Biotensegrity - Part 1: the new model that explains our body
- Mariana Barreto
- Jun 15, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 21, 2024
Biotensegrity is the conceptual model we are using to explain how the body works, once we recognize the importance of the fascial system and the roles it plays in our body.
Conventionally, the framework used to understand movement and posture is the biomechanical model. But, even when it is accepted and widely used, this model has many flaws as it assumes the body works like a machine, with parts and hard matter and it uses Newtonian laws to describe movements and loads, with levers, movements axis and with fixed planes of movements.
In reality, the body is not a machine. There are no levers in the body, and the body is not made out of hard matter (like steel or bricks, columns or arches) but of a combination of living soft matter that behaves very differently.
The body is a unity, it is a whole.
This is a paradigm shift. A very important one. Biotensegrity is a structural design principle that describes a relationship between every part of an organism (not only the human body but every living organism). It understands the form of the organism is the result of tensional and compressional elements in it.
Listen to our good friend Dr. Steven Levin, who is considered the Father of Biotensegrity, explaining the concept.
Dr. Steven Levin - Father of Biotensegrity
Dr. Steven Levin (Father of Biotensegrity) and Mariana at the Biotensegrity Practical Symposium in Vancouver Canada, March 2019
You can check more resources available at the Biotensegrity Archive
In the following post, we will explain how Biotensegrity informs the analysis of your child’s posture and movements. Stay tuned for that one!
To start doing fascia therapy with your child, learn the first exercise to improve torso control here.
WeFlow´s tip for you!
Biotensegrity helps us understand that in CP, the child uses the muscular tone to create stability. This means that we need to help your child holding them and giving support so they don't need to use tone to stabilize.
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