- My thoughts on what it takes to “change’ posture
- An exciting online course I’m going to release soon
- What I’ve been up to the last few months
On Posture
“My PT told me that my posture is bad and is hurting my back”
The notion that you have to consciously “fix” your posture; to keep your back straight or hold your stomach tight is a silly one. I dare anyone to consciously hold in their awareness the need to keep your back straight all day without 1) forgetting all the time and then feeling badly about it or 2) still forgetting about it because you have other things to do that day but creating excessive tension and compensations in order to achieve an ideal posture that someone made up.
What happens when I fall asleep, doesn’t the tone of the abdominals change? Isn’t it supposed to? Or if I have to change position to avoid falling, is my back allowed to bend?
The idea that there is some ideal alignment or perfect posture is an excellent example of the linear mindset that pervades Western culture. As if the body is a machine just awaiting better alignment that will allow its gears and pulleys to function best and take away your pain.
But the body isn’t a machine and we aren’t a y=mx+b equation, despite what you may have been told. Organic systems are chaotic – they self-organize. Which is to say that the system, posture in this example, arises out of many smaller interactions between what we are doing, our environments, and our intentions (conscious and subconscious).
So that posture you were told needs changed tells me more about your thoughts, feelings, and orientation to the world then it does about the health of your spine.
This is not to stay that posture doesn’t sometimes need to be altered. Not because there is a particularly “right” or “wrong” posture but because if you use the same posture for many different movements, you are stuck and this increases the threats to your system.
So if you want to change your posture, modify the ingredients for change:
- environment
- thoughts and beliefs
- perceptions
- motor control
and change will emerge if it produces a more effective behavior.
Movement Meditations Audio Course – Coming Soon
I have found that by teaching people to move slowly without the effects of speed, momentum, and gravity pulling you into your postural patterns of stuckness, the neuromuscular system can re-organize. The brain starts to better understand and become aware of ineffective patterns of moving. And by paying close attention to what you feel and how you move, your nervous begins to better coordinate and control your body in space.*
I’ve been teaching my Movement Meditations course in-person and to small groups for some time now and in my latest live course, I recorded it all. Four lessons of 45+ minutes in front of a live audience.
Soon, you will be able to purchase the audio (which is all you will need as they are kinesthetic lessons) of this guided Movement Meditations course
The results of improving posture, movement coordination, and relaxation in those I teach this to have been incredible and with this course you can start to experience the benefits yourself.
If you aren’t on my email list yet, sign up to get notified when the course is up on my site.
What I’ve been up to
Well here’s what I’ve been up to… In the last 3 months, I:
- Got married
- Went to Costa Rica for the honeymoon
- Got a puppy
- Moved houses
- Spoke to 95 Doctor of Physical Therapy students in Arizona on how stress alters perception and movement
- Started a Facebook Page (follow me to keep up with all my writings)
- And, of course, have been busy treating clients with mind-body dysfunction
So I’ve been pretty busy. Check out a few pictures:
I have been writing a lot more on Facebook but plan to post more on this website as I did in the old days, so keep reading.
