Anat Baniel on Why Not Tummy Time

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HuffPost fitness article # 4 by Anat Baniel

The Fitness Myths That Hold You Back, and How to Succeed: Myth 4 -- The Flat Stomach Myth

We are continuing our series on why it's so hard to follow through on New Year's fitness resolutions. (Can you believe it is already end of February?!) In previous posts, we introduced the "Training Your Muscles," "No Pain, No Gain," and "Stretching" myths. This week, we'll discuss the "Flat Stomach" myth.
Perhaps you are one of many people who do sit-ups, crunches, or other exercises to get a "flat stomach,"or what is often referred to a "strong core." I applaud your goals. I'm all for being attractive, pain-free, and strong.
However, from what I know about the brain and how it organizes muscles into successful action and high-level performance, the idea of chronically contracted stomach muscles as the way to be strong and lead a potent life is fundamentally wrong. Many have bought into the myth of the "flat stomach." In my workshops when I first let people know that they might want to free their abdomen, there is a gasp in the room. However, this myth is likely undermining your athletic performance, increasing your likelihood of injury, and aging you prematurely.
The Myth of the Flat Stomach
What is a strong muscle? It is a muscle that has the ability to contract and de-contract, move you and do the greatest amount of work it can. A muscle that is already contracted (e.g., flat stomach) can no longer do powerful work.
Making things even worse, muscles work in a synergetic fashion with what is called their "antagonistic" muscles. The brain orchestrates this organization of muscular activity. The "antagonists" to the belly muscles are the back muscles. When your abdominals are chronically contracted, your back muscles cannot work to their fullest capacity; and it is primarily your back muscles that are engaged in the powerful movements of your body, such as jumping, punching, serving a tennis ball, and in keeping you upright.
Try This: Sit in a chair with your arms on your knees. Slowly lift your right arm up in front of you. Put your arm back down. Now suck in your belly really hard and keep it pulled in; and in this position try to lift your right arm up again and see what happens. Of course, it is much harder, because your back muscles that need to get into action when you lift your arm are stopped by your brain.
I fully agree that strong abdominals are very useful and important to have. But this is not the full story. The most powerful muscles of our body are all the muscles that are attached to the pelvis, what I call the "power center." And what makes us strong is a strong brain that has figured out which of these muscles to contract for which movement and when to let go.
When you tighten your belly, you not only weaken yourself, but you also lose flexibility, restrict your breathing, lose vitality, and accelerate aging.
The Story of Mike
I worked with a young baseball player, Mike (not his real name). He had a great physique and was a tremendous batter with a multimillion-dollar major league contract. He came to me to get relief from chronic right shoulder and lower back pain.
When he came into my office, I immediately saw that his abdominal muscles were powerfully contracted no matter what movement he did. That was a problem, because when he lifted his right arm up to swing a bat, his back muscles weren't available to participate in the movement as needed. As a result, he overused his shoulder muscles and his back became disorganized and painful. Mike badly needed to learn to let go of his flat stomach.
I asked him what, besides practicing baseball, was his fitness regime. His answer was sit-ups; he did hundreds a day. This alone can dumb down any brain. This incredibly capable, talented athlete was undermining himself without knowing. So much so that I discovered that he already had surgery on his right shoulder.
Initially he was resistant to learning to free his abdomen -- he had a deeply-ingrained belief that it was his flat stomach that made him powerful. But once he agreed to give it a try, his shoulder pain and the discomfort and rigidity he felt in his lower back disappeared, and he was able to hit the ball with more power and better precision.
Use Your Brain to Synchronize Your Muscles
How can you synchronize your stomach and back muscles to perform optimally? The Anat Baniel Method has defined the "Nine Essentials" to communicate with your brain and provide it with the information it needs for creating well-organized movement. In this blog I would like to introduce you to our next "essential."
The Flexible Goals Essential
There is no way to know in advance the path that will lead you to achieving your goal. Know your goal and at the same time free yourself from the compulsion to achieve your goal in a certain way. By truly embracing all the expected and unexpected steps and missteps, you will create a rich source of valuable information for your brain to lead you to your goal, including successfully achieving your fitness goals.
Try these 10-minute video movement lessons to experience the "flexible goals" essential and discover how to move both your belly and your back in free and harmonious ways that will make your stronger, energize you, reduce pain and injury, and reawaken your vitality.
Also use all of the "essentials" we introduced in our previous blogs while exercising, and you will find yourself doing things you never thought possible, along with strengthening your power center in the most efficient and pain-free ways. Give it a try and let us know what happens.
Watch for our final post in this series: "Fitness Myth 5: Practice, Practice, Practice."
Learn more about the Anat Baniel Method.
For more by Anat Baniel, click here.
For more on fitness and exercise, click here.

