HOW SENSORY-MOTOR CONTROL BALANCE TRAINING PRESERVES MENTAL & BODY FITNESS FOR WORK
► Efficient stress reduction and enhanced mental fitness for work. For most people from the Western countries stress reduction through passive observational relaxation techniques is not an easy process and even could bring more stress and frustration. This is connected with the Western people inclination to be permanently engaged in some activity. Balance training uses this natural inclination to engage completely exerciser's attention and divert it temporarily from stress-related thoughts and worries. This happens in a process known as dissociation.
Dissociation occurs in varying degrees when we meditate, exercise, enter hypnotic trance, read a good book, become involved in an interesting movie, or enjoy a sporting event. We get drawn into the present moment and let go of thoughts relating to our daily hassles, hectic schedules, paying rent, urban noise, worries, threats, or anxieties and the accompanying, often unhealthy, mental chatter.
Balance training absorbs exerciser's attention ( you can not think for anything else while balancing on the board and controling the biofeedback game through your movements - see below the video ). This riveting of attention is the mechanism used to calm down the stress reactions and emotional arousal. Only when the brain and the mind are in a state of calm concentration the rational thinking and creativity can be employed for solving of complex tasks. Returning back to your job after 5-10 minutes of balancing you may discover that your ability to find creative solutions to difficult tasks is surprisingly switched-on and you are more open to communication and cooperation with your colleagues.
In the video below you may watch an attention-absorbing biofeedback game controlled by the movements of the player on the balance board:
► Sensory-motor control balance training addresses some of the root causes for chronic muscle & joint pain. There is a worldwide trend that more and more employees suffer from chronic muscle or joint pain disorders. According to HSE-UK around 80% of the lost working days due to work-related ill health are caused either by musculoskeletal pain disorders or by workplace stress. Every year millions are spent to treat musculoskeletal pain disorders through surgery, pain-killers, massage therapy, chiropractic or physiotherapy. In most of the cases the results are not fulfilling and there is no real improvement. Why is this?
Many conditions that are commonly thought to be structural in nature, are functional, neuromuscular problems that can be prevented and improved with sensory-motor control coordination training.
Balance training with biofeedback is a kind of neuromuscular (mind-body training) movement re-education that goes directly to the root cause of most chronic muscular pain: the brain and the way in which it senses and organizes the muscles and movement. By learning to regain both awareness, sensation, and motor control of muscles – an educational process that can only be achieved through movement with amplified sensory feedback – the brain can remember how to relax and move the muscles properly. This process of sensory motor training creates improved muscle function and enhanced sensory awareness.
Sensory-motor coordination training is a safe, gentle and common sense approach to reverse chronic pain. There are different forms of neuro-muscular training ( tai-chi, yoga, Feldenkrais Method, Hanna Somatics,etc.) but all of them targets the condition of SENSORY MOTOR AMNESIA (SMA). Sensory Motor Amnesia is the condition of chronically-tight muscles that have learned to stay contracted due to repeated and reflexive response to stress such as accidents, injuries, surgeries, repetitive tasks ( sitting in front of the computer all day long), and on-going emotional stress. The resulting patterns of muscular contraction that develop result in such common conditions as chronic back pain, neck, shoulder and hip pain, limited mobility, joint pain, poor posture, shallow breathing, and uneven leg length.
Those suffering from SMA lose their ability to release and relax muscles and move freely. This occurs on the level of the nervous system. Just as the brain can teach us to ride a bike, throw a ball or eat with a spoon, it also teaches us to adapt to stress by altering our posture, gait, or movement. SMA occurs in reflexive, full body patterns of contractions that alter voluntary coordination, proprioception, and balance as they tighten joints and cause muscular pain. In SMA, the feedback loop between the brain and muscles goes into what can be described as “cruise control" or "auto-pilot," and makes it difficult to control these muscles freely.
