Shows how habitual movement patterns and emotional factors lead to unhealthy posture. This work identifies the key anatomical features that impact alignment, 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.

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. 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. It contains self-help exercises and ergonomics information to help correct unhealthy movement patterns. It teaches how to adopt suitable posture in the modern sedentary world.

Illustrator:

Stephen P. Miller

Publisher:

Inner Traditions Bear and Company

ISBN:

9781594771248

Publication date:

January 2007

Length:

203mm

Width:

254mm

Thickness:

17mm

Weight:

600g

Pages:

192

Illustrations:

34 illustrations

Illustrated:

Illustrated

I have long searched for a book that addresses the human body as a whole, and with clarity, guidance, and completeness. This book is a multi-faceted gem offering all of that and much more--I highly recommend it to teachers of movement and to anyone eager to learn how to become a better occupant of their body.