Feel and See Natural Posture: Essential to Health and Wellbeing
What does good posture feel like?
- ✓ you move easily
- ✓ no tension or chronic muscular pains
- ✓ improves circulation and breathing
- ✓ gravity provides support so you float
- ✓ have vitality and energy
Many people cause their own back and body pain through their everyday bad postural and movement habits. They may sense that their poor posture is probably the source of the pain. One of the best therapies for bad posture is Rolfing® Structural Integration combined with Rolfing Movement® Integration.
Why Isolated Exercises Don’t Work To Change Posture
In the quest for better posture and a pain-free life, many of us turn to corrective exercises. While these exercises can offer short-term relief and improvements, they often fall short of delivering lasting results.
Corrective exercises address specific muscle weaknesses contributing to poor posture and pain. But posture is a whole body experience, and it requires a comprehensive approach to posture improvement. In addition, posture is determined as much by the fascial system as the muscular one, and the approach to better posture must take that into account. Fascia is designed to stretch and glide around the muscles as you move. But poor posture is often locked in through fascia becoming thickened and ‘sticky’ and tightening up around muscles to limit mobility. [for more on this, see the article on Johns Hopkins Medicine
An alternative is Rolfing Structural Integration because it is both a holistic bodywork practice and approaches posture primarily through the fascial system. Rolfing also involves active participation from the client, including movement and awareness exercises. This engagement helps clients develop a deeper understanding of their bodies and empowers them to maintain their improved posture in their daily lives.
Correcting Years of Bad Posture with Rolfing
Rolfing SI addresses posture improvement through its standard 10-series: 10 sessions that cover aligning the entire body in gravity. Gravity The genius of the work rests on Dr. Rolf's insight that the body is more at ease and functions most effectively when your posture is balanced in gravity. [link back to hub page gravity story] Rolfing focuses on the fascia web, including key structures such as the pelvic floor, the breathing muscles, the abdomen, the hands, the feet, and the head.
The experience has been reported as transformative on your body and overall well-being. Simply put, years of bad posture can be rolled back for potentially permanently in 10 sessions. The effects of Rolfing SI create permanent change , as the fascial network of the body holds the new alignment. Studies done by the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute [find reference] show that even after ten years, the changes from going through the “10-Series” program of Rolfing sessions are still present. This is a characteristic of the fascial network.
Rolfing Movement® Integration for Good Posture that Lasts
Rolf Movement parallels the 10 series. It is an important part of helping maintain good posture by re-training the nervous system and engaging the mind-body connection to support good posture.
Learn more about Rolfing Movement® Integration for lasting good posture
Bad Posture Issues
There are specific postural issues that are major concerns in the modern world of technology we live in.
Forward Head Posture
Forward Head Posture issues ever more frequent in our technological age. Hours at laptops, phones and tablets condition our posture into habits known as “forward head” or kyphosis.
Learn more about Rolfing can alter forward head posture
Hunchback Posture
Hunchback Posture issues used to be more frequent among the elderly, but these days are also showing up among younger teenagers who carry heavy backpacks to and from school.
Learn more about Rolfing can restore your natural upright posture
Swayback posture
Swayback posture, also known as lordosis, occurs is when your hips and pelvis tilt forward In this position, your lower back has an exaggerated inward curve often associated with back tension and discomfort
Learn more about Rolfing can restore your natural upright posture
Scoliosis
Scoliosis is a disorder, but it can be seen as a postural condition as well. Rolfing cannot undo scoliosis, but it can be a great help in managing the condition.
Learn more about Rolfing can help manage scoliosis
Somatic posture
Habitual movement patterns and emotional factors are less well known causes of unhealthy posture. Rolfing SI and its companion Rolfing Movement Integration contend that posture is the physical action we take to orient ourselves in relation to situations, emotions, and people. In order to improve our posture, we need to examine both our physical postural traits and the self-expression that underlies the way we sit, stand, and move.
Learn more about Rolfing and somatic education create lasting changes in posture
Balance Is A Key Component of Posture
Posture and balance are interrelated. Good posture is important to balance: by standing up straight, you center your weight over your feet.
When people think about improving their physical fitness, they often overlook the issue of balance. That’s a critical oversight. Good balance is an integral part of being physically fit and research has tied it to injury prevention and longevity.
It’s an important issue for everyone, no matter your age. Good balance helps you maintain correct form while exercising, which results in fewer injuries and greater gains.
Learn more about balance as an essential component of posture
The Importance of Posture and Balance for Athletes
In order to perform almost all sporting movements, an athlete switches from position to position at varying speeds and for varying duration. The underlying component that allows them to do this is posture. This may be static but it is mostly dynamic. In order to move fast, or to maintain those positions for longer, the athlete’s posture must be correct. This allows efficiency of movement which then becomes economical.
Plenty of sports demand not only coordination but balance, too. Good posture aligns your spine and your limbs to help you balance and coordinate movements more effectively.
Learn more about Rolfing can improve posture and balance for athletes in sports
Balance For Seniors
Older adults are most affected by poor balance. Falls are a leading cause of injury for those 65 and older. Many seniors experience diminished balance and coordination, so they don’t move around as much because they’re worried about falling.
Learn more about importance of balance for seniors