Mingmen - Life Gate

The Ming Men, "Gate of Life" is an essential part of traditional Chinese physiology. In Chinese martial arts there is a huge emphasis on keeping the life gate open during all movement and it is where the Yang energy originates and projects outwards. The location of the Ming Men is in the lower back between L4 and L5. What usually missed is the the life gate is located in the front of the spine. 






References :


http://www.indyspinemd.com/Normal/index.asp


http://www.traditionalhealtharts.com/papers/mingmen.html

Homolateral/Contralateral movement and intelligence ?

Homolateral and Contralateral are Developmental Movement Patterns.

Homolateral Movement (Body Half) is an asymmetrical movement of the upper limb and the lower limb on the same side.

Contralateral Movement (Opposition) is a diagonal movement of one upper limb with the opposite lower limb.

Homolateral Movement correlates to the movement of reptiles

Contralateral Movement correlates to the movement of mammals

From a developmental aspect, and if you subscribe to the notion that mind body are connected and that the way we move and the development of our intelligence are one, then Contralateral movement is a higher developmental stage.

Often when we learn something new that pertains to movement we will start with homolateral movement and then move to contralateral movement. This is whey you might see kids start to crawl in a homolateral movement first (moving right arm and leg together) and then develop into a Contralateral movement.

The higher intelligence is contralateral, and if we block this type of movement, or spend most of our day to day activities in homolateral behavior then we are not aligning ourselves with the way nature developed us. In a way you might say that we go back, we become more basic. Unfortunately when you look at the way modern society lives you can notice that we mostly have homolateral movement. Sitting in front of a screen and going to the gym all comprise of homolateral activities. Advances movement such as dance, martial arts, yoga all involve contra lateral movement. However this also includes walking. Walking is a contralateral movement pattern, and so it's really not necessary to do complex exercises as long as you walk.

Walk more you'll feel better and you'll be smarter

here is a reference to some basic cross over exercises

http://www.feelingfree.net/batteryproblems/crossover.htm

Refereces :

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Whole+Brain+Exercises+Get+Your+Whole+Brain+Working+for+You-a01073927971

http://www.feelingfree.net/batteryproblems/crossover.htm

http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/dance/faculty/anthony/courses/Modern-Dance-Language.htm

http://wires.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WiresArticle/wisId-WCS36.html

Breathing through the molars

Having a tight Jaw is very common. The jaw is also highly connected to the hip, so when the jaw is tight, the hip is tight and the whole body is not at ease. There are many exercises to relax the jaw, but this one is one you can do often, and easily.

The way to do this is to imagine as if you are breathing into the back of the mouth where the molars are. You breath through both sides, basically imagining that you nostrils are actually back there. What this will do is force you to pay attention to the big jaw muscles, relax them, and incorporate micro movements while breathing. A loose jaw is not a static jaw but rather a fluid jaw. The micro movement will gently massage it throwout the day.

In the image you can see both the Masseter and Temporalis muscles. see if you can notice both when you breath.

References :

http://www.massagemag.com/News/massage-news.php?id=7215&catid=1&title=research-tmj-related-to-hip-pain

http://ssop.com.au/blog/uncategorized/temporomandibular-joint-disorders-tmd-and-headache/