! So what he had to do was have someone tell him on a regular basis at which point his adjustments in shoulder level etc, equaled being straight and then walk in that position concentrating on exactly what it felt like so he could learn to do it without someone always watching him. It took a LONG time to reprogram his brain to recognized when his body was truly balanced. I think with riding, Sally Swift's exercises go a long way toward reprogramming the brain...if you do them enough. If Naomi is reading this thread, maybe she could explain how Feldenkrais exercises can help reprogram the neuropathways.