Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Healthier old age
Someone asked me the other day about her posture and what effect it would have on her as she got older. Being only in her thirties she has a great many years to look forward to and it would be wonderful if she could enjoy good health and well being throughout her life.
But if we have some postural tendencies or habits such as stooping, hunching, sitting in a twist, holding one shoulder higher than the other, or hanging our head on one side, it's almost certain that if we do not do something about them to eliminate them now, they will become more exagerated as we get older. 'Practice makes perfect' and this applies to our habits too; as we 'practice' our habits daily, they get worse with age.
As we get older, we become an exaggerated version of the way we were in our youth. Habits of tension and getting off balance are often established when we’re young, and with a lifetime’s practice become more and more pronounced. Aside of bone loss, for instance, we can shrink in height just because we’re stiffening, stooping, and hunching with rounded shoulders. We may develop a widow’s hump. During most of our lives we are able to hold ourselves up despite being off balance by stiffening. However, in our later years we are no longer strong enough, so we’re likely to need a stick or walking frame to lean on. Our habits can deform us terribly so that we are distorted and severely off balance.
Our deteriorating posture puts untold pressures on us. Excessive tensions flatten our spinal discs causing them to eventually dry out and offer reduced cushioning or shock absorption. Nor will they allow free rotation or bending of our spine so we become more rigid and fixed in our worsening contortion. Unnecessary tensions will also compress our hip, knee and ankle joints so they too become stiff and limited in their range of movement. All of these habitual tendencies bring about a reduction in flexibility, and excessive wear and tear on the joints can cause irritation, inflammation and eventually joint disease possibly leading to the need for a joint replacement operation.
Our tensions will also have an effect on the efficient working of our whole system and impair our general functioning. We may experience deterioration of our digestion because of the pressure we create inside, so heartburn and indigestion become the norm. Bowel movements may become sluggish. We may not breathe adequately because the ribs and diaphragm are not moving freely, resulting in insufficient oxygenation of our body. Poor breathing can contribute to the possibility of all sorts of disorders including inadequate cell growth and even brain disease. Our circulation may also be affected as the blood flow is restricted by tension, causing cold hands and feet, but also leading to a build up of blood pressure and possible heart disease.
Many conditions normally related to getting old and which tend to be expected, are not necessarily a direct consequence of age itself. It seems that we expect them because they are what seem to happen to most elderly people. As we’ve said, just because some conditions may be very common, that doesn’t make them ‘natural’, and it’s possible that if we were able to look after ourselves a little better during our younger years we could avoid them occurring later.
We should remember that tension is something that we do to ourselves, and not some thing that is being done to us, so to speak. If we are stiff, then it is because we, ourselves are doing the stiffening. If I’ve got a backache, then it is me who is likely to be off balance and stiffening my muscles in such a way as to cause the discomfort. Of course, we must take into account accidents, surgery, or disease that would have an influence. But there are a great number of people who have not had any such afflictions but suffer some sort of discomfort or lack of health and wellbeing because they are unwittingly doing things within themselves. If we have had an injury or surgery, we may be making our condition worse by our self inflicted postural habits and to be free of them would possibly allow us to enjoy a better quality of life despite our limitations.
If we were able to maintain good poise by eliminating our habitual and harmful tendencies, we may even live a little longer, and be far happier and healthier right into our old age.
Help yourself retain youthful poise
There are a number of ways that you can help avoid unnecessary deterioration and maintain good health right into old age. This whole blog is about helping ourselves be healthier, happier and more successful and I recommend that you use some of the guidelines to enhance your life. Let’s recap on some of them.
1. Loosen as much as you can and allow your head to balance freely on top of your spine. Free your neck as often as you can.
2. Think of your head going upwards and your back lengthening and widening. This will help avoid compression of your internal organs and keep your back strong.
3. Ensure that you’re breathing freely by staying loose. Avoid holding your breath. Perform this breathing exercise.
4. Endeavour to be in balance and not leaning forward when you walk or stand. Let yourself be grounded. Being off balance puts enormous strain on your system. Think loose and tall.
Lessons in the Alexander Technique will help you with all of the above with expert guidance from a professional teacher. It can make all the difference.
