Our position in space is
Mainly determined by
The conscious movements
And decisions we make.
I might as well
move through
the day.
Because days
are counted
Time grows
so fast
Days flow
into each other.
That it’s both
easy and hard
to grasp
how fast our days
are going.
As feeling beings we have a heightened experience of the world. I had talked about the five physical senses in my last post, about sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell. With these defining senses is a sixth, which is proprioception. Or, what is known as our “body awareness sense”. That is, the position of our body in space.
Dear Patient Reader,
Try this:
To understand what proprioception is, close your eyes and hold out your hands. Move your hands and arms around.
With your eyes closed you can tell how close or far your hands are from your body.[1] That’s the work of proprioception, our sixth sense.
Proprioception defines where our body parts are relative to each other, which strengthens our coordination skills.[2] With it, we estimate how much force to exert to hold, push, pull, or lift an object.
At the biological levels, proprioceptive signals are transmitted to the central nervous system, where they are integrated with other information from other sensory systems such as the visual system, to create an overall representation of body position, movement, and acceleration. In many animals, sensory feedback from proprioceptors (the structure of sensory organs varies across species) is essential for stabilising body posture and motor coordination of the body.[3]
The rapid feedback which motor coordination produces powers common reflexes such as itching, swatting, and balancing.[4] The righting reflex, a non-conscious reaction, assists us to bring back our body to level the eyes to the horizon.[5] In whatever direction we tilt or fall, we are brought back perpendicular to the sea/skyline. The latter are natural landmarks that stabilise human beings.
A simpler look at the “body awareness sense”
Also known as kinaesthesia, or kinesthesia, is the sense of self-movement, force and body position.[6] Described as our “sixth sense”, it is vital to living a normal life. Self-movement enables us to move our limbs to perform everyday activities. Which includes being able to walk, jog, run, and move.
4 common examples of how we use proprioception everyday
Brushing our hair
Without conscious effort, we know where our arm is in space when reaching out to brush our hair. Closing our eyes, we can sense the distance of our hand and the brush from our head. This ability helps us to apply the right amount of pressure, stops us from hitting ourselves in the face with a hair brush, and makes sure that you don’t miss your hair while brushing it.
Holding an egg
Proprioception tells us how much force to use while holding an egg so that it doesn’t crack.[7]
Playing a sport
Here, it helps with knowing how far to extend a hand to catch a ball, or how far to reach out a foot to kick a ball.[8]
Writing & drawing
Proprioception tells us how hard or softly to write as it determines the amount of pressure applied while writing or drawing.
A Mental Map
The sixth sense, proprioception, a long word with many duties, is responsible for creating a mental map so that we can carry out physical movements.
There are receptors in our muscles, tendons, and skin that communicate with our brain to tell us where our body parts are in space. Our proprioceptive sense does this for us by creating a map in our mind of where our limbs are found.[9] Which is the reason why we can dress ourselves without paying attention, and without the use of a mirror. Though it is true that vision helps with proprioception, it is not necessary to see your body parts in order to know where your body parts are.[10]
Impaired Proprioception
In the Romberg’s test, a person has to stand with feet together and eyes closed without support for 30 seconds. If the person loses balance and falls, it’s a sign of impaired proprioception.[11]
How do we benefit from being aware of our body’s sixth sense?
The sixth sense is directional and compass-like. It renders a sense of balance, to distinguish right from left, upwards and downwards, right from wrong.
Proprioception, the sixth sense, is what allows us to walk and stand upright, keeping us in balance with our surroundings.
We are sensing beings,
So it is only normal
to feel so agitated,
overwhelmed,
misunderstood,
cared for and loved,
by the spaces
we move through
and inhabit,
and the people
who coexist
with us
there.
All of us
moving
through the world,
crossing and sharing
each other's paths.
What a thing
to be so sensing,
so capable
of connecting
with one another.
P.S. I hope you’re all doing well.
The next post is titled ‘How is time felt?’ Which is about our understanding of time, that abstract entity we all want more of, but feel that we have increasingly less of. A few of the questions that will be touched are, “Where does time go?” and “Where do we have to go to find it?”
P.P.S. The proprioceptive sense is believed to be composed of information from sensory neurons located in the inner ear which is said to be the source that creates the capabilities of motion and orientation.[12]
References
[1] https://pathways.org/what-is-the-proprioception-sense/
[2] "Ibid." [1]
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception_and_motor_control
[4] "Ibid." [3]
[5] "Ibid." [3]
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception_and_motor_control
[7] "Ibid." [6]
[8] "Ibid." [6]
[9] "Ibid." [6]
[10] "Ibid." [1]
[11] "Ibid." [6]
[12] "Ibid." [6]
Image Source
https://www.gettyimages.es/fotos/egg-race
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