The Posture Workbook

DO you suffer from back or muscle pain? DOES the pain interfere with your life? DID you know poor posture is at the root of the majority of these problems? Poor posture can interfere with your mobility, breathing, circulation and digestion. It can contribute to overuse injuries to hands, arms and shoulders. It can affect your sense of wellbeing. IS there anything you can do to help yourself? With the help of this book the answer is a resounding – YES! Drawing on her 30 years of experience as a teacher of the Alexander Technique, Carolyn Nicholls explains exactly how to eliminate tension throughout your body and improve your habitual patterns of movement. Carolyn identifies typical behaviours that can result in unhealthy posture and explains how they can be improved. The Posture Workbook illustrates 5 key exercises to improve posture, awareness, flexibility and mobility. These ’5-A-Day’ exercises will teach you how to move more freely and easily and show you how to live your life free from postural pain. Carolyn is the founder and Head of Training at the Brighton Alexander Technique College, UK and a national advisor on clinical trials on back pain. Her first book, Body, Breath and Being – a new guide to the Alexander Technique is a great critical and commercial success.

The concept of Functional Patterns is a train of thought that has been building upon itself over the course of my entire lifetime. I was taught at a very young age to question authority and everything around me by my highly skeptical parents. My parents were extremely hard workers who were very resourceful with the little money they had. They lived by the "practice what you preach" motto in every sense they could. The apple didn't fall very far from the tree and I have embodied (to the best of my ability) what I was fortunate enough to be taught at a very young age. The Functional Patterns method didn't start with the memorization of techniques. It started at a base of reasoning that has seemingly been missing from the industry of health today. When ego checking experiences of life mixed with the values I had already wired in from my childhood, a different approach towards looking at the human organism emerged.

Change Your Posture, Change Your Life analyses the origin and development of the Alexander Technique, how it works and what are its benefits. In chapters ranging from 'The Secret Key to Good Posture' and 'The Hidden Obstacle to Improving Posture' to 'Your Inner Acrobat' and 'First Steps in Releasing Muscle Tension', Richard Brennan examines every aspect of the technique and how it can benefit everyone, young and old. This book will appeal to the many millions of parents and teachers who are increasingly concerned about the rapid deterioration of the posture of their children, who are frequently hunched over desks and computers, as well as their own posture. It will also be of great value to doctors, consultants and physiotherapists, who already realise that posture is a crucial factor in most healthcare, plus those in physical education (including yoga and pilates), all types of sports and the martial arts. And last but not least, the book will be of priceless value to all those who suffer from a wide range of muscular-skeletal problems, including arthritis, backache and headaches, as well as a whole range of other common ailments. With more and more people becoming aware of the role that good posture plays in treating ill health, this is the perfect introduction to implementing its benefits into your own life.

Forewords by Hema Malini & Dr. K.H. Sancheti Do you suffer from back, neck and shoulder pains? Are you unable to lose weight? Do you have a weak core and flabby muscles? Chances are you’ve been seeking expert advice, getting countless x-rays done, downing protein shakes and raising a mountain in medical and fitness bills. But the solution to your woes may lie in something as simple as your posture. Unbelievable? It is true! Posture is not just about sitting straight – it is intelligent awareness of your body’s framework and balance, and it can be used to banish the aches and pains associated with age and modern lifestyles. The Power of Posture is your one-stop guide to successfully resolving your body’s issues and replenish your health and vitality. Here you will find: ? answers to weight loss issues ? ways to boost flexibility and metabolism ? corrections for muscle imbalance from over-exercising ? solutions to aching neck, shoulders and back ? the key to pain-free legs and knee joints …and much more. With Yoga and Pilates therapies and more than 100 images to show postures and techniques, you will only wish you had known the Power of Posture earlier. Dr. Renu Mahtani, MD, is a practicing physician who runs the Param Yoga centre (www.paramyoga.in ) in Pune. Her holistic approach towards health and lifestyle incorporates customised breath therapy, yoga and pilate techniques, not just for aches and pains but also for chronic diseases, low immune conditions, anxiety and depression.

A manual for understanding the anatomical and emotional components of posture in order to heal chronic pain • Contains self-help exercises and ergonomics information to help correct unhealthy movement patterns • Teaches how to adopt suitable posture in the modern sedentary world Many people cause their own back and body pain through their everyday bad postural and movement habits. Many sense that their poor posture is probably the root of the problem, but they are unable to change long-standing habits. In The New Rules of Posture, Mary Bond approaches postural changes from the inside out. She explains that healthy posture comes from a new sense we can learn to feel, not by training our muscles into an ideal shape. Drawing from 35 years of helping people improve their bodies, she shows how habitual movement patterns and emotional factors lead to unhealthy posture. She contends that posture is the physical action we take to orient ourselves in relation to situations, emotions, and people; in order to improve our posture, we need to examine both our physical postural traits and the self-expression that underlies the way we sit, stand, and move. The way we walk, she says, is our body’s signature. Bond identifies the key anatomical features that impact alignment, particularly in light of our modern sedentary lives, and proposes six zones that help create postural changes: the pelvic floor, the breathing muscles, the abdomen, the hands, the feet, and the head. She offers self-help exercises that enable healthy function in each zone as well as information on basic ergonomics and case histories to inspire us to think about our own habitual movements. This book is a resource for Pilates, yoga, and dance instructors as well as healthcare professionals in educating people about postural self-care so they can relieve chronic pain and enjoy all life activities with greater ease.

"Clear, easy-to-read presentation of the importance of posture or body alignment with respect to appearance, maintaining physical functioning, and preventing muscle and joint pain and disability particularly as one grows older. Includes postural self-assessment and over one hundred exercises in various short menus to correct and maintain proper body alignment."

Body, Breath and Being explores the Alexander Technique through the experiences of those who have studied it and benefited from it. The book offers a new view of the way we use our bodies and the consequences not only on our health, but also our approach to life.

Exercises for Perfect Posture is the complete guide to achieving healthy posture, providing everything from fitness programs and exercises designed to realign your spine and strengthen your shoulders, neck and back as well as guidance on how to redesign your work space to be more ergonomic. Good posture is foundational to good health. Poor posture can lead to shoulder discomfort, neck pain, and even chronic conditions such as carpel tunnel syndrome if left uncorrected. Yet the modern lifestyle and the modern workplace together make it very difficult to maintain healthy, natural posture throughout the day. Humans were not meant to spend all their time sitting down, and the “disease of inactivity” has reached near-epidemic proportions. Exercises for Perfect Posture corrects deficiencies in your posture through resistance exercises, flexibility, and cardiovascular activities that will fit any schedule. Exercises for Perfect Posture also includes: · A detailed overview of how exercise can improve your posture · Clear, informative pictures of safe, effective exercises · Detailed instructions on how to perform each movement · A complete fitness approach to restoring posture · A training log to track your progress Featuring expert-approved fitness techniques, with options ranging from resistance training to mobility movements, Exercises for Perfect Posture is the all-in-one resource for anyone looking to stand up straight and face life head-on! Exercise can improve your posture and health. With more and more people finding themselves working desk jobs and other largely seated, sedentary positions, the issues resulting from poor posture are only becoming more prevalent. The downsides of improper posture set the stage for health and mobility risks later on in life. Exercises for Perfect Posture provides the physical and preventative education necessary to improve posture and health through a comprehensive fitness program for all ages.