Why Postural Alignment is Important…
The human body has an optimal “blueprint,” based on a normal standing anatomical position. The body’s load-bearing joints at the shoulders, hip, knee, and ankles are meant to be properly aligned on a vertical and horizontal plane. The ear should sit directly over these joints, and the spine should form an S-shaped curve. Symmetrical postural alignment allows for optimal joint mobility and correct absorption and distribution of force throughout the body, alleviating unnecessary stress on the musculoskeletal system. Deviations from this optimal design arise from muscular imbalances in strength and/or flexibility.
If you’ve ever stopped to look around in a crowd of people you may have noticed many different ways in which people hold themselves. You may have seen a man with a hunched-over torso, a woman whose knees seem to be collapsing together, or someone with a shoulder that is noticeably higher than the other. You’ve probably just assumed that these people are born this way; rounded-shouldered or bow-legged or asymmetrical in some way or another. Therefore, it may come as a surprise to you that most of these postural positions have been brought on month by month, year by year over the course of people’s lives. In most cases, the skeletal system does not come with its own specific set of deviations when a person is born. Rather, a person’s muscles have adapted to whatever environmental stimuli he or she has been subjected to, and the muscles have altered the way his or her skeletal structure is now presenting itself as.
Due to the many modern conveniences in our society, people are moving less and less, and finding themselves sitting at desks or in cars for large portions of their day. Over a period of time, the spine loses the integrity of its “S” curve, and molds into a “C” curve to adapt to its primary stimulus – sitting. The shoulders begin to round forward, and the head begins to jut forward. The psoas (the major hip stabilizing muscle that attaches the leg, pelvis, and spine) often becomes shortened and atrophied and unable to perform its proper function. Furthermore, due to lack of equal bilateral stimulus, the musculoskeletal structure often becomes misaligned from the right to the left sides of the body. For instance, one shoulder might become elevated, one hip rotated forward, or one foot externally rotated.
All of these postural asymmetries lead to compensation (dysfunctional movement patterns caused when secondary muscles take over the job of the prime movers). The body then becomes highly susceptible to injury caused by everyday tasks such as sitting, lifting, running, and twisting. The body also then becomes susceptible to chronic pain – dull aching, sharp stabbing, or numb and tingling muscle, nerve, and/or joint pain that can ensue for months or years on end.
The Body is a Highly Integrated Structure…
The body works as a unit. A postural deviation anywhere affects all the other muscles and joints in the body, creating other postural misalignments and faulty movement patterns. This is why the site of the pain is often not the source of the pain.
In Postural Alignment Therapy, rather than compartmentalizing a symptom (such as a sore knee or frozen shoulder), analysis is performed on the overall posture of the individual. Posturally-aligning exercise routines aimed at overall postural dysfunctions are then developed. Through the process of mitigating visual and functional dysfunctions, painful physical symptoms generally subside.
What are Postural Alignment Exercises?
Postural alignment exercises are gentle exercises and stretches that require little or no equipment and are designed to functionally strengthen the body. The exercises are meant to be done sequentially as each exercise prepares the body for the next. For instance, the first exercises in a routine often aim to mitigate the symptom and reduce torso or hip rotations before strengthening the intrinsic lumbo-pelvic-hip complex, and finally, leaving the body in a more posturally-aligned position.
Clients then perform their assigned exercises for one week. At this point evaluation of progress and adjusting of the postural alignment exercise routine is performed according to a client’s needs. Often as clients’ functional capacity improves, they become ready for more challenging exercises that increase the demand on their neuromuscular system.
While every client presents a specific set of needs, I generally encourage client to see me once a week for eight sessions. This allows me to monitor their postural and functional progress while providing the body with the necessary stimulus required to keep it positively responding to the exercise routine.
Session Prices
If you’d like a postural therapy session from the comfort of your home, I am available for Teletherapy (Zoom or FaceTime). All you need is a mat and some floor and wall space.
First 75 minute session: $145
Following 60 minute Sessions: $120
Discount 8-Session Package Rate (including the first session): $800. You save $185 if you purchase a series of 8 sessions.