Related Resources and Research:
Baniel A. 2009. Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality. New York: Harmony Books
"Core stability exercises (are) not superior to conventional physiotherapy exercises in terms of reducing pain and disability" Muthukrishnan R, Shenoy SD, Jaspal SS, Nellikunja S, Fernandes S. "The differential effects of core stabilization exercise regime and conventional physiotherapy regime on postural control parameters during perturbation in patients with movement and control impairment chronic low back pain."Sports Medicine Arthroscopy Rehabilitation Therapy and Technology. 2010 May 31;2:13.
"Despite the large variety of treatments which have been evaluated through randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses, the effect sizes are often small, even for commonly used treatments such as exercise for chronic low back pain." Hayden JA, van Tulder MW, Malmivaara AV, Koes BW: "Meta-analysis: exercise therapy for nonspecific low back pain." Annals of Internal Medicine 2005, 142(9):765-775.
The brain has the ability to figure itself out: The brain is the ultimate self-organizing system. Thompson E, Varela FJ. 2001. "Radical embodiment: Neural dynamics and consciousness." Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5: 418- 25. Lewis MD, Todd RM. 2005. "Getting emotional-- A neural perspective on emotion, intention and consciousness." Journal of Consciousness Studies 12(8- 10): 213- 38.
What we know from the science of neuroplasticity: "[T]he realization that the adult brain retains impressive powers . . . to change its structure and function in response to experience": Begley S. 2007. "How the brain rewires itself." Time, January 19. See also Doidge N. 2007. The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Viking.
Research shows that movement done automatically creates little or no new connections in the brain: "[T]he variable determining whether or not the brain changes is . . . the attentional state of the animal." Schwartz J, Begley S. 2002, rpnt 2003. The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force. New York: HarperCollins. Recanzone G. H, Merzenich MM, Jenkins WM, et al. 1992. "Topographic reorganization of the hand representation in cortical area 3b of owl monkeys trained in a frequency discrimination task." Journal of Neurophysiology 67: 1031-56. Nudo RJ, Milliken GW, Jenkins WM, Merzenich MM. 1996. "Use-dependent alterations of movement representations in primary motor cortex of adult squirrel monkeys." Journal of Neuroscience 16: 785- 807. Doidge N. 2007. The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Viking/ Penguin.

Anat's 3rd Fitness Article

The Fitness Myths That Hold You Back, and How to Succeed: Myth 3 -- The Stretching Myth

