Introduction
The scientific fields discussed here

AXIS draws on several areas of research as possible frameworks for understanding what is observed in practice.

Postural control

The study of how the body is supported in gravity and how information from vision, the vestibular system, and the somatosensory system contributes to the ongoing adjustment of body position and muscle activity.

Sensorimotor control

The study of the relationship between sensory information from the body and the movement that occurs in response to it.

Proprioception

The sense of the position and movement of different parts of the body, informed by receptors in muscles, tendons, joints, and related tissues.

Motor learning

The process through which movement changes with practice and experience, and through which those changes may be retained over time or transferred to other situations.

Biomechanics

The study of movement and the forces acting on the body, including the relationships among bones, joints, muscles, gravity, and ground-reaction forces.

Neurophysiology and cardiovascular physiology

The study of how sensory input, posture, muscle activity, and body position relate to the nervous system and to physiological functions such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.

These are distinct fields, but each examines a different aspect of the same body. In lived movement, their functions do not operate in isolation.

For example, contact information from the soles of the feet contributes to postural control. A change in posture alters the distribution of muscle activity, while changes in body position and muscular contraction also interact with cardiovascular and respiratory function [1, 4–7, 12–14, 18].

AXIS does not set out to correct a single muscle or joint in isolation. Instead, it observes how the organization of sensation, movement, support, and posture changes under different environmental and movement conditions.

What can be observed externally, together with what the person perceives, forms the starting point. Existing research may offer clues for interpreting those observations, but it does not allow us to identify a cause or mechanism from an individual response.

The current AXIS process was not created by selecting a theory first and then fitting the body to it.

It developed through observing what happens in practice: when a change occurs, when the same movement produces no apparent change, when a small local movement is followed by changes elsewhere, when a new state gives way to an earlier pattern under different conditions, and when it remains available. Research has been consulted in an effort to understand these differences more precisely.

In AXIS, research does not guarantee an outcome. It is used as a resource for understanding observed phenomena and refining what is observed next.

1. What is AXIS?

AXIS is a movement-education practice for people exploring recurring back pain, persistent postural or movement patterns, or physical responses that arise in particular environments or interpersonal situations.

Many forms of exercise emphasize strength, flexibility, endurance, volume of activity, or the practice of a particular form.

AXIS begins from a different angle.

The movements are very small and the physical workload is low. AXIS is not intended as strength training or as exercise for calorie expenditure.

A session combines ordinary actions—such as standing, lying on the back, or gently bending and straightening the knees—with low-intensity movements involving a particular area of the body.

All movement is performed by the participant. The practitioner does not touch the participant during AXIS practice.

After each change in environmental conditions or each movement, the participant returns to standing. Posture, contact with the floor, the relationships among joints, and coordination through movement are then observed.

Responses and useful conditions vary from person to person. Rather than applying the same sequence of exercises to everyone, the session—and the home practice that follows—is shaped by the person’s current state and by what is observed after each step.

The aim of AXIS is not simply
to produce a temporary change during a session.

A temporary change or response is treated as information: it may tell us something about how that person’s body responds under a particular set of conditions.

The longer-term aim is for the person to become better able to distinguish these differences, select useful conditions or movements independently, and regain access to other movement options when an earlier pattern returns in daily life.

2. Who might find AXIS useful?

• People who experience recurring back pain or other discomfort and suspect that postural or movement habits may play a part
• People who repeatedly return to the same way of standing or moving
• People with an ongoing sense of restriction or difficulty during movement
• People whose physical tension changes noticeably with location, lighting, or interpersonal distance
• People interested in developing what emerges in a session through ongoing practice at home

Here, “posture” does not mean an ideal appearance or a fixed correct shape. It includes how different parts of the body are supported in gravity and how the body responds as the environment or movement changes.

3. The basic structure of a session

The following is a typical example.

Not every movement is used in every session. The selection, order, and number of repetitions depend on the person’s state that day and on what is observed after each step.

