THE INORMATION BELOW WAS POSTED IN A FEW DISCUSSION GROUPS
Dear Friends,
Presented here is an intriguing possibility, which could lead to a straight forward understanding of the posture conundrum. Since our modern sciences are ignoring this serious problem and there is no way to obtain 'scientific' information on this subject; it is worth repeating that having faulty posture is like a vehicle getting involved in a car crash, it will alter every part of the body, and prevent even basic functions such as proper breathing.
Fig 1: Girl with her head sharply bent
From the Indian express, 15 Nov 2008
The proposition is simple. The nature of the human anatomy is such that in general, the head (with the eyes centered) should be poised to look in the direction of the horizon. At most, the head should tilt down by 15 degrees; any further need to look down should be accomplished by rotating the eyeballs and by bending at the knees and hip joint to tilt the torso. Because of the nature of activities in which modern humans are engaged, and the design of their environment, the neutral point for the head and eye combination, has been lowered to an angle of 30 to 45 degrees below the horizontal plane! (See the way in which this girl is bending her neck –Fig1. Observe people around you, see if you can recognize this bias). in a situation where the human skeletal system moves beyond the range in which it can naturally balance itself. (This is in addition to the locking of the musculo-skeletal system due to the faulty ways in which humans choose to dress and seat themselves).
Desired bias for the Head / Eyes:
(Basically horizontal, extending to not more than 15 degrees below the horizontal plane)
EYES --------------------------------------------->
……………….-
…….…………………………….-
……………………………….................-
Existing situation for Human Adults:
(Closer to 30 or 45 degrees below the horizontal plane)
EYES
………....*
…………….....*
……………….........*
…………………...........*
………………………...........>
CAUTION
The discussion below may make it appear that the author wishes to make everyone permanently walk around with their noses in the air. The human body has tremendous flexibility, and should be used in its entire range. However, because our goal is to correct unnatural distortions in the body, we need to bias our movements in the direction in which correction can take place naturally. The material below should be viewed in this spirit.For people who live sedentary lifestyles, the head is excessively biased to look down. We must change this situation. The author would specially suggest that while sitting down (when the complete musculo-skeletal system is not able to work actively together) the head should be kept up.
Existing:
I....................................................................^..........................I
0..............................................................................................100
Desirable
I...........................^....................................................................I
0...............................................................................................100
- Looking up all the time.100
– Looking down all the time 0
EVIDENCE
1. The Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir:My brother has just retired from the Indian Army. He was telling me of the Bakarwals (Goat Herders) of Jammu and Kashmir, an extremely healthy group of people. Apparently Bakarwal women who are about to deliver, continue their normal activities practically till the last moment and within one or two days after delivery are back on their feet. In what way would nomadic goat herders be different from the rest of the population?
Fig 2: Spine (Adam.com)
Fig 3: Human Skeletal System
http://findlaw.doereport.com/imagescooked/1974W.jpg
2. The human anatomy: If you look at the human anatomy in (Figs 2 and 3), and the unnatural distortions in the cervical vertebrae in (Fig 5), you will realize that part of the reason for the distortion in (Fig 5), is that the cervical (neck) region is being converted into an artificial hinge by modern humans. Nature had only planned for limited flexibility in this region. This explains why the child with good posture in (Fig 4) is bending her knees. Also look at the cricketer in (Fig 6), making a deep bend at the knees to obtain leverage.
Fig 4: Child with good posture
Fig 5: Distorted Cervical Vertebrae
Fig 6. Cricketer bending his knees
3: Personal note: My attempts to correct my posture has been more like using a bulldozer to level rubble than a more sophisticated and considered approach (at least till recently); my logic being that the distortion in Fig 5 is unnatural, and the construction of the musculo-skeletal system should allow for greater flexibility, greater strength and grace (otherwise my degree in Mechanical Engineering cannot be worth the paper it is printed on). This 'force the issue' approach has landed me in deep trouble from time to time. Last December, I was bed ridden for almost two weeks, too weak to move around (I did not need any medical attention). Then around March 2008, I had an interesting experience: I got a catch in the neck on day one; got over it within one day: then immediately got a catch further down; again got over it within one day: then the mother of all catches after about 15 days, closer to the pelvis, which floored me for two weeks. The last one was truly painful and I had to do all kinds of contortions and stabilize my knees using my arms to get off the bed.
Unfortunately, considering the type of distortion that most adults will have in their skeletal system, it is unlikely that anyone will actually be able to correct his posture without facing this problem. 'Catches' of this nature also indicate gross distortion, a complete misdirection of the spine! (I have learnt to welcome 'catches', the more I get, the faster I will get this issue sorted out. To deal with 'catches', please read the safety precautions in the second page of my website http://www.humanposture.com/). Correcting posture is a very, very, very, difficult task, so our focus should be on creating an environment where children do not fall into the pit in the first place…..Almost an impossible task it would appear in the current social environment,where Market Forces decide everything.