We are continuing our series on why so many people sincerely commit to fitness resolutions each new year and then, in the coming weeks or months, end up either not fulfilling their fitness goals or quitting completely.
Last week, we introduced the "No Pain, No Gain" myth. This week we are going to talk about the "Stretching" myth.
So, why do we feel the need to stretch? We may feel restricted in our movements and that our muscles are too short. We often stretch in an attempt to make these muscles get longer.
We have also been told that stretching is good for us, that it is necessary to stretch before we run or do any kind of rigorous exercise in order to avoid injury. We stretch in an attempt to increase our flexibility and move better, all highly valid goals. Stretching is everywhere. It is used in yoga, Pilates, sports and dance training, and aerobics. Stretching is also an important part of physical therapy, where it is applied after injury and surgery.
Fitness Myth 3: The Stretching Myth
There is no question that when muscles are chronically contracted, it limits our ability to move freely and powerfully, and increases the chances of injury. However, is "the way" that most people stretch the solution? The answer is "no." This answer becomes obvious when we look closer at how muscles work and what makes them too short in the first place.
Muscles can only do one of two things: contract or let go. When a muscle contracts, it moves us in space. Once the movement is completed, the muscle lets go and relaxes so that it is ready to contract again when needed. A chronically contracted muscle stops being useful to us, and actually interferes with our freedom to move and be powerful.
When we try to force a muscle to relax by stretching it, we are applying force against an actively contracted muscle. Unbeknownst to us, we activate the "stretch reflex," a built-in mechanism to prevent muscles from being torn. There are muscle spindles (sensory receptors that detect stretching) that get activated when force is applied to the muscles and actually tell them to contract further, in order to protect those muscles from injury.
(There is a growing body of research that shows that stretching can actually impair performance and cause injury. See the resources, research, and links at the end of this post.)
So what can we do when we have chronically short muscles -- for example, our hamstrings or our lower back muscles?
Increase Flexibility Through Brain Change
It is our brain that tells our muscles what to do. Muscles don't have a say in how long or short they are going to be. So when a muscle is too short, we need to change the brain patterns that are telling our muscles to do so.
As described in my first post, "The Fitness Myths That Hold You Back, and How to Succeed: Myth 1," we need to provide the brain with new information with which it can create new patterns that allow the short muscles to lengthen when necessary and create a better organized movement altogether. Without exception, when movement is well organized, our strength and flexibility increase; we prevent injury and we become more fit.
The Anat Baniel Method has defined the "Nine Essentials" to communicate with your brain and provide it with the information it needs to create these improved new connections and patterns. In this blog post, we will show you how you can use some of the essentials to help you get great outcomes from your stretching routine.
In our previous blog posts, we discussed three "essentials": movement with attention, the slow essential, and the subtlety essential. Today we are introducing the "variation essential," which will further wake up your brain and flood it with new experiences and information to give you more of the flexibility you want and help "warm up" your muscles in preparation for your fitness routine.
Brain research has shown that introducing variations to any movement you do rapidly increases the number of synapses in the brain associated with that movement. As a result, new possibilities open up for the body to move in a more flexible and harmonious way that also feels a lot better.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Stretching Routine
To get the best outcomes from your stretching routine, in terms of increased flexibility and prevention of injury (muscle warm-up), it is perfectly fine to keep the routine you have, just apply the four "essentials" presented above:

1. Whatever stretching movement you do, make sure to first do it a number of times very slowly and don't go as far as you can. Remember, you do not want to activate the stretch reflex which will shorten the muscles involved.
2. Make sure that as you do the movement, you pay close attention to what you feel as you move.
3. Reduce the force with which you do the stretching movement. Go only as far as you are comfortable at any given moment. I know that it is counterintuitive, but combined with your attention to your movement, your brain will be figuring out alternative ways for you to move so that you can safely go further, i.e., become more flexible.
4. Introduce variations to the stretching movements that you do. So, for example, if you are reaching for your toes with your hands to try and lengthen the hamstrings, you can turn your head one way as you do it, then the other way; then move your hands to the left of your feet, then to the right of your feet; do the movement with your belly pulled in, then with your belly pushed out, etc.

