“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
― Lao Tzu
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Proprioception is the body’s ability to perceive its own sense of position in space.
It is the perception of the positions of the various parts of the body. The brain uses this information to facilitate movement, maintain balance, coordination, and the rest of it.
Proprioception is necessary for fluid and precise movements – essential to ultra-endurance athletes and the mainstream in the spirit of optimal health, limitless performance, and enhanced longevity.
It is the sense of body positions perceived at the conscious and unconscious levels. It refers to two kinds of sensations: static limb position and kinesthesia. The static position reflects the recognition of the orientation of body parts and kinesthesia is the recognition of rates of movement.
Proprioception is based on a multicomponent sensory system. There are various peripheral receptors that detect specific signals and major sensory afferent pathways which transport the information from the spinal cord to the cortex.
Proprioception relies on the relationship among the central nervous system, soft tissue, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and more. Compromised proprioception is a reduction in the sense that tells the body where you are in space. It includes the awareness of posture, weight, movement, and limb position in relation to our environment and other parts of our body.
Sensory organs within the tissue are called proprioceptors. Sensory nerve endings wrap around the proprioceptors to send information to the nervous system. The proprioceptors can sense when tissue elongation, tension, and pressure.
The proprioceptors in muscles are termed muscle spindles. Muscle spindles are long proteins encapsulated in sheaths parallel to muscle fibers and function in the following manner:
- When a muscle is extended, muscle fibers are elongated and the coils of the muscle spindles are stretched;
- When a muscle is contracted, muscle causes muscle fibers and muscle spindles to shorten;
- Nerve fibers in the muscle transmit information about the degree and rate at which the muscle spindle is elongated;
- The information is delivered to the nervous system; a signal to contract or relax is sent to the muscle;
- The desired action is performed.
Proprioceptors are affected by a number of genetic, epigenetic, and acquired diseases. Gene expression is a tightly regulated process that allows a cell to respond to its changing environment.
Enter epigenetics…
Epigenetics represents all inputs from life. Epigenetics represents the study of changes in organisms caused by modifications to gene expression absent any alteration to the genetic code [DNA blueprint/sequence]. “Epi” is the Greek lexicon for “above.” Epigenetic markers are positioned above your DNA sequence and impact gene expression/suppression based on lifestyle factors [methylation].
Synaptic plasticity is the underlying neurophysiological correlate of learning and constitutes the brain’s ability to reorganize and adapt in response to changing environmental demands.
Some of the most influential studies behind the recent surge of interest in epigenetics originated from or directly cut-across neuroscience research.
Epigenetics research offers a key missing link in the dynamic interplay between experience and the genome in sculpting neuronal circuits – especially in the critical periods of plasticity.
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmental biology, cytology, computer science, and mathematical modeling to understand the fundamental and emergent properties of neurons and neural circuits.
Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific field that is concerned with the study of the biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain which are involved in mental processes.
Neuroepigenetics is the study of how epigenetic changes to genes affect the nervous system. These changes may affect underlying conditions such as addiction, cognition, and neurological development.
Proprioception represents a continuous loop of feedback between sensory receptors throughout your body and your nervous system. Awareness is the bottom line.
Sensory receptors are located on your skin, joints, and muscles. When we engage in exertion, our brain senses the effort, force, and extent of our actions; adapts, positions, and responds accordingly.
The risk of proprioception loss increases as we age due to a combination of natural age-related changes to the nerves, joints, and muscles.
The keys to your mansion of unparalleled health, performance, and longevity are heightened when lifestyle matches chronotype. Performance optimization cannot occur without first enhancing health. Homeostasis is the dynamic interaction between genetics and lifestyle [nature and nurture]. Synergy is the lynchpin.
Your DNA blueprint is absolute and cannot be altered. Think of epigenetic markers as apostrophes sprinkled above the letters and words of a sentence [your DNA sequence]. Your DNA provides instructions for proteins to be produced inside the cells. Epigenetic markers impact [like a dimmer switch] how genes are read by cells.
Epigenetics identifies propensities that can be modified whether it pertains to sleep, stress, nutrition, supplementation, athletic performance, environmental health, hormones, biological age, neurotransmitters, the endocannabinoid and glutathione systems, nitric oxide production, mitochondrial biogenesis, neuroepigenetics, heart rate variability, cognition, and a host of other testing categories.
The promise of epigenetics testing is its depiction of cellular integrity. When variants highlight abnormal cellular function it allows the opportunity to reverse chronic, degenerative, autoimmune states, cancer, biological aging, and improve your health, performance, and longevity via gene expression modification.
Proper gene expression is a big deal. The mayhem begins when a gene is expressed when it should be suppressed or vice versa, and its impact reaches far beyond a sub-par training day on the trails. This invites inflammation, chronic and degenerative diseases, accelerated biological aging, senescence, and a plethora of other undesirable outcomes – no matter one’s levels of health and fitness.
We have the technology to eliminate the guesswork, decode superhuman, reverse biological aging, and propel your limitless potential. Epigenetics represents an unprecedented, bold, medical paradigm leveraging cutting-edge technology to shift genetic expression with mind-blowing results in life and sport.
It is necessary to integrate a complex systems approach to optimize health, performance, and longevity. It is important to understand the human system is an unpredictable, complex system versus a complicated system.
In a complicated system, several independent pieces can be modified without affecting the other pieces. In a complex system, each piece is dependent on its relationship with the other pieces. The human system is adaptive and dynamic. App algorithms focus on complicated, predictable, and static biometrics.
The invaluable art of applying complicated data to complex thinking is “augmented intelligence.” The precise interpretation of complicated data is the key to transcending health, performance, and longevity in life and sport.
Epigenetics provides visionary, incisive, evidence-based measures, and strategic actions to genetically optimize and enhance health, performance, and longevity – because life begins and ends at the cellular level.
Perhaps it is time to rewrite your script…