4: The normal position in Yoga and Alexander Tech: In most posture correction techniques, the eyes will be kept level. Everyone naturally realizes that the healthy and natural orientation for the eyes is to took forward.
5. From the book 'The Alexander Principle': In (Figs 7 and 8) I have reproduced a figure from Dr. Barlow's 'Alexander Principle'. The write-up is as follows: "The earliest man-like creatures had a short neck and a well developed "hump". Figure shows diagrammatically, evolution from (a) Proconsul man 2 million years ago, to (b) Pekin man500,000 years ago, to (c) Neanderthal man 100,000 years ago, to (d) MountCarmel man 40,000 years ago via (e) Modern man to what I might perhaps call (f) Alexander man!"
Fig 7. Evolution 1
Fig 8. Evolution 2
A note of caution would be in order. How do we know how our early ancestors stood, and whether they had well developed humps? Especially, when our scientists do not seem to be aware of the manner in which we ourselves are distorting our necks and shoulders? The pronounced hump at the shoulder in(a) does not match the way in which the chimpanzee in the following U tube presentation is walking. In fact the posture of this chimpanzee is very similar to that of the child in (Fig 5).
Chimpanzee walking in water
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=NAFwd-4CkMM
(e), representing modern man, seems to be correct. Most people, other than those who are hunched-back will have a pronounced depression in the small ofthe back and the hump at the shoulders will be pronounced. A simple way to understand figures (e) and (f), is by recognizing that the line of sight of modern man is closer to about 30-40 degrees below the horizon, and the spine is being distorted to look horizontally. In the 'Alexander Man' the postural bias of the head is in the horizontal plane, which allows more coordinated and flexible use of the musculo-skeletal system.
SCORE BOARD
Using the above mentioned principle we can begin to grade the suitability of the environment we create for ourselves in undertaking various activities. Here are some simple conclusions we can arrive at:
1. The best games: Volleyball and Shuttle badminton. These games will keep the eyes looking up.
2. Women doing housework: Most middle class women seem to be out of luck, they will be forced to keep the eyes looking down most of the time. Poor women do not spend much time in housework and rich women have someone else to help them with it. (However, the fact that women are likely to be in continuous motion, is a big positive health factor).
3. Students in a modern setting: They will be looking down for a substantial period of time; may explain why the output from the educational system is distinctly inferior to the input, in terms of health, vigor and enthusiasm.
Input (3 Year old Child)---> EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM--->Output (20Year old man)
The typical student will be forced to keep his head bent by about 45 degreesfor a substantial periods of time.
4. Farming activity: Humans have evolved through various stages. In the monkey stage, when they were on all four's, the stance would have been ideal for foraging, looking for grub under rocks, etc. The vertical, long limbed, and rather handsome stance of humans, it is believed, evolved when man become a hunter, running after his prey and throwing a spear. Posturally speaking, this may have been the best activity for humans.
As graziers too, they kept their eyes glued to distant objects. Early farming would have meant throwing seeds on a particularly fertile strip of land and waiting patiently for the yield, with minimum of labour. The bakarwals of J & K involve themselves in this kind of agriculture, growing maze in fertile niches.
Agriculture in developing countries, where minimum of machinery is used and is intensive, requires more bending to look down; thus making the activity –posturally speaking - less ideal than that of a grazier. Even so, agriculture in India, making use of bullocks and techniques such as flooding of fields to grow paddy (to kill weeds), makes agriculture less back breaking than it would have been otherwise. (Even though agricultural activities have this disadvantage, the physical nature of the activity, and the open environment, contribute to health and a wholesome spirit. The way forward for us in India, is to share the agricultural activity, and not depend too deeply on machinery, as is the case in developed nations.)
5. The Alexander Technique: One has to admit that the Alexander Technique is pointed in the right direction, with their emphasis on 'The Head moving Forward and Up'. I am not too sure of the 'forward', but 'UP' seems to be correct.
CONCLUSION
In space, when two spacecrafts dock, it is necessary to go through three maneuvers – approach, acquisition and docking. The idea behind keeping the head looking up is to improve the chance that the approach phase is correct, so that the more complex phases of acquisition and docking can be done automatically by the human body. By looking up, does not mean that we will be unable to look down. When our posture improves we will be able to look down more easily. The challenge before the science of Ergonomics, - which appears to be in deep slumber and needs to wake up – is to understand the underlying problems associated with the construction of the human body, and create environments where humans can lead healthy lives. We are getting so many issues wrong that it is important to start with a clean slate.