Be playful and let your imagination blossom. Not only will you find yourself quickly becoming more flexible, but by connecting your brain to your muscles this way, your brain is getting ready to move you in powerful, effective, and safe ways; in other words, you become more fit.
Try these two short video movement lessons to experience the "variation essential." Discover how quickly your brain can change old habits, free your muscles to be both flexible and powerful, and also reduce pain and prevent injury.
If you regularly apply these essentials as you do your stretching routine, it will become second nature to you, your stretching will become effective, and you will avoid the potential negative impact of forceful, fast, and automatic ways of stretching.
We'd love to hear how these essentials work for you. Give them a try and let us know what happens.
And be sure to watch for the next blog post: "Fitness Myth 4 -- The Flat Stomach Myth."
Learn more about the Anat Baniel Method.
Related Resources and Research:
Baniel A. 2009. Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality. New York: Harmony Books
Black JE, Isaacs KR, Anderson BJ, et al. 1990. "Learning causes synaptogenesis, whereas motor activity causes angiogenesis, in cerebellar cortex of adult rats." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 87: 5568- 72.
Bradley PS, Olsen PD, Portas MD. "The effect of static, ballistic, and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching on vertical jump performance." J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Feb;21(1):223-6.
Dreifus L. 2003. "Commentary: Facts, myths and fallacies of stretching." Journal of Chiropractic Medicine 2(2): 75-77.
"Human Race." Runner's World. May 2009, p66.
Nicol C., Komi P. V., Horita T., Kyrolainen H., Takala T. E. S., "Reduced stretch-reflex sensitivity after exhausting stretch-shortening cycle exercise." European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology. 1996, vol. 72, no5-6, pp. 401-409.
Reynolds, Gretchen. "Phys Ed: How Necessary Is Stretching?" New York Times Well Blog, Nov 25, 2009.
Reynolds, Gretchen. "To Stretch or Not to Stretch." New York Times Well Blog, June 22, 2011.
Samuel MN, Holcomb WR, Guadagnoli MA, Rubley MD, Wallmann H. "Acute effects of static and ballistic stretching on measures of strength and power." J Strength Cond Res. 2008 Sep;22(5):1422-8.
Shrier I. "Does stretching improve performance? A systematic and critical review of the literature." Clin J Sport Med. 2004 Sep;14(5):267-73.

For more by Anat Baniel, click here.
For more on fitness and exercise, click here.

Anat's 2nd fitness article published by the Huffington Post

The Fitness Myths That Hold You Back, and How to Succeed: Myth 2 -- No Pain, No Gain

We are continuing our series on why so many people who sincerely, with all their hearts, resolve to turn 2013 into the year where they get fit, just to once again realize in June or September that they didn't do it.
Last week, we introduced the "Training Your Muscles" myth. This week we are going to talk about the "No Pain, No Gain" myth.

In the beginning, like most of us, Gary put way too much force into what he was doing. To get himself in shape, he started weight lifting, climbing steeper hills, and taking much longer walks ... But it seemed that the more effort he put into these workouts, the more tight and rigid he became, and his back pain and stiffness worsened. -- Excerpt from Move Into Life

