Using Better Posture to Relieve Back Pain

What is better posture? Well it’s probably not what you think… remember when your mother or teacher told you to sit up straight and you held yourself so tight you might burst. Holding excess muscle tension will actually make you tired and cause aches, pain and possibly injury. Good posture is actually about easeful co-ordination and freedom of movement.

Your body is designed to hold itself up. Think of a tent. There are guy ropes distributed around the tent to allow it to stand upright, each of the ropes as a counter balance to the others. Well that’s what happens in our bodies. (It’s actually called a tensegrity structure.) We have layers of muscles, all designed to expand and contract to allow us to balance and move.

Most people hold far too much tension in their bodies and often overwork or misuse themselves to the point of stress or pain. The Alexander Technique is a process of educating our bodies to address harmful habits of posture and movement. In 2008, the British Medical Journal published an extensive study on the effectiveness of the Alexander Technique for the relief of chronic back pain. Significant pain relief was experienced with at least six Alexander Technique lessons and regular light exercise. See our Resources section for further information

The heading of our first blog is actually taken from the Panadol Australia website. The makers of medicated pain relief advocate better posture for pain relief. We’ve known it all along.

So for a little less pain and a little more ease contact the team at Pathways to Performance® and ‘…rethink your potential™’.

Picture Perfect?

A friend once asked me, “Why do you always have your chin up in photos?” I thought… “No I don’t” and ignored the comment. Until one day, when flicking through some photos, I saw that she was right! In all of my photos, I had my head thrown back and chin in the air.

What I didn’t know was that this was creating an excess of muscle tension in my neck, jaw and pressure down my spine. I regularly had a sore neck and shoulders, but never knew that my habits would have contributed to my pain.

One of the most challenging aspects in setting up the Pathways to Performance® website was to find the right pictures to represent our four services. So many pictures showed people who were either “underengaged” and floppy or “overengaged” and tense.

Take a look at photos of yourself. Do you tilt your head to one side? Do you stand or lean on one leg? Do you slump when you sit or puff up your chest when you pose for a photo? We all want to look good and be fit and healthy. You habits of posture and movement contribute to your health and wellbeing.

Become aware of what do you and you can then find new opportunities you never thought possible ‘…rethink your potential™’.