The term for this is proprioception—your sense of where your body is in space. Neurons embedded in your muscles, joints, and tendons sense when these body parts are stretching, bending, or rotating. This information travels to your brain, helping you with coordination.
I read a book about a man who, following a bout of flu, lost
his sense of proprioception. He had to depend on his eyes to determine what his
body was doing. In a dark room, or with his eyes closed, he’d fall over.
Your body awareness naturally declines with age, increasing
your risk of falling. Moving your body helps to keep your proprioception in
tune. The less you move, the more your body awareness deteriorates.
To test your upper body proprioception, stand in
front of a mirror, close your eyes and try to raise both arms to shoulder
height, parallel to the floor. Once you think you’re positioned like an
uppercase “T,” open your eyes and note how far your arms are from where you
expected. If you’re off by a few inches, you can improve your awareness with
exercises (see below). If you’re off by eight or more inches, it might indicate
a neurological condition, such as Parkinson’s disease.
To test your lower body proprioception, with your
eyes open and both arms crossed over your chest, see how long you can keep your
balance while standing on one leg. Repeat the exercise with your eyes closed.
Do the same test with your other leg. Healthy adults under 50 should be able to
balance for 40 seconds with both eyes open, and for seven seconds with both
eyes closed. By the time you reach your 70s, those numbers drop to 15 and two
seconds, respectively.
You can improve your body awareness by practicing standing
on one leg, performing Tai Chi exercises, walking on uneven surfaces, and
walking heel to toe.
I tried the first test and nailed it. I failed the second
one, but then I’m nearly 90.
For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.
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