Alternation + Inhibition = Real Movement

Originally shared in the Nurture Bodyworks newsletter · August 2025

One of the most powerful, and misunderstood, concepts I work with is alternation: the body’s ability to shift from one side to the other, like a true left-right dance.

When we cannot alternate well, the body starts gripping, bracing, and guessing. One hip hikes, one foot slaps, one rib flares. We call that compensation, but it is really the body finding a way to keep us moving with the options it currently has.

Walking makes this easy to picture. One side receives our weight while the other side becomes free to move forward. Then the roles reverse. But alternation is not limited to gait. We alternate when we reach, turn, climb, breathe, and move through daily life.

Alternation makes room for inhibition

When the body can shift fully into support on one side, the other side has a chance to let go. That release is inhibition. Inhibition means your body knows it does not have to hold on all the time. You can exhale, expand, relax, and rest.

Without inhibition, the tight spots stay tight. The overworked muscles never get a break, and the nervous system remains in a kind of quiet alert, even when we think we are resting.

When you retrain the body to alternate, you restore its ability to shift, rest, reset, and respond instead of only reacting. That can change how you experience posture, breath, movement, and even emotional regulation.

Alternation is not just a gait thing. It is a nervous system thing.