June 8
Prime Your Brain for Easier, Better-Organized Movement
Spring is here! As you start getting outside to hike, bike, garden, and enjoy the weather, you may be surprised to find yourself experiencing some aches and pains.
That soreness can feel confusing. After all, these are activities you’ve done many times over the years.
But there’s an important detail many people overlook:
Your nervous system may not be fully prepared for the movements required by those activities anymore.
How Imagination Improves Movement
Imagining movement activates many of the same neural pathways used during actual movement. Research on motor imagery and visualization shows that mentally rehearsing an action can improve coordination, learning, and performance.
In the Feldenkrais Method®, imagination is often used to improve movement organization, reduce unnecessary effort, and accelerate learning. By mentally rehearsing activities like gardening, hiking, lifting, or sports, we can help “prime” the nervous system for smoother, easier movement and potentially reduce soreness and strain.
Why Spring Activities Suddenly Feel Harder
When you think about gardening, you probably imagine what plants you want to grow and how beautiful everything will look later in the season.
That imagination is important because it helps motivate you.
But what often gets left out are the actual movements required to make that garden happen:
- bending
- lifting
- digging
- twisting
- kneeling
- pushing
- pulling
- reaching
If you haven’t done those activities for six months or more, the coordination patterns associated with those movements may become less accessible.
The nervous system becomes less prepared for the demands of bending, lifting, twisting, balancing, and coordinating effort efficiently.
This is one reason seasonal activities sometimes produce unexpected soreness—even when they are familiar activities.
Using Imagination to Prepare for Physical Activity
In Feldenkrais® lessons, we often use imagination to make movement easier and improve learning.
Sometimes we physically perform a movement sequence on one side and then simply imagine doing those same movements on the other side. The result is often a surprisingly quick transfer of learning from one side to the other.
Several well-known studies have shown that basketball players who mentally rehearse free throws from the sidelines significantly improve their ability to make free throws on the court.
When we vividly imagine movement, many of the same neural networks involved in actual movement become active.
With the advent of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), researchers can now observe what happens in the brain during imagined movement. Making a physical movement with your hand and vividly imagining the same movement activate many of the same areas of the brain.
Using imagination in this way can help “wake up” dormant movement patterns and prepare the nervous system for action.
This means that when we begin our favorite spring and summer activities, movement can feel easier, require less effort, and create less unnecessary soreness.
Example of an fMRI scan.
If you haven’t been doing those activities for six months or more, the associate motor pathways will have become dormant.
Using our imagination, we can actuate those pathways to prime ourselves for easier, better-organized movements. So when we start our favorite spring and summer activities, they are easier, use less effort, and we experience less soreness.
Try This
Before your next walk, gardening session, workout, or hike:
Pause for 30 seconds and imagine yourself doing the activity.
- How do you bend?
- How do you shift your weight?
- How do your ribs and spine participate?
- How do your feet contact the ground?
- How do you breathe?
- How do your arms help transfer force?
Imagine the movement becoming smooth, coordinated, easy, and connected.
Then notice whether the actual activity feels different.
Imaginary Holes
Here’s an example.
I recently installed a six-foot privacy fence along the north side of our yard. It had been several years since I last dug 24-inch fence-post holes in our lovely Colorado clay soil.
Before digging, I spent time vividly imagining the activity.
Imagining in detail helps prime my brain and nervous system for the actions I’m about to do.
How do I organize my pelvis?
How do my ribs and spine participate?
How do I transfer force through my legs?
What does it feel like when the shovel slices into the earth?
How do I breathe as I lift and throw the dirt?
What happens when the hole gets deep and I kneel down to scoop out the soil with my hands?
How does the soil smell and feel?
The more vivid and detailed the imagination, the more clearly the nervous system begins preparing for the action.
When I finally went outside and physically dug the holes, it felt surprisingly easy.
It wasn’t exactly the same as I imagined—but it was remarkably close.
Most importantly, I experienced no soreness afterward.
Prime Your Brain for Easier Movement
Movement begins long before the first action.
The nervous system is constantly predicting, organizing, and preparing for what we are about to do. Imagination can help activate these processes before physical effort even begins.
In Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement® lessons, we often use imagination, attention, and gentle exploration to improve coordination, reduce unnecessary effort, and help movement become easier and more efficient.
If you’d like to explore this process directly, start with one of my guided lessons or online classes.
Explore More
🎧 Explore Al’s Audio Store
Discover full-length Feldenkrais series for home study.
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Schedule a private session to focus on your unique movement needs.
📖 Read the Blog
Reflections on movement, awareness, and everyday application of the Feldenkrais Method.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can imagining movement really help me move better?
Yes. Mentally rehearsing movement can activate many of the same neural pathways involved in physical movement. This is why visualization is used in sports, performance training, and Feldenkrais® lessons to improve coordination, learning, and ease.
How can movement visualization help reduce soreness?
Visualization can help prepare your nervous system before you begin an activity. By imagining how you will bend, reach, lift, twist, breathe, and shift your weight, you may organize your movements with less unnecessary effort and reduce strain.
Why do familiar spring activities sometimes cause aches and pains?
Activities like gardening, hiking, biking, and yard work may use movements you have not practiced for several months. Even though the activity is familiar, the coordination patterns may be less available, which can lead to extra effort, stiffness, or soreness.
How do I use imagination before physical activity?
Before beginning, pause for 30–60 seconds and imagine yourself doing the activity. Sense how you bend, breathe, shift your weight, use your feet, involve your spine and ribs, and coordinate your arms and legs. Then begin slowly and notice whether the activity feels easier.
Is this the same as positive thinking?
No. Movement visualization is not simply telling yourself that something will go well. It is a practical way to mentally rehearse the details of an action so your nervous system can prepare for smoother, more coordinated movement.
How is this used in the Feldenkrais Method?
In the Feldenkrais Method®, imagination is often used alongside gentle movement and attention. Sometimes a person performs a movement on one side and then imagines it on the other side, allowing learning to transfer without effort or strain.
What activities can I prepare for with movement visualization?
You can use this approach before gardening, walking, hiking, biking, lifting, exercising, sports, housework, or any activity that requires coordination. The more clearly you imagine the action, the more useful the preparation can become.
Do I still need to warm up physically?
Movement visualization can be a helpful preparation, but it does not have to replace gentle physical warm-ups. For many people, the best approach is to combine brief visualization with slow, easy movement before beginning a more demanding activity.
Works Cited
1. Fazel, Fatemeh, et al. “The Effects of Different Types of Imagery Delivery on Basketball Free-Throw Shooting Performance and Self-Efficacy.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise, vol. 39, Nov. 2018, pp. 29–37, vuir.vu.edu.au/30151/1/Fatemeh%20Fazel.pdf, 10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.07.006.
2. Post, Phillip G, et al. “A Field Test of the Influence of Pre-Game Imagery on Basketball Free Throw Shooting.” Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, vol. 5, no. 1, 25 Jan. 2010, 10.2202/1932-0191.1042. Accessed 24 May 2019.
3. Szameitat, André J., et al. “Motor Imagery of Complex Everyday Movements. An FMRI Study.” NeuroImage, vol. 34, no. 2, Jan. 2007, pp. 702–713, 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.09.033. Accessed 13 June 2019.
4. Van Oostende, Sylvie, et al. “FMRI Studies of the Supplementary Motor Area and the Premotor Cortex.” NeuroImage, vol. 6, no. 3, Oct. 1997, pp. 181–190, 10.1006/nimg.1997.0287. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.
Tags
gardening, Imagination
