When you think of posture, chances are you associate it with some idea of a straight back….? My previous blog post explored the idea that posture was about having your weight being transferred down through your bones / skeleton for support, leaving your muscles free to move. So what is good posture in relation to movement?
Here is the posture test - whatever position you are in, maybe right now you are sitting, can you move in all directions – forward, backward, up, down, left, right?
If yes, then you have the advantage of being positioned in the middle of multiple options, a place which allows you to shift and adjust according to do what you want to do. If there is a direction that you can’t move in, then you are stuck; shifting and adapting is harder and requires more effort. It becomes even harder if your muscles have been maintaining that position for a while and are getting habituated to holding you there.
Here is the posture test - whatever position you are in, maybe right now you are sitting, can you move in all directions – forward, backward, up, down, left, right?
If yes, then you have the advantage of being positioned in the middle of multiple options, a place which allows you to shift and adjust according to do what you want to do. If there is a direction that you can’t move in, then you are stuck; shifting and adapting is harder and requires more effort. It becomes even harder if your muscles have been maintaining that position for a while and are getting habituated to holding you there.
 | Try it out in your chair right now – can you move easily in every direction? If there is a direction that is more challenging, alternate been that direction and its opposite, shifting back and forth between the two until you get a sense of where a middle place might be and see what it is like to be positioned here. If it is unfamiliar, try this new place on for size and do the direction test again from here and see what this posture / place / position allows. |
Posture is actually about being able to use your structure to your advantage for whatever the task at hand is that you would like to accomplish. Posture for pushing is very different to the posture you would use for pulling. The key is to find a way to line the weight of your body up to be working to your advantage, reducing the degree of muscular effort required. You want to be using the big muscles of your body to do the big work. When people say ‘lift by bending your knees,’ that is about using your big powerful leg muscles rather that the small muscles between the vertebrae in your spine for lifting heavy loads. Makes sense - you wouldn’t ask a little kid to move the fridge would you?!
So rather than trying to maintain a notion of straight, look for where the weight of your body is in relation to what you are doing and test whether you are able to move forward, back, up, down, left, right, equally easily. This is the neutral state for optimal action/movement potential that massage is assisting your muscles to return to.
So rather than trying to maintain a notion of straight, look for where the weight of your body is in relation to what you are doing and test whether you are able to move forward, back, up, down, left, right, equally easily. This is the neutral state for optimal action/movement potential that massage is assisting your muscles to return to.
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