From a physical standpoint, when it comes to developing a movement practice, I’ve found it fruitful to identify where the starting points are. Base positions have been a way to communicate a common nomenclature between practitioner and patient/student. This way the communication can facilitate a better learning experience. The primary base positions that I teach are Supine (face up), Prone (face down), Side Lying, Seated, Kneeling and Standing. By teaching these positions and sharing a common lingo that both practitioner and patient/student can understand, my hope is that it increases my community’s physical literacy and offers tools to combat the challenges to moving well for a lifetime.

Adopting a base position framework began as a clinician. When looking to gather as much information as possible about how someone moves and what may be contributing to their pain, base positions are a versatile way to gather info from the entire body. It provides insights about the links and connecting points of our structure and paint a picture as to what may be a limiting factor, something that causes pain, or both. The body is a unit, and it should be utilized and assessed as such. A lack of mobility or stability in one area, is likely to cause a compensatory reaction somewhere else. Much like a ripple effect, though an issue may arise in one region, it’s effect begins to influence regions around it. Any of the base positions mentioned allow the individual (and the clinician) an opportunity to gain more of an understanding of how their body feels in different regions as well as how those regions facilitate movement together.

For example, table top is a prone (or face down) position, and can be used to assess breathing strategies, spinal curvature, scapular stability, wrist mobility, hip/knee/ankle/big toe mobility, etc. All in one position. Viewing and using the body this way is important, because it governs a minimalist approach—allowing the individual and clinician to do the most with the least. Dr. Craig Liebenson (founder of First Principles of Movement) really drove this point home for me and I’m grateful to have learned from him. He emphasizes taking a minimal/generalist approach, cast a wide net and first focus on ‘low-hanging fruit’. In the age of information overload, it is an essential skill to sift through data, focus on what is useful (what gives the most return on investment) and eliminate what is not useful (untrue or low return on investment).

When you look at any movement paradigm, many of these base positions are consistent among them. I personally have leaned on frameworks from formal clinical means of assessment and blended it with knowledge from DNS (Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization), MovNat (the practice of Natural Movement) and many others. I have also seen how they parallel many of the positions seen in things like Yoga, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and so on.

Therefore, because there is much overlap and consistency with where many movement paradigms stem their frameworks from, I choose not to view them differently but rather how similar they are. These base positions are essential starting points to generate and assess movement, regardless of what lens you choose to view them from.

As a Chiropractor, one of the principles that guides decision making with patients is, “Position > Pattern > Power”. There are consequences to doing things incorrectly. So I often tell patients, position is royalty. If we can’t get into a position that allows us to move well in life or is associated with having less pain and restriction, that is where we start. If we want to move well and feel better, being able to achieve certain shapes with our bodies and controlling our breathing from them is the first step. The end result of what many call, “owning the position”, is about marrying both mobility and stability. There is not much benefit to gain when focusing on one while sacrificing the other.

When it comes to Morning Rituals, warm ups, movement flows or training preparations, they often start by initiating movement from the ground up. This seems most logical because that is how movement for every human being is developed as infants. DNS is a pioneer in championing this system (Developmental Kinesiology) and implementing one of the most widely referenced rehab approaches to movement. They have been pivotal in unifying my approach to my craft and sharing it in a meaningful way with my community.

My mentor taught me that “Doctor” means, “to teach”. So I center my communication with patients around increasing their understanding of physical literacy—like an intellectual phys-ed class. That way they can understand the base positions as something of their own and begin to explore options on how to move, transition, relax and/or stabilize all regions of their body. All of these are essential life skills.

- DRJ

[ If you’re looking to become more familiar with movement options from the aforementioned base positions, check out the Digital Database link below—this library archives the moves we cover from treatment / training and is organized by the base positions. ]

Base Positions

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