Selvaraj
P.S. The next post ( published an year after this post) discusses this subject in more detail.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Home > http://www.humanposture.blogspot.com/
Dear Friends,
Presented here is an intriguing possibility, which could lead to a straight forward understanding of the posture conundrum. Since our modern sciences are ignoring this serious problem and there is no way to obtain 'scientific' information on this subject; it is worth repeating that having faulty posture is like a vehicle getting involved in a car crash, it will alter every part of the body, and prevent even basic functions such as proper breathing.
Fig 1: Girl with her head sharply bent
From the Indian express, 15 Nov 2008
The proposition is simple. The nature of the human anatomy is such that in general, the head (with the eyes centered) should be poised to look in the direction of the horizon. At most, the head should tilt down by 15 degrees; any further need to look down should be accomplished by rotating the eyeballs and by bending at the knees and hip joint to tilt the torso. Because of the nature of activities in which modern humans are engaged, and the design of their environment, the neutral point for the head and eye combination, has been lowered to an angle of 30 to 45 degrees below the horizontal plane! (See the way in which this girl is bending her neck –Fig1. Observe people around you, see if you can recognize this bias). in a situation where the human skeletal system moves beyond the range in which it can naturally balance itself. (This is in addition to the locking of the musculo-skeletal system due to the faulty ways in which humans choose to dress and seat themselves).
Desired bias for the Head / Eyes:
(Basically horizontal, extending to not more than 15 degrees below the horizontal plane)
EYES --------------------------------------------->
……………….-
…….…………………………….-
……………………………….................-
Existing situation for Human Adults:
(Closer to 30 or 45 degrees below the horizontal plane)
EYES
………....*
…………….....*
……………….........*
…………………...........*
………………………...........>
CAUTION
The discussion below may make it appear that the author wishes to make everyone permanently walk around with their noses in the air. The human body has tremendous flexibility, and should be used in its entire range. However, because our goal is to correct unnatural distortions in the body, we need to bias our movements in the direction in which correction can take place naturally. The material below should be viewed in this spirit.For people who live sedentary lifestyles, the head is excessively biased to look down. We must change this situation. The author would specially suggest that while sitting down (when the complete musculo-skeletal system is not able to work actively together) the head should be kept up.
Existing:
I....................................................................^..........................I
0..............................................................................................100
Desirable
I...........................^....................................................................I
0...............................................................................................100
- Looking up all the time.100
– Looking down all the time 0
EVIDENCE
1. The Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir:My brother has just retired from the Indian Army. He was telling me of the Bakarwals (Goat Herders) of Jammu and Kashmir, an extremely healthy group of people. Apparently Bakarwal women who are about to deliver, continue their normal activities practically till the last moment and within one or two days after delivery are back on their feet. In what way would nomadic goat herders be different from the rest of the population?
Fig 2: Spine (Adam.com)
Fig 3: Human Skeletal System
http://findlaw.doereport.com/imagescooked/1974W.jpg
2. The human anatomy: If you look at the human anatomy in (Figs 2 and 3), and the unnatural distortions in the cervical vertebrae in (Fig 5), you will realize that part of the reason for the distortion in (Fig 5), is that the cervical (neck) region is being converted into an artificial hinge by modern humans. Nature had only planned for limited flexibility in this region. This explains why the child with good posture in (Fig 4) is bending her knees. Also look at the cricketer in (Fig 6), making a deep bend at the knees to obtain leverage.
Fig 4: Child with good posture
Fig 5: Distorted Cervical Vertebrae
Fig 6. Cricketer bending his knees
3: Personal note: My attempts to correct my posture has been more like using a bulldozer to level rubble than a more sophisticated and considered approach (at least till recently); my logic being that the distortion in Fig 5 is unnatural, and the construction of the musculo-skeletal system should allow for greater flexibility, greater strength and grace (otherwise my degree in Mechanical Engineering cannot be worth the paper it is printed on). This 'force the issue' approach has landed me in deep trouble from time to time. Last December, I was bed ridden for almost two weeks, too weak to move around (I did not need any medical attention). Then around March 2008, I had an interesting experience: I got a catch in the neck on day one; got over it within one day: then immediately got a catch further down; again got over it within one day: then the mother of all catches after about 15 days, closer to the pelvis, which floored me for two weeks. The last one was truly painful and I had to do all kinds of contortions and stabilize my knees using my arms to get off the bed.
Unfortunately, considering the type of distortion that most adults will have in their skeletal system, it is unlikely that anyone will actually be able to correct his posture without facing this problem. 'Catches' of this nature also indicate gross distortion, a complete misdirection of the spine! (I have learnt to welcome 'catches', the more I get, the faster I will get this issue sorted out. To deal with 'catches', please read the safety precautions in the second page of my website http://www.humanposture.com/). Correcting posture is a very, very, very, difficult task, so our focus should be on creating an environment where children do not fall into the pit in the first place…..Almost an impossible task it would appear in the current social environment,where Market Forces decide everything.
