The Movement movement

Abstract

The British writer, George Monbiot (2013), introduced the word 'rewilding' to many, in his book 'Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding.' Rewilding refers to the deliberate change to an ecosystem so that, in one example, the setting free of wolves in Yellowstone National Park in 1995, the ecosystem manipulation resulted in the change of the course of rivers in just a few years (web source 1).The rewilding created a 'trophic cascade' an ecological process Monbiot says, 'which starts at the top of the food chain and tumbles all the way down to the bottom.' The release of a small number of wolves that predated on the Wapiti, a large deer species, had a greater effect on the deer herds behaviour than on the numbers taken. After the introduction of the wolves the Wapiti avoided the previously over-grazed valleys and gorges in which they could easily be hunted, allowing rapid regeneration of the flora, bringing in birds, and beavers. Greater numbers of beavers and their river damming effects increased ecosystem availability for other species. The presence of wolves also increased the numbers of small animals, rabbits and mice, by reducing the numbers of the now second order predator, the coyote. The regenerating forests stabilised the banks of the rivers reducing erosion and cutting their channels deeper. Wolves physically changed the landscape. Monbiot advocates reintroducing the missing plants and animals in ecosystems that have suffered their loss due to deliberate or accidental human action. Monbiot wants to let nature decide what happens next.Tony Riddle, a natural lifestyle coach in London, recently interviewed, and the original source for this editorial, goes further, and describes rewilding almost as a treatment modality for the modern human condition, he refers to rewilding posture or movement as a process an individual can undertake to improve their movement qualities, including range, flexibility and strength but involving the whole movement system in a mindful engagement, while rejecting the muscle/joint/region isolationist approach favoured by the majority of today's fitness industry.Riddle cites; Georges H ebert, the creator of the Natural Method, father of the military assault course and forefather of parkour, Erwin le Corre, the successor to H ebert in our age and the creator of MoveNat, Ido Portal, a Movement Artist and coach, and Katy Bowman, author of Move your DNA, popular health and lifestyle commentator, as key resources, amongst others. Some of these names may be unfamiliar to those whose reading and reference are evidence based journals. Reviewing what is happening in popular culture within both the Fitness and Health worlds, can help a therapist decide whether current trends and fashions fit their own treatment philosophy and might be incorporated within their practice. But how fully will these ideas permeate practice the 10 000 years ago when the domestication of plants became the birth of agriculture and the Neolithic era (new stone age). It is generally agreed that ou...