Principles of Health V – The dynamic strength of the spine and depression

As was described in the last article, the most important dynamic strength of the spine is mainly formed from its middle and therefore particularly from the lower and middle thoracic spine. When this area is very dynamic and active, sensitively levitating the cervical section upwards, the lower back is relieved of its pressing and exhausting feelings of heaviness. Alongside some physical exercises, which mental activities support this dynamic strength out of the middle section of the spine? The activities that a person can carry out are initially related to the body and furthermore they are also always conscious mental or sensitive movements that are orientated towards an aim. Attention will now be given to these mental activities.

The dynamic activity of the spine suffers most through the appearance of depression. In this clinical picture the head appears pressured, heavy and those who suffer from this condition lack not only the dynamic strength to straighten up but also the interest in stepping-into-relationship-with-others. The tendency to withdraw, with a heavy, suffering gaze that almost absorbs the light in the surrounding area and overwhelms the whole body. is imposing. In fact, spinal problems, particularly those of the lower back and also hip arthrosis develop predominantly with depression.¹⁾According to a study of 1000 students in Germany, up to 55% of students already suffer from back problems. Diagnoses of depression are also increasing at an astounding rate. See: Tk Press release (accessed on 1 June 2024). The entire upper part of the body presses down on the lower part with the force of gravity and prevents the natural, lively, metabolically interactive circulation of the anabolic chondroitin sulphate with its amine and glucose components as well as other minerals that are important for the connective tissue. The cartilage tissue and the intervertebral discs are types of connective tissue and need a kind of relief to maintain their tensile strength, so that they can absorb nutrients again like a sponge. A flexible and dynamic musculature is very conducive to this.

When this middle, in the lower and middle thoracic spine, is weak, it is natural for the psyche to tend to withdraw, hold back reserves²⁾The holding of reserves may seem necessary as a reaction to the exhaustion that so often occurs. However, by holding back forces that could actually be put to good use and by avoiding healthy life-development challenges, in the long term no favourable and joyful building up of life forces can take place. People increasingly weigh themselves down with their reserves and end up in a kind of inner prison. and avoid challenges. The connection between the activity of the senses and the dynamic strength in the middle of the spine can now be considered. Do the eyes actually step into relationship with the phenomena of life, do they perceive the colours, forms and details? If the middle of the back is weak, the senses usually withdraw into themselves in an unphysiological way and individuals are no longer in a natural relational exchange, but in a feeling of holding back reserves and in an unnatural state of exhaustion.

If those practising bring to mind the individual exercises that were presented in the last article and learn to practise them in different easy and more demanding variations, they can also pay attention to the way they step into relationship with their fellows and with the phenomena of the world in their daily existence. The relationship, how it is formed and established, is significant for the spine and its healthy supply of nutrients. Every relational activity requires a development of the senses to the worldly phenomena and it requires a real straightening up. The more lethargy or even sleepiness prevails, the less a person is in an active stream of perceiving and consciously experiencing the outside world as well as their own inner world. Exhaustion, which is so common today, pulls people down not only physically but also mentally into a withdrawal and a holding back of their reserves. That active aspect of really-feeling-in-relationship and being-in-a-healthy-stream-of-perception is then considerably reduced.

If, for example, people conclude through careful observation that they are holding themselves back too much and want to protect themselves from many of the influences of the day, they should make a plan for how they can increasingly relate with colleagues, friends, relatives or with their fellows in general. Being pulled back on oneself forms the beginning of a scenario of illness, because the natural, reciprocal and lively streams of being perceptively integrated are lacking.

Today, individuals need to consciously activate their potential of thinking, feeling and ultimately of action led by an aim. Every day, people must undertake active steps towards relationship and practise straightening up against lethargic phases and all kinds of depressive moods. The phrase ‘listen to your body’ is used a lot today. Strictly speaking you cannot actually ‘listen’ to your body, as it is subject to material laws and energetic influences from outside. But what could it ideally mean to listen to the body? It is certainly important to recognise the symptoms of the body and learn to interpret them. To learn how to activate a relationship, you need to be able to distinguish between actual physical conditions and emotions. In depression or despondency, the emotionally afflicted mind pulls the perception into a withdrawal and many unconscious fears want to attain a kind of rest and regeneration that does, however, not really exist.

For this reason, those who practise their own self-direction for their health, must not surrender to the emotions that are reflected by their exhausted body. Every day they must undertake new relational steps, to straighten themselves up and work on thematic content, seek out communication and with this overcome their emotions.

The active orientation towards taking up relationship and, ideally, towards a reasonably concrete topic, requires precisely those forces that automatically mobilise the spine to straighten up. If someone finds themselves lacking interest within themselves, they still need to educate themselves towards relationship and interest, to consciously perceive various phenomena and to have empathy with their fellows. Practitioners should therefore not listen to their bodies with all its emotional peaks and troughs but set themselves aims that go beyond the whims of sympathy and antipathy, of gain and loss. A beautiful relationship-sphere opens up through giving prolonged attention to one’s fellow human beings or to a topic that can be developed together.