Hierarchy of Movement

Sit quietly and listen to the various sensations in the body. What does your physical body tell you? Are there parts of you that feel tight? Painful? Restricted? Dull? Disconnected? Cold? Hot?

Physiologically do you sense that you are tired, energized, restless, or lethargic? Is your heart beating fast, slow, or erratically? Is your breathing noisy, quiet, even, deep, or shallow? Do you inhale high up in your chest or lower down in your belly area?

Psycho-emotionally do you feel stressed, anxious, depressed, or scared? Or, do you feel calm, quiet, and at ease?

There are many ways in which sensation is felt in the body. In HōM we look at 2 major similarities that all these bodily sensations have in common.

First, for every thought, feeling, action, and emotion there is a corresponding physiological sensation.

Second, whatever it is we are sensing can be distilled down to that which connects everything together. ENERGY.

In HōM we not only look at sensation as the conscious recognition of energy, we look at the QUALITY of the sensation as a determinant of HOW that energy is moving through us.

How energy is moving through can be felt in 3 general ways. Solid, Fluid, and Subtle.

When Energy in our body is Solid:

• We sense our bodies and the world around us as separate parts.

• We often feel tense, painful, or anxious. Traumatic events have more influence over us with energy moving in this way.

• Often there are blockages in how the energy is moving through our bodies, leading to stagnation, excess, or depletion.

• Mind and body tend to be fragmented, exclusive. We tend to observe things as black and white.

• Our minds flow between past and future with little regard for the present moment.


In an acute healing state, feeling separate and fragmented can be ok if we're trying to treat a particular symptom. But, understanding how that symptom connects and influences the body as a whole is difficult to understand and connect to.

When Energy in our body is Fluid:

• Our bodies and minds evoke a state of quiet, steady, inclusive flow.

• The body feels more connected and integrated.

• Our minds are more clear, present.

• We literally can feel our cells, the movement of breath, blood and other fluids in the body.

• We sense more clearly how our various traumas influence the mind and body as a whole.

• We have more control over our self-regulation than we did in the solid body.

• We approach healing and self-regulation from a more holistic point of view.


When Energy in our body is Subtle:

• We experience a deep, nurturing, quiet sense of connectedness with all things.

• There is a powerful sense of equanimity.

• We find it easy to remain fully present. It is here that we have great control over ourselves and the greatest amount of well-being. Here healing has its most powerful influence.

In HōM we recognize the Solid, Fluid, and Subtle energetic manifestations as important parts of who we are. Each contributes to our healing and overall potential. And no matter what it is we are working on (migraine headaches, post surgical hip replacement, anxiety, an injured low back, etc.) we use all Six Keys and the many tools at our disposal to ensure that each part of our body connects, coordinates, and supports the other parts.

There is no such thing as an isolated problem.

If you’ve ever sprained your ankle you probably know how debilitating it can be. But did you know that this same sprained ankle -- if not properly rehabilitated -- could contribute to the development of an ulcer, irritable bowel, or another seemingly unrelated mind-body issue? It could even diminish your ability to self regulate.

Whether it’s a sprained ankle, a postural imbalance, trauma, stress, abuse, or emotional upheaval, the little problems which arise in life often compound to become bigger, systemic issues affecting the entire autonomic nervous system ("ANS"). HōM addresses not only the small, initial stages of a problem, but also the big, more expansive complications that can arise. We called this unique approach Integrated Differentiation.

Integrated Differentiation works in reverse order. It starts with Differentiation, and then moves to Integration.

Why? Because what can be differentiated can much more readily be healed. Precise differentiated movements allows us to go more deeply into the nooks and crannies of our functionality where much of the dysfunction resides. Through Differentiation, HōM practitioners learn to isolate and focus deeply on the primary physical sources of a problem. Using the principle that "inner informs outer," HOM teaches movement strategies that progress from the intrinsic layers of joints, tendons, ligaments and deep fascia (the "inner tensegrity") to the smaller fine motor muscles which educate, inform, and refine the outer gross motor muscles and superficial fascia. This inner-to-outer-body approach increases mind-body IQ, decompresses joints and soft tissues, helps heal deep rooted chronic and acute physical trauma, and creates a quieting stress reducing parasympathetic response in the ANS.

Then, through Integration, the primary areas of differentiated focus are united with the mind-body as a whole. This integrated approach helps treat or prevent secondary complications arising from the initial problem. In this way, Integrated Differentiation is the bridge which connects the keys to self regulation to the physical, physiological, or psycho-emotional experience of the practitioner.

When the the 6 keys of self regulation are guided by the concept of Integrated Differentiation, the HōM modality can be understood as the triad for positive change.

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word posture? For me it was chest up, head high, don’t slump. Once when I was testifying in court in support of a client, I started explaining the many ways his accident had negatively changed his posture. During the explanation I noticed many of the jurors starting to sit up more fully.

