Postural Massage

Most of the pain problems we see in adults are the result of postural misalignments they have had since childhood or adolescence. These misalignments generally have little to do with bones; they are mostly soft-tissue problems. If a tent is not standing straight, we don’t adjust the tent pole, we adjust the ropes that are holding the tent pole in place. Bones go where muscles put them, and bones stay where muscles keep them.

A line can be drawn, along the line of gravity, through the nose, the sternum (breastbone), the navel, the pubic symphysis (the middle of the pubic bone), and ending at a point halfway between the feet in a natural and comfortable standing position. At least, that’s the course the line will follow on a well-balanced body. A similar line can be drawn along the side of the body that will pass through the ear, the shoulder joint, the hip joint and just in front of the ankle. One easy way to check these lines on a person is with a plumb line — a string with a weight at the end.