Earlier I’d written about the assertion some people make that learning and experience of alignment principles is something that practically should be reserved to the professionals (trainers, coaches, PT’s, etc.) but is not necessary for the regular exerciser or “layperson”.

You can find that first part HERE

I’d like to continue with part two of my thoughts on why I think alignment is for every-body. 

Another postulate of the argument for “just get people moving” rather than focusing on alignment is the belief that alignment is teaching a fixed position. Life doesn’t happen in a controlled environment, the argument suggests, and if you only teach and practice moving in a static way, then it doesn’t apply to the needs of the real world. 

And here is where the definition and use of the term alignment may have gotten confused. 

You may define Alignment as the arrangements of two objects in a straight line. This is different from posture which is a particular shape of your body usually for a certain aesthetic (sit up straight! Your teacher says), whereas a straight line can be drawn between two parts of your body in ANY orientation. You are experiencing an aspect of alignment whether your head is jutting out in front of your shoulders or whether your head is stacked vertically over your shoulders. Likewise, if you know it’s better in general to have your head “aligned” with your shoulders, that alignment applies if you’re standing as well as if you’re laying down, or on hands and knees. But how you got your head over your shoulders also matters: did you get your head there by tilting your head backwards because your neck has trouble lengthening upright, or did you “ramp” your head back and up through the lengthening of your cervical spine.

Here’s a visual of the previous neck alignment examples with me looking at a computer:

1. head jutting forward in front of shoulders

2. bringing my head back over my shoulders. But can you tell my neck is actually still thrust forward? What I’ve done is tilted my head backwards, compressing my cervical spine.

3. an example of head “ramping”: I’ve moved more of my cervical spine over my shoulders by sliding my head both backwards and upwards- lengthening the neck and decompressing the vertebrae.

What I’m getting at here is posture tends to mean a fixed shape and in essence is a sedentary practice - that is it may not take into account what parts of you are moving to find that shape. Alignment is more about relationships: understanding the relationship between the parts of your body. 

Now is there one correct way of aligning the body?

Every movement your body can make is good. In fact every part of you needs to move in order to be healthy. But let’s look deeper into understanding the relationship between your parts:  

If you spend most of your time moving (or not moving) in a particular way, those joint positions, muscle lengths, and motor programs will be your default movements. Without awareness of what is and what is not moving in your body, chances are you won’t get more of yourself mobilized to create healthier movement habits but will rather fall back on your usual unconscious strategies whether they feel good or even if they cause pain. 

I’d like to borrow an analogy that Katy Bowman uses in her Nutritious Movement programs to illustrate the principles of alignment: the tires on your car. From time to time you may have to get the tires aligned in your car. Why do you do this? Because if your tires are pointing in slightly different directions in relationship to each other, the car will still move (effective), but the tires are going to wear out much more quickly (inefficient). But not only the tires! The axles and other parts of the car are going to experience more torque and forces that will wear out the other parts more quickly as well. Now, does this mean you can only drive straight ahead and the tires never change their orientation? Of course not, you wouldn’t be able to go very far if you couldn’t turn right or left. However, when in alignment, the tires are in a specific relationship to each other for the optimal functioning of the car. And the fascinating thing is the optimal alignment may be different for different types of driving! One may get their tires aligned differently if they are off roading, drag racing, or regular city street driving. 

Guess what? The alignment of the parts of our bodies is not that different. Being out of alignment in certain ways for extended periods of time can cause parts of your body to break down. Certain relationships between your body parts allow your body to function optimally with the least wear and tear. But all movement is good for you, and your optimal alignment may be different depending on your intention and the activity in which you are engaged. 

So let’s recap: 

All movements and ways of moving are good. Our bodies need movement to be healthy. ALL the parts of our body. However, the frequency of moving in certain ways may cause our parts to either stay healthy or breakdown. Learning about alignment can help us be aware of what parts of us are moving and what parts are remaining sedentary so we can work on getting more of us moving more of the time.