"When the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through.
Then spontaneously, the body heals itself."
Ida Rolf
You achieve body alignment through your bones. Your muscles, tendons and ligaments all attach themselves directly of indirectly to your bones to support and transport the body through space. If our bones are not in line or properly aligned this can put a strain on our joints, surrounding muscles and connective tissue, elevating the risk of pain and injury and interrupting lifes energy flow.
No matter what our fitness level we all share something in common and that is we are all fighting the gravitational pull of the earth on our bodies. As we grow older this pull can have a debilitating affect on how we move. Hence the importance of having strong, well balanced and healthy muscles, tendons and ligaments.
We are all different and proper alignment is something we have to learn.
We can start with our core which is the foundation of movements. The core acts as an axis along which the muscles of the hips, abdomen and back interact to support and stabilise the spine, providing a solid base for movement in the legs and arms.
We need strong core muscles to generate the strength, stability and mobility need to everyday activities like walking, carrying shopping, even getting in and out of bed.
Working more from home has made our lifestyle more sedentary, meaning certain core muscles may become more inactive. If you do not exercise these core muscles regularly you will lose the ability to engage them instictively while performing everyday tasks like bending and lifting. When this happens, other muscles may take over, causing muscular imbalances - possibly injury in the long term.
A common example of muscle imbalance can occurs between you hip and back muscles, resulting in poor posture, which can lead to low back pain.
Core training helps to improve strength, stability and mobility to give you balance. reducing the likelihood of such imbalances developing.
We can also be more aware of our environment. By this I just mean our furniture. Things like our sofas and chairs. Are they comfortable? Do they support us for the time we spend in them? Are they the proper height for our individual bodies?
The one piece of furniture that has the most impact on our alignment is our bed. We spend a third of our lives lying down to sleep.
Time is Life!
How old is your mattress? You should change your mattress every 8 - 10 years. If you can, invest in a proper mattress one that will support and keep your body aligned you while you sleep! How we sleep has such an impact on our day, our lives.
I think life is about Balance, when your body is aligned it is balanced when it is balanced, it Is free.
Isn’t that what we all want?
