“Before we move, we have already established a personal attitude to gravity through the very act of standing.”
— Hubert Godard
One of the biggest misconceptions in movement education is that we change movement by correcting what we see.
The knees collapse, so we cue the knees. The shoulders elevate, so we cue the shoulders. The pelvis tilts, so we cue the pelvis.
But according to French movement theorist Hubert Godard, by the time we see a movement, the body has already made its decision. Movement begins long before muscles visibly contract.
It begins with what Godard calls pre-movement—the unconscious organization of posture that prepares the body to move.
The Conversation Before Movement
Godard describes pre-movement as the body’s non-conscious language of posture. Before we intentionally move, our nervous system has already organized the body in relation to gravity.
This happens automatically. The quality, ease, and even the expression of a movement are influenced by this invisible preparation. Every person develops their own relationship with gravity based on experience, injury history, habits, emotions, and perception. That relationship determines how they stabilize themselves before movement even begins.
A Simple Example
Stand comfortably and slowly raise one arm in front of you. Most people assume the shoulder muscles are the first to activate. They aren’t.
Before your arm even begins to lift, your nervous system predicts the shift in your centre of gravity. To prevent you from falling forward, muscles in the back of the lower leg—particularly the soleus—activate first, gently shifting your body backward to create balance. Only then does the arm begin to move.
This is called anticipatory postural activity or pre-movement—the body’s remarkable ability to prepare for movement before movement occurs. The visible movement is only the final chapter.
The real story began moments earlier.
Why This Matters
If someone’s shoulder movement appears restricted, the problem may not be the shoulder at all. If someone struggles with balance, the issue may not be balance itself. If a roll-up feels difficult, it may not be a lack of abdominal strength. The body may simply be organizing itself inefficiently before the movement begins. This is why endless correction often has limited results. You are trying to change the outcome instead of changing the preparation.
Where Stretch-eze Fits In
This is one of the reasons Stretch-eze® is such a powerful teaching tool.
Rather than forcing the body into better positions, Stretch-eze® provides gentle circumferential feedback that enhances sensory awareness throughout the body. This rich sensory input helps the nervous system better integrate information from the feet, eyes, and vestibular system (inner ear), allowing the body to organize itself more efficiently in relation to gravity.
Place someone in a simple Stretch-eze® Sari Wrap while standing and something remarkable often happens. Before you’ve given a single cue, posture begins to reorganize. A high shoulder settles toward the back, an exaggerated lumbar curve softens, and movement becomes easier—all without consciously trying to “fix” anything.
Rather than correcting movement, Stretch-eze® appears to influence the body’s pre-movement—the anticipatory postural organization that occurs before visible movement begins. When the body’s preparation changes, the movement that follows often changes naturally.
Teach the Preparation
As teachers, our role isn’t simply to coach better movement. It’s to help clients discover a better relationship with gravity. When that relationship changes, movement often changes with it. Perhaps the most important lesson from Hubert Godard is this:
If you want to change how someone moves, don’t begin by correcting the movement. Begin by changing what happens before the movement ever starts. That’s where lasting change begins.