This should hopefully come as no big surprise, but bodies are meant to move. And since we live in a 3-dimensional world, our movements are 3 dimensional. Again, no big surprise. But what might be interesting to notice is how often your movement practices move you through all 3 planes of motion. What are those, you might ask? Well, there is the sagittal plane (think forward bends and back bends), the frontal plane (think side bends or side-to-side movements, movements that move the limbs either away from the mid-line of the body (abduction – like sweeping your arms out to the sides and up) or toward the mid-line of the body (adduction - sweeping your arms out and down by the sides of your body) and the transverse plane (think twists/rotations).

Many of our day-to-day activities keep us in the sagittal plane – walking (while there is some rotation – and maybe from time to time you side step, it is mainly a sagittal plane movement), running, bending forward or squatting to pick something up, driving, typing... So, it is really important to consciously weave in movements from the other planes to your movement practices.

Here are just a few reasons:

· Overall balance in the joints and muscles

· Improved proprioception (your awareness of the position of your body in space, and even your body parts in relation to one another)

· More balanced movement pattern and coordination

· Overall body awareness

How might you start including all 3 planes of motion in your movement practices?

· Notice in your life what planes of motion your daily activities take place in.

· Notice how you move in your favorite movement practices – which plane do the movement mainly fall in? Which types of movements/planes are under-represented?

· Are there movements your body craves? Which planes are they in?

· Start to consciously incorporate one or two movements from the missing plane(s) into your movement practices and see how it goes.

If you have questions or want to share with me how you are incorporating all 3 planes of motion into your movement practice and your life, please email me! I’d love to stay connected with you on this!

Check out my classes and videos for movement practices that will move you in all planes of motion!