How many of you have had this kind of experience of going gung ho when deciding to get fit or when starting a new fitness program just to find yourself injured and in pain? If you are like most of us, it didn't take long for you to become disheartened and quit, even if you were told to "work through the pain."
Fitness Myth 2: No Pain, No Gain
One of the biggest fitness resolution killers is pain. It is a harmful myth that is deeply ingrained in our fitness culture and beyond. The question we need to ask: Is pain, or more importantly, forcing through pain, necessary for increasing our athletic ability and reaching new heights of fitness, performance, and health?
My answer is a resounding no! Pain is the body's alarm system that informs us that we are in the process of harming ourselves, that we need to back off and need to do something differently. Forcing through pain actually can have long-term negative outcomes to our body and our fitness level. So much so that recent brain research shows that chronic pain results in loss of brain connections to the painful area -- a loss in what is called brain "mapping." For example, when musicians or athletes have pain in their shoulder and they keep forcing painful movements in that arm, they not only suffer, but gradually lose some of their dexterity and strength in that area. Their performance begins to deteriorate and over time, if the pain persists, they have to give up.
From my experience working with thousands of people (from athletes to musicians to moms to computer users) suffering from back, shoulder, neck, and other kinds of pain, almost always the pain is the result of poorly-organized movement.
As described in my previous post "The Fitness Myths That Hold You Back, and How to Succeed: Myth 1," what needs to be done is to provide the brain with new information with which it can create new patterns of well-organized movement. Almost without exception, when movement is well organized, the pain disappears, and strength and flexibility increase -- we become more fit.
Ways to Provide Your Brain With New Information
In addition to the first "essential" we discussed previously -- movement with attention -- there are two additional essentials that are powerful antidotes to pain and limitation.
The first one is slow. Fast, you can only do what you already know. Fast does not give you an opportunity to feel what you are doing and for your brain to discover alternative and better ways to move. Doing an exercise fast from the very beginning, or doing it while in pain, will only groove in more deeply the existing brain patterns of pain and limitation.
Try this 10-minute video movement lesson and experience the "slow essential." You can bring slow to any movement you do.
The second essential, subtlety, provides the brain with new information it needs to improve the organization of your movement and relieve you of pain, thus opening up the path for greater fitness. Subtlety means that you intentionally reduce the force with which you do the movements or exercise you are engaged in. When you move with as little effort as you can master, your brain can notice what it is that you are doing and how you are doing it, and immediately use this information to improve the way you move. Any well-organized, harmonious movement is pain-free, leading to greater strength and skill, and is always very pleasurable to do.
And guess what? When moving feels good, you move more and get more fit.
Try this 10-minute video movement lesson and experience the "subtlety essential."
In Gary's case:

I told Gary that he would need to cut way back on his exercise. Instead of lifting the heaviest weights he possibly could, I asked that he lift very light weights for a while -- and not climb more steep hills for a few weeks...
... I had him do some very simple floor exercises. Through these exercises, I guided and encouraged him to reduce the force with which he moved. He discovered that when he did this, his body moved much better, with greater ease and pleasure...
Gary continued lifting lighter weights as part of his new regimen ... He enthusiastically reported that the pain and stiffness were gone and that at the end of the day he had so much energy that he was getting things done around the house that he'd been putting off for years ... that he was also feeling younger and more vital than he'd felt in over a decade. -- Excerpts from Move Into Life

These three "essentials" -- movement with attention, slow, and subtlety -- may feel counter-intuitive. However, practicing these essentials will not only help you get rid of pain, it will actually increase your fitness level very quickly. Give them a try for a week or two and see what happens.

Learn more about the Anat Baniel Method.
Related Resources and Research:
Baniel A. 2009. Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality. New York: Harmony Books
The brain uses information it acquires through perceiving differences to create new connections between different brain cells; this capacity is called differentiation. Differentiation is a fundamental process underlying all forms of life.
Prasad KN. 1980. Regulation of differentiation in mammalian nerve cells. Plenum, NY. Scientists are able to measure and track the process of differentiation as it is taking place in the brain.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 2007. Scientist observes brain cell development in "Real Time."
ScienceDaily, May 29.
Mizrahi A. 2007. Dendritic development and plasticity of adult- born neurons in the mouse olfactory bulb. Nature Neuroscience 10(4): 444- 52.
Those connections come together in complex, dynamic, responsive, and continuously evolving patterns. For research describing development in terms of complex dynamic systems, see:
Smith LB, Thelen E. 2003. Development as a dynamic system. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7(8): 343- 48.
Thelen E, Smith LB. 1996. A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.
Fast we can do only what we already know: See Libet B, Gleason CA, Wright EW, and Pearl DK. 1983. Time of conscious intention to act in relation to onset of cerebral activity (readiness potential): The unconscious intention of a freely voluntary act. Brain 106: 623- 42.
Going slowly allows the brain to figure out what in its existing repertoire may be useful, allowing the new skill to emerge. Bernstein NA. 1996. On exercise and motor skill, In Latash ML, Tuvey MT, eds. On Dexterity and Its Development. Translated by ML Latash. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
See also Thelen E, Smith LB. 1996. A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
"Thinking is the same fundamental process in the brain as organizing movement." Merzenich M. April 2009. Lecture on brain plasticity to students in the Anat Baniel Method Professional Training Program. Anat Baniel Method Center, San Rafael, CA.
For more by Anat Baniel, click here.
For more on fitness and exercise, click here.

