Posture Scoliosis & Humps

Posture (Scoliosis & Humps) Improvement from First Practice?

I have over the years taught numerous groups. I saw, at the end of each session, as the attendees stood up, that postures would shift beyond recognition: The neck was elongated, the sternum appeared prominent, the abdomen was slightly gathered in, the lower back had a smaller arch (the imaginary tail tucked between the legs) and more.

One Hour of Practice.

When practicing correctly and accurately, when moving gently not forcefully, you could see changes in posture already after the first practice. Here, look at the posture before and after a practice with some of my students, who had asked for my help in improving their posture. They demonstrate the exercises taught in the Softness, the Strength of Physiotherapy and Feldenkrais Combined program, improving Posture Without Strengthening Muscles, after only one hour of practice.

 

 

Once upon a time

Each practice returns the body to its softness a little more. Once upon a time, in our early childhood, we were very soft 😊 All joints had then worked at full range, attaining their motor potential easily and pleasantly. Adolescence had already brought various rigidities with it. To return to the posture we had when we were young, we need to break free from the stiffness and avoid strengthening our back muscles.

In most cases a rigid person who strengthens his muscles will only become more rigid, thus his poor posture would linger on and on. When the stiffness is eliminated, it is gradually replaced by an attractive and unwound posture, ease of movement, flexibility, better balance and improved sleep quality, a shift that occurs as if all by itself. In most cases, these are accompanied either by a significant reduction, even the elimination of pain.

Fighting Windmills

When the contracted muscles are loosened up, the body extends itself upward. Conversely, exercising and strengthening muscles, in most cases would produce a contrary result. A person who had just completed such a liberating practice immediately recognizes such an improvement.

The conventional approach of strengthening muscles to improve posture and treat scoliosis and a hump, along with raising awareness of the ideal posture, sometimes combined with corsets of one kind or another, improves posture for rather short periods only. A thorough and deep release of the body’s stiffness in general, the upper back in particular, promotes a process of straightening up, whose initial materialization may be identified already during the first practice.

Ignoring Warnings

This may sound strange to you but it is very important to be careful not to experience pain or, not to exacerbate pain that is already present. why? Because pain gives us warnings. Ignoring such a warning from such an important and appreciated aspect of our being such as our body – it is simply wrong, even dangerous to do so. By the way, for the same reason it is also important to be careful not to strain and stretch up.

The effectiveness of what is done strenuously lasts, if at all, for a very short while. It is true in many other cases, for example in the case of a weight loss diet. It is even true in important relationships such as those with children and spouses: When we try to produce quick and forced changes, it just does not last. Deep changes must come gently, softly, with much compassion and love. Our relationship with our body is not any different in that respect.

Softness Moves Mountains 

The only way to produce significant, long lasting change is to work gently. Imagine that in every area of your life in which you did not succeed, you would be told that it had happened because you made an effort … and then you would be asked to make less of an effort next time. How liberating could that have been? Here, in improving one’s posture, even when there is scoliosis and / or a hump, this is exactly what should happen. Softness moves mountains. And it is a winning approach.

If without effort, stretching or pain, posture can be improved (even if one has scoliosis or a hump), what are we waiting for? For a glimpse of a lesson from the Softness, the Strength of Physiotherapy and Feldenkrais Combined program , intended for those who wish to improve their posture without effort, click here.

Most of the important studies on the effect of Feldenkrais practice (which, along with physiotherapy, is the basis of the Softness Method I have developed) have been done on elderly population (65 and older). The positive experiences of my students have been recognized by the best researchers in the field and are documented in research papers found in the library U.S. National Studies, The Med Pub. The relevant abstracts can be reviewed at these links:

The Effect of Feldenkrais on Posture among the Elderly: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25045256

Alternative Medicine Exercises for Treating Scoliosis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19920282/