4: The normal position in Yoga and Alexander Tech: In most posture correction techniques, the eyes will be kept level. Everyone naturally realizes that the healthy and natural orientation for the eyes is to took forward.
5. From the book 'The Alexander Principle': In (Figs 7 and 8) I have reproduced a figure from Dr. Barlow's 'Alexander Principle'. The write-up is as follows: "The earliest man-like creatures had a short neck and a well developed "hump". Figure shows diagrammatically, evolution from (a) Proconsul man 2 million years ago, to (b) Pekin man500,000 years ago, to (c) Neanderthal man 100,000 years ago, to (d) MountCarmel man 40,000 years ago via (e) Modern man to what I might perhaps call (f) Alexander man!"
Fig 7. Evolution 1
Fig 8. Evolution 2
A note of caution would be in order. How do we know how our early ancestors stood, and whether they had well developed humps? Especially, when our scientists do not seem to be aware of the manner in which we ourselves are distorting our necks and shoulders? The pronounced hump at the shoulder in(a) does not match the way in which the chimpanzee in the following U tube presentation is walking. In fact the posture of this chimpanzee is very similar to that of the child in (Fig 5).
Chimpanzee walking in water
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=NAFwd-4CkMM
(e), representing modern man, seems to be correct. Most people, other than those who are hunched-back will have a pronounced depression in the small ofthe back and the hump at the shoulders will be pronounced. A simple way to understand figures (e) and (f), is by recognizing that the line of sight of modern man is closer to about 30-40 degrees below the horizon, and the spine is being distorted to look horizontally. In the 'Alexander Man' the postural bias of the head is in the horizontal plane, which allows more coordinated and flexible use of the musculo-skeletal system.
SCORE BOARD
Using the above mentioned principle we can begin to grade the suitability of the environment we create for ourselves in undertaking various activities. Here are some simple conclusions we can arrive at:
1. The best games: Volleyball and Shuttle badminton. These games will keep the eyes looking up.
2. Women doing housework: Most middle class women seem to be out of luck, they will be forced to keep the eyes looking down most of the time. Poor women do not spend much time in housework and rich women have someone else to help them with it. (However, the fact that women are likely to be in continuous motion, is a big positive health factor).
3. Students in a modern setting: They will be looking down for a substantial period of time; may explain why the output from the educational system is distinctly inferior to the input, in terms of health, vigor and enthusiasm.
Input (3 Year old Child)---> EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM--->Output (20Year old man)
The typical student will be forced to keep his head bent by about 45 degreesfor a substantial periods of time.
4. Farming activity: Humans have evolved through various stages. In the monkey stage, when they were on all four's, the stance would have been ideal for foraging, looking for grub under rocks, etc. The vertical, long limbed, and rather handsome stance of humans, it is believed, evolved when man become a hunter, running after his prey and throwing a spear. Posturally speaking, this may have been the best activity for humans.
As graziers too, they kept their eyes glued to distant objects. Early farming would have meant throwing seeds on a particularly fertile strip of land and waiting patiently for the yield, with minimum of labour. The bakarwals of J & K involve themselves in this kind of agriculture, growing maze in fertile niches.
Agriculture in developing countries, where minimum of machinery is used and is intensive, requires more bending to look down; thus making the activity –posturally speaking - less ideal than that of a grazier. Even so, agriculture in India, making use of bullocks and techniques such as flooding of fields to grow paddy (to kill weeds), makes agriculture less back breaking than it would have been otherwise. (Even though agricultural activities have this disadvantage, the physical nature of the activity, and the open environment, contribute to health and a wholesome spirit. The way forward for us in India, is to share the agricultural activity, and not depend too deeply on machinery, as is the case in developed nations.)
5. The Alexander Technique: One has to admit that the Alexander Technique is pointed in the right direction, with their emphasis on 'The Head moving Forward and Up'. I am not too sure of the 'forward', but 'UP' seems to be correct.
CONCLUSION
In space, when two spacecrafts dock, it is necessary to go through three maneuvers – approach, acquisition and docking. The idea behind keeping the head looking up is to improve the chance that the approach phase is correct, so that the more complex phases of acquisition and docking can be done automatically by the human body. By looking up, does not mean that we will be unable to look down. When our posture improves we will be able to look down more easily. The challenge before the science of Ergonomics, - which appears to be in deep slumber and needs to wake up – is to understand the underlying problems associated with the construction of the human body, and create environments where humans can lead healthy lives. We are getting so many issues wrong that it is important to start with a clean slate.
Selvaraj
P.S. The next post ( published an year after this post) discusses this subject in more detail.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Home > http://www.humanposture.blogspot.com/
Go forward > http://www.posturalbias2.blogspot.com/
