What is Posture?   Why does it become a 'bad' word for so many people?

     Posture is a word loosely used to describe a multitude of things happening with a human frame. Bad posture - the muscle system with some muscles tight yet others collapsed or under-used are holding the body into a shape which isn't functioning well. To a trained eye this can mean many things e.g. collapsed head/neck, rounded upper back (kyphosis), caved in middle back (lordosis), hips out of alignment and so on.

The mental affects the physical: the physical affects the mental.

If you are told to "stand up straight" does this work? After a while the body goes back to its original shape where the muscles are fixed. Do we have conscious knowledge of how our whole system works; mostly the ‘automatic pilot’ is operating all the time.

      
Debra Caplan, Alexander Teacher and Physiotherapist   says: “One of Nature's most capable inventions is the human spine and all its surrounding structures. The torso is a structural triumph providing both flexibility and strength. However it can only serve us properly when used in a well-integrated way. All too often we misuse the flexibility of the torso by continually bending from the waist as though it were a hinge. The torso should be used as one functional unit". 

Gaining the knowledge needed to stop the downward spiral is the first step to regaining the natural poise and health which is our birthright. FM Alexander said "You can change the habit of a lifetime with just one thought"!