How does Posture Therapy work?

Based on the teachings from the Egoscue University.

After a thorough assessment of what your pain and/or misalignments issues are, we usually begin with a postural assessment. You will take front, side, and rear view photographs of your standing posture, and I will thoroughly evaluate them against the functional design blueprint, and explore what is going on.

Once the posture assessment is complete, and you understand why you are hurting and/or misaligned, I, with lots of feedback from you, will design a routine of exercises (or “ecises”) for you, based on the information that I have gathered on that day with clear instructions.

After a very short period, you will be able to feel a difference. You will receive a list of the exercises through email with images, instructions and facts so that you will easily understand and be able to repeat them everyday (preferably in the morning so that you start the day with a better aligned body). After 10 to 14 days, the routine (called a “menu”) will have done its magic, and your body will plateau. It will be time to meet or Skype with me to reevaluate and get another menu as needed. Remember, this is NOT a quick fix. You won’t achieve your design blueprint posture overnight.

The ecises are meant to be done everyday or at least five times a week. Each time you do them, your body will shift a little. Chances are that your body won’t be able to hold onto the shift, but if you repeat them everyday, the shift will start to stick. I recommend that you don’t wait 48 hours between doing your menu, or you will lose the shift you created and be back at square one the next time, instead of a bit ahead.

What you see when you look at your posture is a map of the way you have compensated for your dysfunctions. For example, if your hips are not symmetrical (dysfunction), chances are your shoulders have turned or rolled to enable you to stand up in spite of your asymmetrical hips.

Human bodies are masters of compensation, and it is the main reason why we have survived and thrived.

With Postural Alignment Therapy based on the teachings from the Egoscue University, the work is to correct the compensations, and to keep working to rectify the underlying cause.

Are your hips symmetrical? With shorts on, stand in front of a mirror and look at the position of your knees and feet. Do both knees point straight ahead? Inward? Outward? Are they symmetrical? Are your feet pointing straight ahead? Does one turn in, or out? Both? Your knee and foot positions tell you what your hips are doing. From the side view, do you have the proper S-curve in your spine?  Is your head forward? Are your hips forward?  Knees hyperextended, or flexed?