Acture!

Posture in Action
B y T h o m a s M y e r s
42 MAS S AGE & BODYWORK OCTOBER/ NOVEMBER 2 0 0 6
What we commonly call posture is instead a pattern
of movement. Moshe Feldenkrais coined the word
acture to describe posture in action (see Figure 2, page
44). First, standing or sitting still is, in fact, an action,
and we are never placed in stillness; we are always
moving, shifting, balancing, adaptingeven in the
stillness of meditation. Its in our nature; the utter
stillness of an actual posture will always be denied us
while we still breathe. Your first posture will be the
one you die in. (And even then the inner movement
continuesread Mary Roachs crazy/wonderful Stiff
[Norton, 2003]).
Secondly, we never do it exactly the same way twice, as
we adapt to a particular seat, or shoes, or circumstance.
Thirdly, the range of our posture varies with the time of
day (were all shorter in the afternoon, for instance) and
our inner attitude (fear, eagerness, fatigue).
1
So we have a range that we move througha postur-
al set if you will. That range is familiar to those who
know us. See a friend walking a couple of blocks down
the street, or see someone doing anythingshoveling,
on a swing, pulling on bootsand your brains move-
ment sense can create recognition and identify that
person without seeing her face or hearing her voice.
(The brains sense of seeing movement was the first
form of vision to evolve. The visual senses of line,
form, and color we take for granted came later. Our
brains are very adept at differentiating various move-
ments, honed over millennia of hunting and being
hunted. This information even takes a different path-
way, down through the reptilian brain on its way to
the occipital lobe. You can often sense movement bet-
ter by watching with your peripheral vision: look at
something else and assess the clients movement from
the corner of your eye.)
So, I use acturenot a real word, but it should be
because I think Moshe hit this nail on the head:
posture is always in action, and the characteristic
relationships among body parts are commonly main-
tained in all kinds of different movements and
actions. Reaching into the neurology, physiology, and
the fascial stuckness of these patterns is the job of
those of us who labor in the vineyard of changing
posture.
2
T
he word posture, which comes from the
Latin placement, is used to describe how
we stand in space, and it is a good enough
word for common use: His sunken posture
conveys defeat. Or for metaphoric use: Our
posture toward Iran is evolving, meaning attitude.
But for those of us in the massage and bodywork
trade, especially those who wish to, or claim to,
change posture for the better, the term will not
stand up to close examination.
Figures 1A and 1B.These photos show substantial postur-
al change from pre- to posttreatment (Rolfing, as it hap-
pens, but similar results are obtainable with different
methods), but what actually has changed? What is pos-
tural change and how does one measure it?
OCTOBER/ NOVEMBER 2 0 0 6 MAS S AGE & BODYWORK 43
That said, let us look at a few of
the greatest hits (or call it Toms
playlist) in the realm of actural
issues with which we commonly
deal. Since this is a column, we will
have to address them shortly, but
each is written about more fully in
books and other articles, which are
referenced here.
Actural Issues
Head Retraction
The first, most common, and
perhaps the most damaging, actural
pattern is head retraction, com-
monly associated with Head
Forward Posture, or HFP (see
Figure 3). Chronic contraction of
the suboccipital muscles, which
pulls the back of the head toward
the upper neck and back, creates
many postural problems, all of
which relate to HFP. Though HFP
is often associated with fear (both
the startle response and the
Landau [extension, flight] reflex),
such a pattern can also be caused
by poor vision, the desire to please,
airway obstruction, back pressure
issues, or malocclusion of the jaw,
to name the more common causes.
Correcting this pattern of chronic
and reflexive upper cervical hyper-
extension is a mainstay of the
Alexander Technique and the focus
of sustained interest in both osteo-
pathic and chiropractic approaches,
as well as the Rolf-evolved methods.
Without length in this area, the
eyes lose their coordination to the
spine, and our natural spring and
grace are lost. Lengthening these
small, highly innervated muscles, as
well as activating their partner the
anterior scalene, is essential busi-
ness for most of our clients in order
to get their head on straight.
3
The Two Diaphragms
Secondly, we can look for reci-
procity between the two abdominal
diaphragmsthe respiratory
diaphragm and pelvic diaphragm
(pelvic floor). In a relaxed and bal-
anced acture, the two diaphragms
face each other, like the top and bot-
tom of a beach ball, or the two
hands in someone practicing tai chi
(see Figure 4). Commonly, in a
swayback (lordotic) acture, the two
diaphragms will both aim forward.
In the less common flat back
(flexed) pattern, the two diaphragms
can aim backward, again missing
each other. Sometimes the rib cage
can be shifted forward or (more
commonly for us Westerners) back-
ward relative to the pelvis, and these
two diaphragms again lose their
reciprocity.
This loss has detrimental effects
on breathing, of course, but also
multiple and nefarious effects on
digestion and organ function in
the pelvis, causing congestion
around the kidneys and sexual
organs which then creates deleteri-
ous long-term preconditions for
disease. The pelviss relation to the
legs and the rib cages relation to
the shoulders figure into this equa-
tion, but the primary actor in this
arena is what I call the four pillars
(a bad name as they are heavy fas-
cial tensile strings not compressive
bony pillars, but you know how
Length and alignment are the overarching
values that allow posture/acture to
become an active contribution to your
health, rather than a strain on it.
