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Thursday 18 April 2013

Reeducated posture

I have had three sessions of Global Postural Reeducation and have been doing the exercises just about every morning.

It is already making a noticeable difference. Even though my spine isn't quite back into the position where it should be, it is on the way.

My head is now sitting further back and my shoulders are level and not scrunched forward.

I found this site by physiotherapist Susy Russell who suggests a simple test of standing against a wall and seeing how far off your head sits. Every inch adds leverage that your neck muscles have to counter.

I've linked to the image below from Susy's site as it shows my poor posture well.


Although I didn't take note of the terms my own physio used at my diagnosis session on 22 March, I see from this image that I have a tendency for the middle posture. The varioius exercises I have been given aim to loosen up the muscles around my spine to straighten my back. These tend to throw my head back, so I also have to work to bring that down by trying to point my chin towards my chest.

It is not just about stretching, but also reeducation and becoming accustomed to standing or sitting in the correct position. I now do so most of the time. At least, I catch myself in the right position much more often than in the wrong one. Sitting at a table, I have lost the tendency to hunch over it, with my legs crossed. I'm sitting up straight - something that used to feel uncomfortable and unnatural.

There are three intriguing side effects of this process, which I'll write about in the following posts.

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