Movement Practices & Therapeutic Exercises

Why Micro-Movement Matters More Than Moving A Lot

The hidden secret to preventing stiffness, pelvic pain, and neuralgias (pudendal, cluneal)

By Gil Ayache

Introduction – The Trap of Modern Immobility

We all know that moving is good for our health. But what is often ignored is that the tiny movements — those you make without even thinking — are sometimes more decisive than your sports sessions for preventing chronic pain.

Breathing deeply, adjusting your position in your chair, stretching while looking at a screen… These micro-movements are your body’s invisible fuel. Their absence, especially during prolonged sitting, can trigger a well-known vicious circle:

  • Persistent stiffness,
  • Pelvic pain,
  • Chronic discomfort,
  • Pudendal or cluneal neuralgias.

⚠️ The problem is not the lack of sports, but the absence of continuous and discrete movement throughout the day.

A simple image to understand

Imagine a sponge soaked in water. If you squeeze and release it regularly, it stays supple. But if you leave it immobile, it dries, hardens, and becomes brittle.
👉 Your fascia — the tissue that envelops your muscles, nerves, and organs — works exactly the same way.

1. The Fascia: That Little-Known Network Keeping You Upright

The fascia is a continuous web, resistant and sensitive, that connects the entire body. It plays a central role in posture, mobility, and pain.

It is populated with mechanosensitive cells (notably fibroblasts), which react directly to your movements:

  • ✅ When you move regularly (even slightly): the fascia remains hydrated, supple, and gliding.
  • ❌ When you remain immobile (e.g., 6 to 8 hours sitting): the fascia densifies, loses its ability to glide, and can compress the nerves.

👉 Result: so-called “unexplained” pains (lower back, pelvis, thighs), sometimes associated with tingling or burning sensations after a day spent sitting.

2. Micro-Movements: Your Self-Maintenance System

2.1 They maintain and drain the tissues

With every micro-movement (breathing, postural adjustment), the fascia acts like a living sponge:

  • it promotes the drainage of metabolic and inflammatory waste,
  • it facilitates the circulation of water and nutrients.

👉 Result: less inflammation, less stiffness, more comfort.

2.2 They soothe the nervous system

The fascia contains up to six times more sensory receptors than muscle. Two of them play a key role:

  • Pacini Corpuscles: sensitive to light vibrations and micro-adjustments.
  • Ruffini Receptors: sensitive to slow and prolonged stretching.

Diagram: Micro-movements ⇄ Fascia ⇄ Nerve

To easily visualize the difference between a body that can move “a little” all day and a body frozen in a sitting position.

✅ Moving “a little” (continuous micro-adjustments) Micro-movements Breathing, tilts,micro-postures → gentle and frequentmechanical stimulus Hydrated & Gliding Fascia Better tissuegliding → drainage, lessstiffening Decompressed Nerves Neuro-mechanicalenvironment → comfortableconduction Pain ↓ Lower riskof chronicity ⚠️ Remaining Still (frozen prolonged sitting) Prolonged Immobility Fixed posture,few adjustments Rigid / Densified Fascia Dehydration,adhesions → tissue gliding ↓ Nerve Compression Irritated nerves(pudendal, cluneal…) Chronic Pain ↑ Stiffness, burning,tingling
Figure 1 — Micro-movements ⇄ Fascia ⇄ Nerve: two opposite trajectories during prolonged sitting.
Key message
Continuous micro-movements protect tissues and nerves far more effectively than occasional efforts.

3. The Link with Pelvic Neuralgias (Pudendal, Cluneal)

Pelvic neuralgias are often aggravated by immobility. We frequently observe:

  • mechanical compression of the nerve between a rigidified fascia and the bony structures of the pelvis,
  • an alteration of the tissue environment, linked to a lack of drainage and gliding.

In affected individuals, we almost systematically find a reduction in postural micro-adjustments (factor #14 in the SBNFA™ doctrine).

4. How to Integrate Micro-Movements into Your Daily Life?

At the office or while working from home

  • Diaphragmatic breathing: 5 min every hour (inhale by gently inflating the belly, exhale slowly).
  • Micro-breaks every 30 min: slow pelvic tilts (5 times left/right), then stand up and walk for 1 min (even on the spot).
  • Seating that allows movement: ball, unstable seat, or dynamic seating (goal: freedom for micro-adjustment, not extreme instability).

5. Simple Exercise for Chronic Pelvic Pain

“Pelvic Awakening” Exercise

  1. Sit on the edge of a chair, feet flat on the floor.
  2. Gently lift one buttock, then the other, like a small “nod.”
  3. Repeat 10 times, slowly.

👉 This exercise stimulates Ruffini receptors and helps decrease local tensions.

6. Did You Know?

  • 💧 Drinking water is not enough: without movement, it does not circulate correctly through the tissues.
  • 🧍 The perfect posture does not exist: an average posture with movement is better than an ideal fixed posture.

7. What If Your Micro-Movements Continued… Without Even Thinking?

Exercises are essential for reawakening mobility. But the rest of the day matters just as much. Certain dynamic seats integrating Aporia® technology, developed by Blue Portance, are designed to maintain the natural micro-movements of the pelvis and limit nerve compression zones.

👉 Exercises rehabilitate. Seating maintains.

Conclusion – Move, even just a little bit

Your body does not need permanent athletic performance. It needs continuity in movement.

Simplified Sources

  • Sundblad et al., 2023 – Postural micro-adjustments and sedentariness.
  • Schleip R., 2012 – Fascia: The Tensional Network of the Human Body.
  • SBNFA™ Doctrine – Continuity of movement and prevention of chronic pain.