Why I Use Bilateral Stimulation and Cross-Lateral Movement in My Yoga Classes

Long before I knew the words bilateral stimulation or cross-lateral movement, I was using some of these practices with my child.

When Kingsley was a toddler, transitions became hard.

Moving from the car to the grocery cart. Playtime to mealtime. Getting ready for bed. Seemingly ordinary transitions could become overwhelming, and there were behavioral signposts telling me that their little nervous system was struggling with something.

As a parent, I had no choice but to get curious.

Learning About the Body Through Occupational Therapy

Kingsley began working with an occupational therapist, and through that experience I started learning more about sensory processing, spatial awareness, coordination and cross-lateral movement.

Cross-lateral movements coordinate opposite sides of the body, often requiring us to cross the body's midline.

Think about crawling. Your right hand moves with your left knee, then your left hand with your right knee.

Or bringing your right elbow toward your left knee.

Climbing.

Twisting.

Even playing guitar requires the two sides of the body to perform different but coordinated jobs.

I began intentionally keeping Kingsley involved in activities that incorporated this kind of work. Over the years that included jiu-jitsu, rock climbing and guitar.

At the time, I thought I was simply learning how to better support my kid.

I didn't realize I was also learning things that would eventually shape the way I teach.

Then I Became a Yoga Teacher

After becoming certified to teach yoga, something clicked.

I love practicing many different kinds of yoga, but I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't interested in teaching movement just for the sake of making shapes.

I wanted to understand what was happening underneath the movement.

What does this ask of the nervous system?

What happens when we add rhythm?

What changes when we cross the midline?

What happens when we slow something down enough to actually notice it?

That curiosity eventually became a huge part of my therapeutic approach to teaching yoga.

And I began recognizing practices I'd been using for years.

Bilateral Stimulation vs. Cross-Lateral Movement

These terms are sometimes talked about together, but they aren't exactly the same thing.

Bilateral stimulation involves rhythmic or alternating sensory input involving the two sides of the body.

One of the simplest examples is alternating tapping.

When Kingsley was a baby, I would sometimes hold them against me or lay them across my lap and gently pat one side of their back and then the other.

Left. Right. Left. Right.

I didn't have a fancy name for it. I just knew that the repetitive rhythm often seemed to settle them.

Today, bilateral practices might show up in my classes through alternating taps, butterfly taps, rhythmic movement or intentional side-to-side visual tracking.

Cross-lateral movement, meanwhile, asks opposite sides of the body to coordinate with one another, often crossing the body's midline.

In a yoga or movement practice, that might look like:

• Right elbow moving toward left knee
• Opposite arm and leg extending from tabletop
• Supine twists or windshield-wiper movements
• Standing cross-body movements
• Crawling or bear-crawl patterns
• Twisting postures

And, of course, walking itself is a cross-lateral pattern we perform every day.

Why Do I Use Both?

Because I want my classes to be about more than flexibility.

Movement gives us an opportunity to explore coordination, proprioception, sensory awareness, rhythm, attention and our relationship with our own bodies.

Sometimes that means holding a yoga pose.

Sometimes it means moving an opposite hand and knee.

Sometimes it means tapping left, right, left, right.

And sometimes the most interesting part is simply noticing what happens.

Does the movement feel easy?

Do you lose track of which side you're on?

Does slowing it down change anything?

Can you feel where your body is in space without looking?

What happens when you stop trying to perform the movement correctly and become curious about how you're experiencing it?

That curiosity is a big part of what I mean when I talk about becoming more fluent in your own body and energy.

This Is Why I Teach the Way I Do

I sometimes think about the strange little breadcrumbs that lead us toward the work we're eventually meant to do.

I didn't know that sitting in occupational therapy appointments with my toddler would eventually influence the way I taught a room full of adults (and I also teach kids and teens.)

I didn't know that the things I learned while trying to support my child's nervous system would become part of a much bigger curiosity about somatics, yoga, energy and nervous system regulation.

But here we are.

Bilateral stimulation and cross-lateral movement are now woven throughout many of my classes.

You may come to class thinking we're twisting, tapping, crawling or moving an elbow toward a knee.

And we are.

But I'm also interested in helping you understand why we're doing it.

Come Experience It

If you're curious about nervous-system-informed movement, somatics and yoga taught through a therapeutic lens, this is exactly the kind of work we explore in my classes.

You don't need to understand the terminology before you arrive. You don't need to be flexible, coordinated or "good at yoga."

Come as you are.

We'll move, breathe, notice and get a little more curious about the body you're already living in.

View my current classes and offerings at https://flowyogatx.com/