While there is some truth and benefit to how many of us respond upon hearing the word posture, when we go more deeply into it, we begin to realize that posture is much more than just bringing the physical body into alignment. We discover that posture is truly one of the key ingredients for self-regulation. It’s pivotal to our overall health and well-being.

It’s important to understand that physical or structural alignment is not the only goal to achieving healthy postural balance. Imagine you are observing 3 individuals standing in front of you with perfect posture. The one to the right suffers terribly from stress, anxiety, insomnia, headaches, neck pain, difficulties in school, nervousness, and overactivity. The one in the middle has some mild issues, various aches and pains, more of the general problems many of us have. The person to the right exhibits vitality and wellbeing, relaxed and ready to deal with whatever confronts them. They all have the same perfect posture so what is the difference?

Let’s go back to the individual to the right. Imagine yourself in their body with perfect posture (if you do this, be gentle and don’t do it if it doesn’t feel right). As you stand there gently squeeze the floor with your toes, tighten your legs, glutes, abs, clench your jaw, breath shallow quick breaths into your upper chest, tense your fingers. Imagine yourself feeling anxious and fearful.  What you’ve just done is increased the amount of negative tension in your body. Negative tension that could have arisen from physical, physiological or psycho-emotional stress or trauma. What stayed the same is the perfect posture.

HoM recognizes that there are two types of posture. 

Structural posture (represented by our physical balance in stillness and motion).

Functional posture (represented by the amount of positive or negative tension in the body). 

From the example above, some might say tension is bad.

Well, an excess of it is. Especially unconscious tension which can take a dramatic toll on mind and body. Using tension as the neutral term it is, we understand we need tension to live life.

So, tension isn’t the bad guy. It’s our excess, out of control lack of awareness tension that magnifies, perpetuates, and organizes much of the unhealthy mischief that takes place in the body.

So, if you want to have healthy postural alignment (structural) it’s important to understand that structural posture is not enough for a high level of health. You also need control over the tensions in your body.

In Hierarchy of Movement™ we look at posture as synonymous with structural and functional balance, related not just to the physical but also the physiological and psycho-emotional bodies (3P’s). To achieve this expanded approach to posture we work simultaneously with both the primary principals of the HōM along with the 6 Keys of Self-regulation.

Perceptual Awareness

We start our mind-body balancing by focusing our Awareness on the body, listening for structural imbalances and negative tensions. Centering the mind by bringing it into the present moment. HōM calls this Perceptual Anatomy (PA). PA allows us to observe, explore, interpret, and adjust whatever mind-body strategy is manifesting in our body, in any given moment.

With PA as our guide, we begin our postural journey with slow, small, subtle movements and postures, progressing from inner to outer body. Listening intently as we slowly bring our body towards alignment. This inner to outer body exploration involves postural strategies that progress from the intrinsic layers of joints, tendons, ligaments and deep fascia (called inner tensegrity).

Gross Motor function goes to school on Fine Motor development.

Muscularly, working first with the smaller, fine motor muscles deep in the joint, we “educate” our gross motor muscles and superficial fascia.

This approach:
• diminishes negative tension
• increases mind body IQ
• decompresses and balances our bones joints and soft tissues
• helps heal deep rooted acute and chronic physical trauma
• and creates a quieting, stress reducing parasympathetic response in the autonomic nervous system.

Many HoM programs such as Mind in Posture and Six Keys of Self-Regulation focus on structural and functional posture as part of a wholistic system of health and wellbeing.

Below are a few quotes that help support HoM’s approach to posture.

1. In poor posture, muscles are doing part of the job of bones. Feldenkraais

2. A person with good posture has organized themselves in a way that allows them to move in any direction without hesitation or preparation. Feldenkrais

3. The more we sense the leverage of the bones, the more intelligently and powerfully we move from the muscles. NA

4. As skeletal awareness is refined, muscular tension is proportionately reduced, mental clarity is enhanced, and healthy physiological processes, which can counteract the effects of stress, are perpetuated.  NA

5. Unnecessary tension is parasitic to both structure and function. NA

6. Think about lifting a car with a jack as opposed to using your muscles to do the job. When properly placed, you can lift a whole car! Our bones do that for our everyday lifting and moving. If we are leveraging correctly, using our bones as levers in aligned posture, we need less "muscle"; to move or lift. This way, we're not engaging in unnecessary tension. That allows more efficient use of our energy and makes us less prone to injury. Debra Whitehead

7. Posture is not static. Posture requires our ongoing awareness as we move through life’s moments both in our minds as well as in our bodies. And our nervous system receives a natural education from that. I find so much joy in seeing my progress. Debra Whitehead

Saturation is the third in the Self Regulation series. Saturation leads students to a deeper refinement of the movements, postures, and breath learned in Self Regulation 1 & 2 while adding precise sensory tracing.

Become a Member to Access Self Regulation Content