Post~1 Asymmetry
“Only Entropy Comes easy”
-Anton Chekhov
We see a person as having two, mostly similar sides. Two eyes, two arms, two legs, but if we look a bit deeper we will notice that a human body is highly asymmetrical.
Our lungs are different shapes on the right and left. Our Diaphragms are different sizes on the right and left. Our liver fills a large part of our right belly and our heart sits slightly left in our chest. These asymmetrical central structures (lung/diaphragm/liver/heart) set up a cascade of events which makes us see differently out of each eye, swing each arm differently, and step on each leg differently. This changed perception of the world around us, and alteration of how we move produces predictable patterns of overuse/underuse and can cause all sorts of injuries.
I get asked a lot: If that is how we are made, should we really work hard to change it?
Yes and No:
Asymmetry is there to create imbalance or wobble, which allows shifting from side to side to pick up a foot and move forward. If we were the exact same side to side there would be no urge to shift from one foot to the next, and we’d be rooted to the ground. Our job as we age, and within my Physical Therapy practice is to harness the chaos (imbalance/wobble/asymmetry) and not let decay happen too quickly (and how about reverse some of the dysfunction built up!).
So, here’s to harnessing the chaos inside of you.