Bad posture

Causes Of Bad Posture

There is no one single identifiable cause of bad posture. But fundamentally the causes of bad posture can be dichotomized into either Repetitive Stress or Postural faults. Repetitive Stress comes in the form of repeated actions that cause tension in the fascia and muscles which will in turn affect the alignment of the body. Postural faults arise from adopting a wrong posture or the lack of awareness of your body. Postural faults which can be ingrained from a young age can also result to bad posture.

Repetitive Stress

Repetitive activities such as sitting at your desk, using a computer, and carrying children often contribute to bad posture and alignment. Forward head posture and swayback are common results of this postural misalignment. Rolfing works to correct posture by lengthening the tissues in your body, and thus correcting this bad posture. Tight tissues and muscles are also responsible for locking your body into bad posture. Unlike massage therapy, Rolfing works through the entire body to support proper postural alignment from your crown to your toes over a series of Rolfing sessions.

An example of bad posture caused by sub-optimal body alignment is commonly seen in the relationship between the pelvis and the legs: Some people have developed a habit of storing tremendous amounts of tension in their hips, buttocks, and legs. This prevents their hip girdle from resting upon their leg bones in a way that provides maximum energy, range of motion, stability and stamina. Rolfing together with the posture exercises is a proven way to correct all of the above bad postures.

Postural faults

The diagrams below also illustrate the different postural habits and factors that can affect bad posture.

Postural Bowlegs Postural Knock Knees Ideal Knees

Postural bowlegs results from a combination of inward rotation of the femurs, pronation of the feet, and hyperextension of the knees

Postural knock knees results from a combination of outward rotation of the femurs, supination of the feet and hyperextension of the knees.

In ideal alignment of the knees, the hips are neutral in rotation as evidenced by the position of the knee cap facing directly forward. The feet are also in good alignment

Tilted Pelvis Neutral Pelvis

In a lateral pelvic tilt the pelvis is not level from side to side, but the corner of one side of the pelvic is higher than the other. In standing, a lateral tilt is associated with the sideway bend of the lumbar spine and inward and compression of the hip joints.

Forward Tilt Backward Tilt Balance Pelvic

Forward Tilt Backward Tilt Neutral

The balance of the pelvis is one the the most important aspect for the upper part of the body, which includes the trunk and the head. If there is tilted pelvis, is can trigger or affect conditions like scoliosis.

bad posture

bad posture good posture

The picture illustrate someone who has attain from a bad posture to an improve posture through Rolfing

The more we overload our musculature to compensate for our inability to move with grace, good posture and fluidity in our bodies, the more we unnecessarily tire ourselves. If you take up Rolfing and our posture exercises, it will allow your system of internal support to operate in the way it was designed to operate, with your body being freed to become a vehicle for your full physical expression, all the time maintaining the grace of better posture.