Anat's first fitness article from the Huffington Post

The Fitness Myths That Hold You Back, and How to Succeed: Myth 1

Are you one of the many thousands of people who have made a New Year's resolution to exercise regularly and get more fit in 2013? Are you also one of the many who have made the same resolution in the past just to keep it for a couple months, or perhaps a week or two, or maybe not at all?
Know that you are not alone. Do not berate yourself. There are very good reasons why so many people fail at fulfilling their genuine intent to become more fit in the new year. And it is not just lack of willpower.
So, why is it so difficult for so many people to follow through on their fitness resolutions?
The answer is that there are certain myths about what it takes to become more fit -- increase our flexibility, strength, coordination, and stamina -- that contradict what our bodies really need and require. Trying to achieve fitness, usually meaning physical fitness, is based upon myths that make it challenging, if not impossible, to commit to and achieve a successful fitness regime.
Today, I would like to introduce the first myth, the "Training Your Muscles" myth, based on the Anat Baniel Method, a NeuroMovement approach to fitness. NeuroMovement is a holistic approach to human functioning and action, based in the understanding that the brain organizes all movement. With this approach, brain change (neuroplasticity) plays a critical role in becoming physically fit. There are immediate ways for you to take advantage of the remarkable capacity of your brain to change itself and create new pathways for greater fitness and health.

Muscles Do Not Have a Mind of Their Own
There is no question that to be able to move, we need our muscles, and that stronger muscles provide us with the possibility for stronger, more powerful movement and stamina, making us more fit. However, muscles do not know what to do on their own. It is the brain that "tells" the muscles what to do -- when to contract and when to let go -- through the signals it sends to the muscles.
And in order for the brain to know what signals to send to our muscles, it has to first "know" that the muscles are there to be used and learn how to coordinate the different muscle groups successfully. Perhaps you've had the experience of trying to tone and strengthen certain muscles in your body and no matter how hard you exercised, it didn't work. This is because your brain never connected fully enough to these muscles. The brain needs a rich variety of experiences from which it creates the necessary connections and patterns of our movements, also known as "mapping" in the brain.
Fitness Myth 1: The "Training Your Muscles" Myth
How well your brain knows what commands to give your muscles will decide the quality with which you will move, or whether you will even be able to do the movement altogether. The "Training Your Muscles" myth assumes that we can train muscles directly by doing lots of repetitions of certain movement. Only when you have a well-organized NeuroMovement pattern can you successfully begin to increase your strength, speed, and flexibility.
If your brain has not gotten the information it needs to be able to create the necessary patterns of the movement you are trying to do, you will either simply fail and eventually give up or you'll do the movement poorly, making it very difficult to do, often times painful, and even injurious.
What we all need is to first provide our brain with information it can use to create more refined, accurate, and well-organized patterns for us to do any movement in an efficient, easy, safe, and pleasurable way. So how can this be done?
The Anat Baniel Method has defined "Nine Essentials," each one providing an easy and very powerful way to flood the brain with new information that it needs. In this article, we will introduce you to the first Essential, and the rest will come in future posts.

