Postural Alignment Therapy

Western society asks very little demand of our human bodies.

From the moment we are born, to the moment we die, life is made pretty easy for us. We pop to the shops to choose whatever food we want. We jump in the car for the short drive to work. We sat at a desk all day clicking a mouse. Everything is quick and convenient.

However, our human bodies evolved over millions of years of evolution to be kept in tip-top condition through constant movement. Not so long ago, we needed to move to get food, build shelter, for transport and to get out of danger. Nowadays, our motivation to move has gone.

Over the last 300 years, our environment has changed beyond recognition to our primal, animal bodies, causing them to suffer. They are not being kept in the condition the pre-Industrial revolution world have created for them through physical activity.

This suffering shows up through the plethora of maladies afflicting old and young alike – back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, ankle pain, hip pain, foot pain … the list goes on.

Muscle weakness in the body pulls joints and bones out of position and causes unnatural wear and tear. This is the underlying cause of most modern aches and pains.

Postural Alignment Therapy helps people identify and target the dormant muscles which have fallen asleep in their body and gets them to wake up through specific, corrective movements. By activating dormant muscles, joints fall back into position and pains reduce.

By observing a person’s overall posture and the alignment of their joints, it is obvious to a Postural Alignment Therapist as to what muscles are not working properly in the body. Most Western people’s dormant muscles are very similar because of the similar childhoods and adult working lives we have – very sedentary. Constant chair use creates a very specific shape!

People who have desk jobs not only spend many hours a day sat down at work, but probably have a hefty commute either side of their day job and may be so exhausted when they get home from work they just want to flop on the sofa. This is a recipe for stiff, weak body which will start to slip out of its functional alignment and be in pain

Although it would be impossible for everyone to give up their desk jobs and become cavemen again, people can make huge improvements on their pain and posture, if they know the right remedial movements to do to bring their joints back to neutral.

This is what Postural Alignment Therapy does – neutralises out of alignment bodies caused by our sedentary and repetitive Western culture.

We understand that moving for 12 hours a day is impossible, so through these targeted, corrective exercises, we give the muscles and joints the minimum basic stimulation they need to stay in alignment.

You wouldn’t brush your teeth once and expect them to stay fresh forever and our muscles are the same. We need to move them as frequently and in as much of a variety as possible for them to stay healthy!

Eleanor Burt

www.posture-ellie.com

@posture.ellie

YouTube – Eleanor Burt