By Bryan Lynd (physiotherapy)
The History of MovNat
Being strong to be useful.
Or, as is said in french, “Être fort pour être utile”.
In the early 1900’s a French Naval officer named Georges Hébert coined this phrase after helping to coordinate an effort to rescue nearly seven hundred people from a natural disaster. He would go on to develop a revolutionary way to look at physical training, known as the Méthode Naturelle – that was based upon a synthesis of diverse natural, or native movements, in a natural environment.
This is the concept behind this article on natural movement. When we are “strong” we can achieve things in our day to day with greater efficiency, safety, and performance. The more we are able to accomplish in our day without hurting ourselves, we become more useful. Maybe this means you're a better caregiver to your family. Or, maybe this means you are more useful while at work. Or, maybe this means you get to travel the world and discover more places that you otherwise would not be able to.
Changing Impossible into I’m Possible
Can you think of anything in your own personal life that you have wanted to do but decided not to because it was not physically possible?
Every human faces unique challenges on a day to day basis. Mine are different from yours. And, yours are different from day to day, month to month, and year to year. What remains constant however is the body in which we execute these tasks with. Jason Lewis--who is credited as being the first person in history to circumnavigate the planet by human power--has said, “we are all just doing our best to adapt to whatever life throws our way, then attempting to wake up and do it all over again.” I like this quote because it illustrates that our day to day challenges are uniquely different from time to time, and that we as humans, are constantly trying to adapt to our environmental demands.
I have chosen to set the stage in this way, because the intention of this brief article is to introduce a physical education system that has been designed to help people prepare for these very challenges.
This system is called MovNat, and has been inspired by the previously mentioned “Méthode Naturelle”.
The name comes from two words--”Movement” and “Natural” being fused together to form a brand name. According to MovNat, it can be defined as;
MovNat is “ a physical education system based on developing real world physical competence through the practical application of natural movement skills”
This definition has two important components:
MovNat develops real world skills that are used on a day to day basis.
MovNat uses natural movements that are hardwired into our genetic makeup whether we know it or not!--So fundamental to our being that babies will develop these without any instruction needed.
What exactly does “natural movement” look like?
MovNat defines this as
“the full range of motor skills that the human body has been “selected” (by natural environmental pressures) to perform in order to survive over the course of our evolutionary history. These skills range from simple skills such as sitting on the ground and getting up to a standing position to more complex and challenging skills such as running on rugged terrain and climbing over high objects.”
If we relate back to the title of this article, how then does MovNat allow us to become “strong to be useful”?
By learning proper technique with movements such as sitting, standing, walking, carrying, lifting etc… and developing a certain level of conditioning with these movements, we are able to optimize performance. Not only does this mean we can perform more repetitions with less fatigue, or lift a heavier weight. It also means that we are less likely to injure ourselves doing so. Thus, allowing us to continue to live and thrive in our environment.
This means doing more of what you love. Doing more of what makes you happy on a daily basis, without the concern or fear of hurting yourself.
My Real Life MovNat Example
I’d like to illustrate how MovNat has influenced my life as a new father.
With MovNat, I have developed proficiency with a foundation of movement skills such as sitting, crawling, getting up and down from the ground, and bending over. I have been able to incorporate these into training programs and further develop my conditioning. I can hold a heavy weight while performing these movements. I can also perform a variety of transitions in and out of these positions safely. What this has allowed me to do is spend more time playing and safely handling my 6-month-old daughter at home. For those who have children, it becomes obvious fairly quickly that caring for a child can in and of itself be a risk for hurting yourself. Bending over to pick up a child in the middle of the night, or getting down to the floor repeatedly to play can be recipes for injury.
As a movement coach, and student of the MovNat method, I have been able to avoid injury so far, while being able to physically help, play, or engage with my daughter in any way I desire. As she continues to grow and only get more mobile, I will rely on my body to be able to keep up with her. In order to be useful, I must keep my body strong.
While this is just my own example of how I use the MovNat method to stay healthy, there are numerous other ways in which it can affect your life. In competitive sports, in work, in travel, in natural disasters, or in times of an emergency. The ability to use your body to physically help yourself is a skill that everyone should be investing time and energy into.
Learning More About MovNat Globally and Locally
For more information about MovNat, I hope you will take a minute to visit their website (www.movnat.com) as it has numerous resources such as blogs, videos, and free workouts, to help you become more familiar with their methodology.
For anyone looking to further develop their own movement practice I am eager and ready to assist you in your journey. As a Level 1 certified MovNat Trainer I offer personalized coaching at Reactivate Muskoka, in Huntsville, Ontario.
Did you find this article helpful? This article will serve as a starting point for an ongoing blog series surrounding natural movement. If you are interested in following along, make sure you subscribe to our blog updates and newsletters.
References
Websites:
Methode Naturelle: The Natural Training for Everyone
Natural Movement: Fitness for the Real World
Books:
Move Your DND: Restore your health through natural movement. Katy Bowman. (2017)
The Practice of Natural Movement. Erwan Le Corre. (2019)
