Posture is the place from which movement begins and ends, and good posture means better quality movement, which in turn leads to less wear and tear on joint surfaces and therefore less pain. As we adopt a particular postural habit such as sitting slouched with our head forward to look at a computer screen, over many months and years our body tends to "harden" into that posture, and when we stand up, we wind up standing with a slouch and a forward head. Our bodies function best in good posture, so developing good postural habits can improve not only sports performance, but also the quality of our lives by reducing muscle and joint pain caused by poor posture.

Pain is frequently postural in nature. As Robin Mckenzie (famous for creating the McKenzie Method for treating back and neck pain) suggests in order to illustrate the point, pull a finger back as far as it will go, and hold it there for a while. Notice how the area where your finger joins your hand is becoming sore, and the longer you hold the finger in that position the more it hurts. As soon as you let go of the finger and it returns to its neutral position, the pain goes away completely. There is no damage to the tissue . This is postural pain. This happens all the time in necks and backs. Now if a non-neutral position is frequently held for long periods of time over months or years, tissue damage may occur as the area wears out, possibly leading to disk issues, facet joint issues etc.

In the past it was believed that we stabilized our spines through the compression of gravity. Now we know that if that were the case our sacrums (the triangular bone at the base of our spines) would be far larger than they actually are in order to be able to support the weight of our trunks. So how do we stabilize our vertebrae if not through compression? Through tension. Our muscles and fascial network are designed to dissipate forces away from the joints, so that the joints won't wear out as fast. But we need to actually use the tensegrity (tension + integrity) system for it to work! Ballet dancers are examples of people that move in tensegrity. So standing and sitting in compression wears out the intervertebral disks leading to degenerative disk disease and possibly nerve issues, and standing and sitting in tension protects them.

So, what does good tensegrity in posture feel like? Stand up, close your eyes, and notice where you feel the weight of your body. Is it even through both feet? Do you feel the weight going through the muscles at the front of the hips? Do you feel any compression in your low back? If someone were to push gently down on your shoulders, would you buckle anywhere, or would you be as steady as a post? Adjust yourself so that you feel the weight going directly through the leg bones rather than through any soft tissue. Most of you will probably have to bring your pelvis back over your heels a little more to get that feeling. If your pelvis is too far back the quads (muscles in the front of the thigh) will turn on, and if your pelvis is too far forward, you may find yourself tightening your buttocks. Can you find a place where the muscles feel relaxed? Now slightly lift your ribcage up off of your pelvis, and let your shoulders relax down on your heightened ribcage. Do not squeeze your shoulders together in the back - if anything, think about separating them slightly from each other while keeping the collar bones wide. Now, lift the base of the skull (top of the neck at the back) up as high as it will go without any strain. You should feel that you are as tall and as wide as you can be - that you are taking up as much space as you can. You may even feel the compression in the lower back is gone. Is the weight still going through your leg bones? Notice how long you feel, and how tension is supporting your body rather than compression.

Now try walking while maintaining this sense of height and tensegrity. Notice how your legs just float under you? Walking is effortless. Your arms should naturally swing in a relaxed manner. This may feel peculiar to you, but that is simply because your brain is not accustomed to you standing and moving this way.

Now sit down, making sure you are sitting on top of your sit bones rather than behind them, (constantly sitting behind the sit bones will eventually lead to low back pain) and feel the weight go through the sit bones as you go through the same exercise above. Sit as tall as possible. Now set your watch or your computer to beep at you every 10 minutes, and check your posture. If you follow through and heed the constant reminder for about 3 weeks, your posture will improve.

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Chek, Paul; Golf Biomechanic's Manual: Whole in One Golf Conditioning Chek Institute, San Diego, CA, 2001.

Chek, Paul; Movement That Matters Chek Institute, San Diego, CA, 2000.

Finch, Mark; Kinesis Myofascial Integration massage therapist; personal communication, May and September 2005.

Lee, Diane: Online at Understanding Your Back Pain An interesting article about the value in figuring out WHY your back hurts as opposed to figuring out which tissue is painful. A great explanation of compression vs. tensegrity.

Lee, Diane; Post Partum Health for Moms; An Instructional and Exercise Class for Restoring the Core Video; Diane G Lee Physiotherapy Corp.; Surrey BC, Canada.

McKenzie, Robin, and May, Stephen, The Cervical and Thoracic Spine: Mechanical Diagnosis & Therapy, Volume 1 Spinal Publications New Zealand, 2006.

McKenzie, Robin, Treat Your Own Back Orthopedic Physical Therapy Product, 2006

McKenzie, Robin, Treat Your Own Neck Othopedic Physical Therapy Product, 2007

Myers, Thomas; Anatomy Trains; Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapies Churchill Livingstone, 2001.