I’ve worked on people’s bodies for almost 30 years. That’s lots and lots of bodies with muscle tension. I’ve also been living in my body for quite a bit of time.

I’m teaching the Posture Awareness Workshops because proper alignment in both stillness and in motion needs to be taught to a person. Then a person needs to repeatedly practice bringing their body toward more proper posture. I’ve found that during our work day we don’t fully address this very important part of being alive – how to be aligned to gravity. Decades of being improperly aligned to gravity and decades of improperly moving will make our bodies feel older, stiffer and more painful.

A fundamental help to having a less tense, a less troubled, a more free and easy body is to have the muscles soft and relaxed. If you’re not properly aligned in posture, the muscles will always tighten more. This extra (and unnecessary) tension can add up significantly over the many years that you’re alive. And when you lift or bend without proper posture, strain and injury is more likely to happen. Proper posture allows the maximum relaxation of the muscles whether you’re in stillness or in motion.

Most of the time people have come for help (when they have injured themselves) is because some very ordinary activity or movement ended up giving them a great deal of pain; not because they have done some huge improper activity.

Here is a story that I’ve heard more than any other story: “I was just bending over and my back spasmed, pain shot through me. Now I’m hurting all day long.”

Why does the body give out in a very ordinary activity? Come to our workshops and find many, many ways that you have been putting unnecessary strain on your body. This stress builds up and then trouble is inevitable. The workshops will also show you simple ways to reduce existing muscle tightness.

If you increase more proper body alignment in stillness and in motion and if you reduce existing muscle tension, you’ll have a softer, a more fluid, a less stiff and a less painful body. No matter your age now, if you start going toward more proper posture, you’ll have a feeling of being less old in your “golden years.” The feeling of less old as we age is a blessing. Help yourself to feeling more blessed as you age. It’s never too late to start lightening your body. It’s never too late to start actively helping yourself to feel better.