The Neuroscience of Movement: How Your Brain Orchestrates Flexibility and Mobility

Mobility vs. Flexibility: Why the Brain Holds the Key

When it comes to understanding our body’s ability to move, we often hear the terms mobility and flexibility. While they’re related, they’re not the same—and understanding the difference can transform how we approach movement.

Mobility refers to the range of motion in a joint and how effectively the whole body can organize itself to perform an action. Flexibility, on the other hand, is about the adaptability of muscles and soft tissues. Traditionally, flexibility is associated with “stretching muscles.” But here’s the catch: muscles don’t stretch in the way we often imagine.

Muscles and the Brain: A Dynamic Duo
Muscles operate by contracting and releasing, and effective movement relies on muscles lengthening and contracting at the appropriate times. Often, when we stretch, what we’re really trying to achieve is for the muscle to release its contraction. However, stretching is typically an attempt to mechanically force the muscle to lengthen, which doesn’t address the underlying issue: the brain’s control over the muscle. The brain plays a critical role in regulating when muscles contract or release, so simply pulling on a muscle ignores the need for the brain to guide this process effectively.

This is where the brain’s role becomes pivotal. As the command center, the brain controls when and how muscles contract and release. It coordinates the timing and sequence of these actions, creating movement that’s smooth and functional. When the brain does this well, we experience ease and mobility. But when the brain’s signals become stuck—such as in cases of spasticity or repetitive stress—mobility can be compromised.

For instance, spasticity occurs when the brain sends constant contraction signals to certain muscles, affecting joint mobility, movement timing, and even sensory perception. Similarly, repetitive activities, like running, can lead to chronic muscle tension, tight fascia, and shortened ligaments—all of which limit joint mobility.

Rethinking Stretching
Athletes and Yoga practitioners often fall into the trap of overemphasizing stretching to gain flexibility. But here’s the surprising truth: when you push your body into extreme ranges of motion, you’re not just “stretching” muscles—you’re stretching tendons and ligaments. These connective tissues are what give your skeleton stability. Overstretching them can compromise your joints and lead to instability.

Additionally, when you stretch muscles forcefully, you activate the stretch reflex—a protective mechanism in the brain that responds to overstretching by contracting the muscles even harder. This is why stretching often feels like a tug-of-war with your own body, and why it rarely produces the long-term flexibility you’re aiming for.

The solution isn’t to force the body into stretches. Instead, it’s about training the brain to refine its control of movement. Through specific, intentional movement training, you can retrain the brain to learn how to contract and release muscles at the right time and in the right sequence. This improves not only flexibility but also overall mobility, allowing the body to function harmoniously.¹

A Therapist’s Perspective
Jennifer Ault, a licensed occupational therapist and NeuroMovementⓇ practitioner in Atlanta, who specializes in working with children with brain injuries, explains:

“In OT school, I was taught that stretching is crucial for increasing range of motion and maintaining the integrity of the joints. But stretching doesn’t engage the brain’s ability to learn—it’s a passive action being done to the body. Once you involve the brain in the process, stretching can become irrelevant. The brain reorganizes itself for better mobility. I haven’t stretched someone in years to increase their range of motion. Instead, I focus on movement principles that engage the brain’s system, and the results are remarkable: joints release, and mobility improves as the brain learns how to move in new, more functional ways.”

The 9 Essentials of NeuroMovementⓇ

This is the foundation of the 9 essentials of NeuroMovementⓇ—a set of principles created by Anat Baniel, whose work is on the forefront of the emerging brain plasticity field. The 9 essentials create potent conditions the brain needs to learn and adapt. By working with the brain’s innate intelligence, we can unlock mobility and flexibility in a way that feels natural, easeful, sustainable, and empowering. And that's what we do here at the Moovy Studio.

So, the next time you think about improving your flexibility or mobility, consider shifting your focus from stretching to learning. It’s not just your muscles that need attention—it’s your brain, too!

¹ The Case for Retiring Flexibility as a Major Component of Physical Fitness, 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31845202/