What’s the Big Deal about Posture?

“Stand up straight”, “don’t slouch”! Words of wisdom from mothers across continents, and right they are.

Whether you come to my MELT classes or are working with me one-on-one, the most often used phrases are ‘neutral pelvis’, ‘shoulders relaxed’, ‘good form’ and derivatives thereof. So why is good posture so important even if I disregard the fact that it looks a lot better?

A body in ideal alignment is a balanced body. The relationship in length between muscles is optimal, and movement is effortless because all the players know their role. The central nervous system is like a conductor, and just as in an orchestra, everybody must be well-tuned and know the score to create a harmonious performance.

If a body is out of alignment, then some parts have to work harder and still don’t get it done right. The result is that some parts wear out sooner than others, and this can start a pain cycle that only perpetuates the problems and adds to them. Even though medical science has given us replacement parts and perfected the techniques to implant them, we would do a lot better looking after ourselves as well as if we were our own car.

Did you ever hear of anybody, who would change the tires on their car, not get them balanced but then take the car out on a 1,000 mile road trip with heavy cargo and a hanger? Me neither.

When I start my MELT classes, I describe the position of ideal alignment, and just about everybody raises their hand when asked whether they felt discrepancies. Soon into the class, those discrepancies diminish and sometimes disappear altogether, and my students walk out straighter and often in less pain than when they walked in. After having taught MELT for almost 5 years now, I see permanent improvements after just a few months with regular MELTing.

Aren’t you worth it?

Athletes in Tutus

I have always loved ballet. Even though I never danced myself, classical ballet is my favorite dance art form; the more tutu the better. Living now in Raleigh, North Carolina, we have been so fortunate to having the professional Carolina Ballet since 1997. I had season tickets all those years, looking forward to every single performance.

Even the greater my pleasure when I recently had an opportunity to introduce some of the dancers to MELT.

While watching the performances and the performers, it was always quite obvious to me that all that grace that I admire so much is the result of rigorous training, and I was conscious of the fact that injuries are the inevitable by-product of such training.

Over the last 5 years of teaching MELT, I have seen enough of its beneficial results on many bodies that I knew that its positive effects could be felt equally by a professional dancer as by weekend warrior or somebody recovering after a hip or knee replacement surgery.

So it was not surprising to me on some level to hear the same comments about some of the MELT length exercises that I am used to hear from my more conventional class participants. The sensation of length beyond ordinary stretching which can only be described as ‘hurting so good’.

What I absolutely had to admire, though, was the amazing ability of the dancers to take my verbal instructions and translate them into body movement. Those familiar with MELT know that the greatest impact is often made by the smallest changes in body position, and those require a great deal of body awareness. And while this is hardly unexpected, it is nonetheless astounding to watch.