By: Jon Osumi

Posture and body alignment contributes to how we feel, how we walk, how we sit, how we exercise, and how we prevent or contribute to injuries.

Here's how to check for perfect posture:  imagine standing with your back against a wall.  Now determine that the correct body parts are contacting the wall.  Heels should touch at the bottom, tailbone contacting in the middle, shoulder blades a bit higher and head contacting at the top (with chin tucked).  This alignment can be established lying on the floor as well. 

With this posture in mind, all joints of the body would be resting in a neutral position.  Any movement that begins and ends with neutral alignment will have minimal stress on the articulating joint.  During exercise, it is best to attempt and maintain this alignment while performing any movement.  Not only does this reduce the chance of injury and stress to joints, but it also reinforces a desired 'position of comfort'.  Most of us have a faulty 'position of comfort' due to poor posture habits or repetitive movements.  This is what contributes to our little or big back aches, neck aches, , shoulder aches and the like.  Good or poor posture is merely a habit that can be affected positively or negatively through exercise.

 
Jon Osumi

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