1. Observe the current state in standing
2. If relevant, change one environmental condition, such as lighting, sound, or whether a door is open or closed
3. Return to standing and observe again
4. Perform one small movement, either lying on the back or standing
5. Return to standing and observe again
6. Gently bend and straighten the knees to observe whole-body coordination under load
7. Proceed to another condition or movement only when appropriate
8. Select a practice the person can reproduce at home
9. At the next session, review both the starting state and what occurred between sessions

What is observed in standing

Standing is not assessed only as a static shape. It is observed as a continuous process of small adjustments—ongoing, subtle movement in relation to gravity.

Observations may include weight distribution, contact through the feet, the relationships among the knees, hip joints, pelvis, rib cage, and head, and the flexion, rotation, position, and movement of different parts of the body [1].

AXIS does not ordinarily use electromyography or force plates. For this reason, externally observable relationships, the person’s own perception, and changes in movement are treated as distinct kinds of information.

Changing one environmental condition at a time

When relevant, lighting, sound, whether a door is open or closed, body position, or location within the room may be changed.

The result may sometimes be a quieter environment, but quietness is not itself the objective. The emphasis is on distinguishing what happens when one condition changes and on helping the person recognize that difference.

Returning to standing after each change

After one environmental change or movement, the participant returns to standing.

This makes it possible to observe the organization of the whole body once it is again supporting itself under gravity.

A local change—for example, an increase in range of motion after one movement—is therefore not, by itself, the basis for deciding whether to repeat that movement or what to do next.

Standing observation is often followed by a small knee bend (demi-plié) to observe how the feet, lower legs, femurs, pelvis, trunk, and head coordinate under load.

This is not strength training or the practice of ballet form.

In considering the mechanics of the foot, knee, hip, and pelvis during this action, AXIS draws on Irene Dowd’s “Standing on Two Legs, or Even One” in Taking Root to Fly [8, pp. 30–36].

AXIS places less emphasis on doing more than on being able to distinguish what followed a single change in conditions.

Conditions are changed one at a time because changing several at once makes it more difficult to identify which condition may have been associated with which response.

4. A movement example
A small movement of the ankle and foot

In AXIS, a single change in conditions—such as an environmental adjustment or a small movement—is sometimes referred to as an “input.”

Here, input does not mean applying something to the body in order to produce a predetermined result. It simply names one discrete change in conditions, after which the body’s state can be observed.

Sensory information from the foot is not used only by the foot itself.

The sole is supplied by afferent fibers from mechanoreceptors that convey information about contact and load [12]. Studies also report that manipulating or stimulating plantar sensation can affect postural adjustments in standing [13, 14].

Ivanenko and Gurfinkel likewise discuss the relationship between small local deformations of the foot and whole-body postural responses [1].

In AXIS sessions, a small movement of the ankle and foot is sometimes followed by observable changes not only at the foot but also in pelvic or head position, or in the range through which the person can turn the head.

These are observations from current AXIS practice, not findings from controlled studies of AXIS. At present, it is also not known which receptors, neural pathways, or patterns of muscle activity account for the changes observed.

5. Home practice and repetition

From the conditions or movements associated with a change during the session, a small number are selected for home practice. They must be reproducible by the person independently and without excessive effort.

In motor-learning research, a temporary change during practice is distinguished from retention over time and transfer to other conditions.

Experimental tasks have shown that postural responses can change with repetition and that some changes may be retained over time [2, 3].

Research also suggests that when a task is introduced gradually, learning can still be retained and transferred [15].

AXIS therefore looks beyond what happens within a session to what follows at home and in daily life.

There is not yet an established optimal frequency, number of repetitions, or duration for each AXIS practice.

Home practice is presented as a learning process: the person observes the state they are in that day, chooses an appropriate condition or movement and how to approach it, and then observes again afterward.

6. Where AXIS overlaps with—and differs from—other approaches

Clinical Somatics uses pandiculation to address learned muscular contraction and postural or movement patterns [9, 10]. Physical-therapy guidelines include movement control exercise among the options appropriate for certain presentations [11]. The Feldenkrais Method identifies itself as learning through movement [16], while Pilates also shares an emphasis on whole-body coordination and learning through repetition [17].

Although AXIS overlaps with these approaches in certain respects, it is not presented as another name for an existing modality.