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Better Posture
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Why? |
 Symmetry corrects posture by assessing and diagnosing muscular weaknesses and imbalances, and prescribing specific therapeutic exercises that address individual needs. The primary achievement of our existence should not be to battle gravity. Yet this is what the majority of us are spending our energy on. Gravity is a constant. Therefore, if you are not strengthening the intrinsic muscles to hold the body at right angles, you will become out of alignment. If your body is not aligned, much like a car, you will begin to wear out a tire (or in your case; neck, or back)
Most of us live lives that could be improved with postural therapy. The body works better when its parts are lined up and positioned as they were designed. As it is most of us don't pay attention to the messages that our bodies are sending. Most of us ignore the message of pain. We figure it will go away on its own. Instead the body compensates for the pain, but this natural instinct to compensate can be the start of many physical aliments. more article 
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Have you ever sprained an ankle or hurt your foot and realized that you are still limping when you walk even though you are not in any pain. The compensation of limping has now become a habit. So we need to retrain the body and mentally think when we walk and don't limp, eventually we will not have to think about it any more. One problem is that we often do exercises and lift weights in the wrong positions. For example have you ever looked in a mirror while doing a pull down and noticed that one shoulder is higher then the other. Lifting this way can stimulate compensating muscles to do the work which should not be used in the first place. Compensating muscles, do the work for muscles that have become atrophied or are hypertonic due to an injury or poor postural alignment. If you combine time with insufficient or incorrect stimulus you can have a major cause of body pain.
With exercise we tend to do programs that work against our bodies natural motion, placing emphasis on burning calories and building muscle, and not on facilitating full range of motion and unrestricted movement. Muscles are designed for vital functions such as bending, twisting, and lifting shut down. Other muscles not intended for these functions must fill in for them, thus compensation occurs. Pain is extremely objective and our bodies know that they have pain. What they do not understand is why pain seeks a specific area of the body. The concept of symmetry is to focus on the cause of pain not the symptom.
Sitting weakens the muscles designed to keep our body in the correct position around gravity. If the muscles are no longer able to hold the correct body position pain will ensue. Movement is what the body was designed to do. So if movement is consistent and repetitive the body will rejuvenate itself and the processes of healing are not as necessary. But when a person is stagnant the muscles learn to stay short and the tendons learn to maintain a short range of motion. Then as a new movement or strenuous movement is required an injury could occur.
Through a series of specific postural exercises, the body can be retrained to function according to its original design. You must first educate muscle to hold bone correctly. This circumvents the need for continual treatment and once your body is structurally strong you are able to maintain this strength through the daily reinforcement of proper exercise.
Secondly, we use your bodies own natural antagonism to provide resistance. Let gravity be your friend and do not rely on equipment. You can maintain and enhance optimal health and function through neuromuscular reeducation by teaching muscles to hold bones in their correct positions. Muscles have a functional memory. The further out of alignment you are the longer it will take you to correct the postural problem. Postural conditions are correctible and postural therapy corrects conditions that cause less than desirable performance and symptoms of pain, if incorrect posture is not related to boney changes (breaks, DDD,). All postural corrections can allow the most optimal movement in each circumstance. Simply becoming aware of postural problems often helps to consciously change body positions and stimulate proper movement. But true posture will take no thought process. You should not have to tell your self, pull those shoulders back and down once all muscles are properly strengthened. The body is designed for motion, and for the most part pain is caused by or results in a lack of motion. Therefore, to eradicate pain we much get the body moving again. If we attempt to do this without paying attention to the environment the movements are occurring in, then the brain will not comprehend them in essence the body will have "been moved", as opposed to "moving". This passive change of the body does not engender neurological education/changes and will therefore not translate into motor output, thus pain will not go away.
Symmetry uses both isotonic (picking up books) and isometric (holding them in your arms) exercises in every routine to provide the body with the tools it needs every day. The decision making process is fast and it is provoked by repetition of the message. So, if clients do their exercises every day or better yet twice a day, that will be their previous experience. The therapeutic exercises of Symmetry strengthen weak muscles, stretch tight muscles, and reestablish the critical balance between postural and dynamic muscles.
Referenced : Patrick Mummy - Licened to Heal training manual and Symmetry: Relieve Pain by Patrick Mummy
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Cost? |
Why is my version of posture correction different?
The exercise routine is based on your specific measurements. We measure your hip levels, shoulder levels, shoulder roundness, spine curvatures, pelvis tilts, knocked knees or bowlegs, high arches or flat feet, do your feet point out/in or straight, forward/backward displacement (If a straight line was drawn from your ankle bone up, your knee, hip, shoulder and ear should fall on that line, if not, is it in front or behind the line), hyper extended knees, pelvic/torso rotation.
Taking all of these factors into consideration we then design a set of exercises and stretches to be done in a specific order, every day, twice a day if possible. Now we all brush are teeth at least once a day so why do we not take care of our body at least once a day. The primary achievement of our existence should not be to battle gravity. Yet this is what the majority of us are spending our energy on.
This process of posture correction is a neurophysiological one and takes 8-to-12 weeks to become a good habit of the body. Then up to 2 years to be the body's norm again. more article
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The process is three-fold: First, we strip the bad habits from the body until we get down to the initial cause of the body's System Breakdown. Second, we eliminate the cause by providing the stimulus the body needs to restore strength and balance in that area. Third, we provide the body with sufficient, correct stimulus to rebuild "good habits," i.e., sufficient strength and balance in the muscular system to allow muscles to perform their intended role and function. Upon the completion of the (8) step process, Symmetry designs a maintenance program that works with you to ensure permanent pain relief. We give you the tools to maintain your new state of health and function for the rest of your life
The first 4 sessions are 7-10 days apart. With the next 4 sessions being 2 weeks apart depending on results in the assessment.
For the posture program please wear comfortable clothing that will not restrict any movement. The less seams the better.
Assessment will involve standing shoulder width apart and having the landmarks palpated by hand then a measurement taken. We will palpate the top of the front and back of the hip bones: to look for rotations or raised hips, two different points on the shoulder blades: to check to rounding of the shoulders and raised shoulders, the spine: to look for any curvatures, where the front shoulders and the collarbones meet: to look for rotation of the upper torso, the front of both hips: to look for rotation of the pelvis, the upper thigh: to look for bow legging or knocked knees, the knees: to look for them turning in or out, the feet: to look for flat or high arches and if they point in or out. We finally look at a side view to see if the ankle, knees, hip joint, shoulder and ear are in a straight line and if not are they in front of or behind that line.
Cost is $1 per minute plus $25 for the routine. The only accessories needed are foam blocks at $40.00 a pair, a strap and a timer, which I provide for you. Which works out to $5 at each session over 8 sessions.
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