Releasing muscle pain is an educational process. Because SMA is a learned, functional problem, it can thankfully be “unlearned.” Emphasis is put on gentle movements with amplified sensory feedback: a series of very gentle, easy self-care exercises that improve movement, balance, coordination, and flexibility. Through daily repetition these exercises create improved self-awareness, and self-monitoring, which increase one’s ability to be self-correcting in postural habits and overall movement.
Reversing Sensory Motor Amnesia addresses chronic muscle pain at its root cause – the brain – and the way in which the brain senses and controls movement. The implications for improving one’s overall health cannot be underestimated. Improved muscle function and body awareness translates into improved physiological health and the ability to maintain physical independence and mobility as one ages. Who wouldn’t want that?
In the video below you may watch how the balance training with biofeedback is done and some of the exercises you may use with or without game-feedback:
► Improved & preserved brain fitness for work - surprising as it may seem sensory-motor coordination & balance training re-calibrates and improves brain processing speed, reaction time, sensory integration, spatial awareness, hemispheres communication, brain timing, proprioception and neuroplascticity. These are basic neurological processes which define the effectiveness of all learning activities. In an economy dominated by fast changes and information technologies the employees' capacity to learn fast is one of the main company assets. If you regularly practice balance training you will enjoy more stability and strength of your attention, faster reaction time and brain processing speed. If you are interested to learn more detailed scientific explanation why balance training has such a positive effect on a brain level you may download the following documents:
What is the Science behind the Balance Training
What Brain Processes are impacted from Sensory-Motor Control Balance Training
Humans in Space: _Gravity_& Neuro-Physiology Impacts
WHAT ARE THE SENSORY-MOTOR TRAINING TECHNOLOGY BENEFITS FOR YOUR COMPANY ?
► Cost-effective technology for stress reduction and enhancement of employees' mental performance & loyalty.
► Easy-to-use software with powerful features for quantitative analysis of the long-term progress in the balance & proprioception training effectiveness.
► A tool which makes the boring physical exercise entertaining and motivating.
► Safe technology which preserves your employees' neuro-muscular system from chronic muscle pain disorders.
► Efficient instrument for maintaining the brain fitness for work of the aging workforce.
► Very affordable investment and compact dimensions - you can use it in limited office spaces.
► It doesn't require your employees to wear special clothes or shoes in order to use it.
► It doesn't require higher physical fitness or strength in order to use it.
HOW WE CAN HELP YOU TO IMPLEMENT BALANCE BIOFEEDBACK TRAINING IN YOUR ORGANIZATION
► We provide complete solutions for occupational health, corporate wellness programs as well as for employees themselves :
► High-quality and affordable hardware and software suitable for in-office or home use. We are authorized dealer of reputable producers.
► Aftersales support - we shall support you to start use the equipment very fast without loosing any time for learning the application method itself no matter if you are healthcare specialist or end user.
► We can train some of your people ( HR specialists, psychologists, occupational health specialists, health and safety specialists, doctors or physiotherapists ) how to apply the method and the hardware in the context of different medical, physiotherapy, fitness or wellness treatments.
► We provide supervising sessions support to home users for installation of software and using biofeedback to help with their condition.
► We can provide your employees with customized program for sensory-motor control awareness exercises for home or office use to help with chronic muscle pain disorders.
► We provide support and training by e-mail or Skype.
► More information about us and our contact details
RESEARCH ARTICLES FOR SENSORY-MOTOR BALANCE TRAINING RELATED TO OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, MENTAL & BRAIN PERFORMANCE AND NEURO-MUSCULAR REHABILITATION
► Biofeedback systems for human postural control and enhancement of motor training - thesis
► Audio-visual biofeedback for postural control training
► Biofeedback for balance rehabilitation
► The role of the vestibular system in the learning process
► The role of the vestibular system & training in motor & skill learning
► Connections between vestibular damages & disorders of attention and mood
► Biofeedback for training balance and mobility tasks in older populations
► Humans_in-Space:_Gravity & Neuro-Physiology Impacts