Functional and dynamic posture with the Feldenkrais® method

Edited by Doctor Maurizio Cancenda

The correct posture in the Feldenkrais Method® is that which allows the person to relate to gravity without effort, exploiting the alignment of the joints in the articular chain of the lower limbs, pelvis, spine and head, with the upper limbs free and a maximum availability for movement.
When this organization is achieved, the breath also becomes wider. This posture is the result of a learning that allows the oldest part of the nervous system to regain its postural role without parasitic tensions.
When there is external resistance, the sensation of effort is maximum and the performance is minimal. The feeling of resistance in an inefficient posture is due to the fact that conflicting impulses arrive to the skeletal involuntary muscles and there are parasitic and superfluous tensions.
"In the correct" stance ", whatever the movement in question (rising, sitting, pushing or pulling) the force is transmitted from the pelvis to the head, through the spine. The contractions along the spine are only synergistic (sufficient only to keep the spine in the appropriate position to transmit the force); there is no voluntary contraction of the neck muscles, unless this is precisely the goal of the action. The sensation of resistance
arises when the limbs, chest, shoulders or "another part of the body are forced to do the work of the pelvic and abdominal muscles".
Another fundamental characteristic in correct posture deriving from a voluntary act is represented by reversibility. If the act is correct, it can be interrupted at any time, abandoned completely or reversed, without having to change the attitude and without effort. any.

Holding your breath is also the most obvious sign of improper posture or posture. Moshe points out that the fibers of the autonomic (or vegetative) nervous system also innervate almost all muscles so that the viscera influence the configuration of the body, and are affected by it.
We now come to a point of capital importance in the understanding of posture (or "attura") in the "Feldenkrais approach: that of" conscious automatism.
"If in the standing position we eliminate all the contractions due to impulses of the cortical areas (regardless of the presence or absence of awareness), the body will be tonically maintained by the oldest parts of our nervous system. As the subject becomes aware and corrects the state of the voluntary muscles and joints, acquires the ability not to perform those particular acts of which in the past he was unaware; well he will be able to see that at the same time the body lengthens, stands more erect, while the joints, spine and head tend towards the ideal configuration. You feel lighter, it almost feels like walking on air.

To obtain the ideal upright posture, you do not have to do something particular, but you must literally do nothing, that is to eliminate all acts of voluntary origin due to reasons other than those of standing erect, which have now become automatic and an integral part of personal posture. of standing erect ".

Improving the sitting posture: a short practical experience

An example of how important good posture is is the sitting position.

Some people have to work long hours in this position and often have back, shoulder and neck pain at the end of the day.
The sitting position is not ideal for our spine: both for the immobility it entails, and for the loss of its natural curves, and because the load on the intervertebral discs (the shock absorbers of the vertebrae) is even 40% higher than to the load while standing.

Using a comfortable and ergonomic chair can help, but it's not enough. It is more important to find the most functional posture for us, in order to sit balanced on the skeleton, minimizing muscle effort and fatigue. In the next movement sequence we will verify how this is possible, exploiting the intelligence of our system. nervous and his ability to adjust.