Poor Posture and Low Energy
A Chicken and Egg Story
You don’t know exactly when it happened, but at some point after adolescence and before today the shape of your body went from tall and erect to slouchy and soft. And when you think about it you used to FEEL stronger and more energetic. But now, slouchy and soft not only describes your posture, it describes the way you feel.
THE TWO ARE NOT UN-CONNECTED. . . .
Ask any Chiropractor, Physical Therapist, Structural Integration Practitioner, and even most General Practitioners, and they will tell you that poor posture and low energy have a chicken and egg relationship. Did your posture deteriorate because you sat, immobile in front of the computer until you were exhausted? Then your tired body just slowly, little by little slumped deeper into your chair? Or did years of bad posture wear you out so much that slumping into a chair became your favorite past time?
Who knows.
But the fact is that poor posture isn’t just cosmetic. It has real, physical side effects that can lower your energy, limit your mobility and cause agonizing pain.
When you were 20, you were so young and strong and resilient that the exaggerated curve to your shoulders and jutting jaw actually looked rather good. But now, in your 30s or 40s and beyond, that “curve” is a slouch and your jaw reminds you a bit of a bird of prey. Worse, both are causing severe neck pain. And sometimes, you can’t manage a deep breath at all.
How will you ever breath deeply again?
Ida Rolf, who earned a Ph. D. in biochemistry, studied Organic Chemistry and Atomic Physics, understood that the human body was really one, completely connected entity. And like a long line of swerving, curving overlapping dominos, when one piece gets tipped out of place it careens into another, and that into another and another, and so on. So whether you slouch in front of a computer or just slouch in general, muscles shorten, others stretch and lose elasticity, and discs in your back get pushed awry. Until at some point, you feel severe pain and/or you slouch so far forward that your lungs barely have room to take in energy-supplying oxygen.
Fortunately for us all, Dr. Rolf did something fruitful with her medical background and keen understanding of the human body. She developed the Structural Integration Rolf Method--a step-by-step process, grounded in chemistry and biology, and designed to systematically relieve pain and realign the human body to its optimum form.
The Treatment
Focusing on something called the “myofascial system” (or the network of soft tissue that connects AND protects muscles, tendons and ligaments and gives them shape), I will use pressure and friction created with my hands to warm and soften the “fascia.” Just as clay softens when it is warmed by hands, I will manipulate the fascia and associated muscles in order to re-orient neck muscles, stretch and realign back muscles and relieve pressure on vertebrae. The immediate result will be a looseness you haven’t felt for months or even years, and a release of stress and pain from your neck and back. Ultimately, though, after some or all of the recommended 10 Structural Integration sessions, your body will realign itself to its natural, state. You will stand more erect, your chest will lift upward and your movements will become more fluid. You will breathe easily and deeply, filling your lungs with oxygen and kicking your energy level up.