Movement With Attention: First Essential of the Anat Baniel Method
Brain research has shown that movement done automatically does not create new connections in the brain, but rather it grooves in more deeply existing brain patterns (those stubborn limitations we often experience). However, the moment we bring attention to what we feel as we do any movement, there is an immediate, dramatic increase in the number of new connections associated with the areas of body that we are moving.
You can start right away. You can bring your attention to what you feel with any movement you do, and you'll immediately wake up your brain to form new connections. It might seem too easy to be true, but it works. And it will make it easier and even fun to stick with your fitness program!
For example, if you are walking on a treadmill, slow down the speed to a safe level for just a few minutes. And as you walk, pay attention to what you feel in the soles of your feet, in your ankles, in the back of your knees, your hip joints, your spine, your shoulders, and your neck. Pay attention, notice the movement of your breath and what it feels like.
Or if you are doing a yoga pose, as you move into the pose, pay attention to what you feel in the different parts of your body as you do it. Genuinely get interested in and focused on what you feel. For a few moments, don't worry how well you are performing. Just pay attention to yourself.
(Try this 10-minute video movement lesson and practice Movement with Attention.)
Movement with Attention will increase your flexibility, strength, endurance, balance, and skillfulness (i.e., your fitness). It can also reduce aches and pains, prevent injury, and promote greater joy, creativity, mental clarity, and problem-solving skills. This way of approaching fitness will help you learn how to be in the here and now, while enjoying greater physical and mental health. Give it a try and let us know how it works for you. I'd love to hear about your experiences.
Next week, we will address fitness myth two: "No Pain, No Gain."
Related Resources and Research:

Baniel A. 2009. Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality. New York: Harmony Books.
The brain has the ability to figure itself out: The brain is the ultimate self-organizing system. Thompson E, Varela FJ. 2001. Radical embodiment: Neural dynamics and consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5: 418- 25. Lewis MD, Todd RM. 2005. Getting emotional-- A neural perspective on emotion, intention and consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies 12(8- 10): 213- 38.
What we know from the science of neuroplasticity: "[T]he realization that the adult brain retains impressive powers . . . to change its structure and function in response to experience": Begley S. 2007. How the brain rewires itself. Time, January 19. See also Doidge N. 2007. The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Viking.
Research shows that movement done automatically creates little or no new connections in the brain: "[T]he variable determining whether or not the brain changes is . . . the attentional state of the animal." Schwartz J, Begley S. 2002, rpnt 2003. The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force. New York: HarperCollins. Recanzone G. H, Merzenich MM, Jenkins WM, et al. 1992.Topographic reorganization of the hand representation in cortical area 3b of owl monkeys trained in a frequency discrimination task. Journal of Neurophysiology 67: 1031-56. Nudo RJ, Milliken GW, Jenkins WM, Merzenich MM. 1996 Use-dependent alterations of movement representations in primary motor cortex of adult squirrel monkeys. Journal of Neuroscience 16: 785- 807. See Doidge N. 2007. The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Viking/ Penguin.
When attention is brought to movement, the brain creates new connections and possibilities at an incredibly rapid rate: My teacher and colleague, Moshe Feldenkrais, used movement to increase awareness, which in turn helped to upgrade people's functioning, often in breakthrough ways; he had his students pay close attention while moving as a way to enhance functioning. However, he did not formulate Movement with Attention as an Essential per se, that is, distinct from awareness.

Think of Movement with Attention as bringing about a virtual explosion of activity in the brain: Scans showed high levels of activity in the prefrontal cortex during new learning but not once the performance became routine. Jueptner M, Stephan K, Frith CD, et al. 1997. Anatomy of motor learning. I. Frontal Ccrtex and attention to Action. Journal of Neurophysiology 77(3): 1313- 24. Johansen- Berg H, Matthews PM. 2002. Attention to movement modulates activity in sensori- motor areas, including primary motor cortex. Experimental Brain Research 142(1): 13- 24.
"Experience coupled with attention leads to physical changes in the structure and functioning of the nervous system": Merzenich MM, deCharms RC. 1996. Neural representations, experience and change." In Llinàs R, Churchland PS, eds. The Mind-Brain Continuum. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

For more by Anat Baniel, click here.
For more on fitness and exercise, click here.