Your Spine Is Not a Column
From radiance to tensegrity: exploring the layers of support within...
Our spines are more than bones. Born in embryology as fluid structures, they remain living systems of movement and resilience. This 10-minute presentation explores spinal development.
In the essay below, we explore the living anatomy of the spine — its curves, tensegrity, and the inquiry into core.
The Spine as a Living Structure
The spine has too often been viewed as a stack, or column, of blocks: each vertebra resting one upon the other, cushioned by shock-absorbing discs. From that perspective, maintaining spinal health seems impossible without compression and wear.
And in fact, when we move without integration, bones and discs do degenerate over time.
A newer perspective sees our bodies — and all of biology — as tensegritous systems. In tensegrity, strength and resilience come from a dynamic balance of compression and tension. Bones are the compressed elements, and the soft tissues — fascia, ligaments, tendons, muscles — are the tensioned elements
In a tensegritous spine, bones float, discs move freely, and no single structure bears the whole burden.
The spine itself is a tensegrity system. Bones do not directly touch. Instead, they float on the discs, suspended within the weave of soft tissues. This allows discs the freedom of movement they naturally need, and prevents destructive compression.
Our spine’s tensegritous nature distributes weight through bone, disc, ligament, muscle, and fascia in a balanced way, so no single structure carries the whole burden.
This shift in perspective is critical: it shows us how to keep excessive forces out of the major joints in yoga — and in this case, out of the spine itself.
Spinal Curves Form a Unified System
The curves of the spine are designed to distribute forces, absorb shock, and provide resilience at our core. In health, the spine is a fantastically mobile, supportive, and intelligent central structure.
Our central nervous system is safely contained in the vertebral canal, protected by the vertebral bodies in front and by the transverse and spinous processes behind.
When spinal curves are not balanced, due to environmental and unhealthy movement patterns, the vertebral system loses its natural resilience. Ligaments may harden or overstretch. Muscles may brace. Discs compress. Bones may degrade.
The Spine as a Single System
Western anatomy divides the spine into sections. In reality, it functions as a continuous whole. Each part has its own movement qualities, and together they create uninterrupted flow through the central body:
Cervical spine: highly flexible, offering flexion, rotation, and extension.
Thoracic spine: rotates freely, allows large lateral flexion, limited forward flexion, very little extension.
Lumbar spine: moves easily in forward flexion and extension, but limited in twisting and lateral flexion.
Sacrum: curves backward, articulates with the pelvis, allows nodding of its top edge and some rotation.
Coccyx: curls inward, capable of subtle forward and backward movements.
When these regions blend in unified motion, the spine feels integrated, comfortable, and easy.
What Does it Mean to Have a Mobile Core?
Natural resilience and ease come when the parts and the whole move in synergy. A mobile core profoundly affects how we feel in the world.
The difference between a frozen and a mobile core is directly related to how we move — and how we move is directly related to how we think we can move.
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