44 MAS S AGE & BODYWORK OCTOBER/ NOVEMBER 2 0 0 6
a c t u r e
Figure 2. Moshe Feldenkrais coined
the term acture to designate the
underlying structural and functional
relationships recognizable in all
movements.
Figure 3.You do not have to travel
far or practice for long to see how
common the forward head isthe
source for a host of problems.
OCTOBER/ NOVEMBER 2 0 0 6 MAS S AGE & BODYWORK 45
nicknames stick). The pillars are
the two lateral raphes in back
(see Figure 5A), just lateral to the
erectors, where the abdominal fas-
ciae and the back fasciae meet, and
the longer strings of fascia in the
front in the abdominal fasciae, just
outside the edges of the rectus
abdominis (see Figure 5B). Getting
the balance of these four pillars
right goes a long way to ensure a
better balance between the respira-
tory diaphragm and the smaller
pelvic one.
Getting these two diaphragms
balanced one over the other is also
a natural result of good Pilates
work, which strives to strengthen
and balance what we just called the
four pillars via very specific abdom-
inal exercises. But its not just a
matter of looks: when the organs
are contained in a balanced waya
balance of the back muscles, the
psoas complex, and the abdomi-
nalsbreathing is supported, the
organs and glands in the abdomino-
pelvic cavity are properly pressured
and tend to work better, and the
lumbar spine is freed to support the
heavy structures of the shoulders
and head above.
4
Pelvic Balance
The third major issuewe are
more or less moving down the body,
since each of these issues is impor-
tantis getting the pelvic balance
right relative to the feet and legs.
(What a minute! If your sub-
ject is posture and youre moving
down the body, how can you leave
out shoulders? Lots of people
these days have terrible shoulder
posture. Yes, thats trueso
much driving and computer jock-
eying leaves many shoulders weak
and out of place, and thus prone
to injury and dysfunction. But if
you solve the first two issues
weve brought uplengthening
the neck and balancing the
abdominal balloon75 percent of
those shoulder problems will just
melt away without a lot of manual
work. It works in reverse as
wellfail to address these core
issues and all your lovely and
skilled work on the shoulders
themselves will fail to sort out the
problems, because the shoulders
hang off the neck and rest on the
rib cage, so without these central
supports, the peripheral
appendage cant work properly.)
In a human, the pelvis serves as
the steadying foundation for the
spine and simultaneously as an
upper girder for the movement of
walking. This unique set of design
constraints makes the human pelvis
a puzzling marvel of biological
What we
commonly call
posture is a
pattern of
movement.
Figure 4.The diaphragmatic and
pelvic floor slings should balance
each other like the top and bottom
of a ball. Illustration by Andrew Mannie.
Figures 5A and 5B. Balancing the respiratory and pelvic diaphragms rests on
a balance among the four pillars: the left and right lateral raph in back and
the ribs-to-pelvis strap that lies just outside the rectus abdominis in front.
Illustrations by John Hull Grundy. Used with permission.
engineering and the object of study
for osteopaths, chiropractors, ortho-
pedists, and the wide variety of
movement teachers. Each seems to
have his own key or secret to prop-
er pelvic function, but there is as
yet no consensus on proper pelvic
balance in acture.
Pelvic tilt refers to the angle
between the pelvis and the femur.
Let us ignore right/left tilts for the
moment, and all its concomitant
complex issues of leg length, sacral
shear, and the effects on the spine,
in order to concentrate for a
moment on anterior/posterior
tiltsthe rocking of the pelvis
forward and back on the heads
of the femurs.
Pelvis means bowl, and an anteri-
or tilt means hip flexionthe pubic
bone going down, so that the milk
would spill from the front of the
bowl. This pattern is, of course,
associated with a swayback or lor-
dotic pattern of the lumbars. In a
posterior tilt, the milk would spill
out the back, as the hips are extend-
ed, the lumbars are flat, and the
posterior iliac crest is lower than
expected relative to the pubic bone.
But how far, exactly? Various
posture experts, notably Florence
Peterson Kendall, have postulated
that the ideal neutral for the pelvic
tilt is to have the anterior superior
iliac spine and the pubic bone in
the same vertical (frontal) plane.
5
Ida Rolf asserted that the pelvis is
horizontal when the bottom of the
tailbone was level with the top of
the pubic bone (see Figure 6).
6
Personally, I find these measure-
ments too geometric, with insuffi-
cient recognition of the variation
among humans and what might
work for different people.
So I offer the following test as
one I use that allows for individual
differences and does not try to fit
everyone into the same box. It
offers up some surprising results
sometimespeople you think look
anterior tilted turn out to be poste-
rior and vice versa.
Test
Cup your hand and rest it ever
so gently on top of your clients
head as she stands quietly, almost
resting in her hair, just barely
touching the head, so that you can
be very sensitive to changes in
head position. From her normal
have her tilt the pelvis slowly ante-
riorly, then back to normal, then
posteriorly and back to normal.
a c t u r e

In a healthy body,
the organs are free
to move over each
other like well-oiled
balloons with every
breath, and the spine
is sprung into the air
like one of Kenneth
Snelsons tensegrity
structures.
48 MAS S AGE & BODYWORK OCTOBER/ NOVEMBER 2 0 0 6
Figure 6. Ida Rolf and Florence Kendall say the pelvis is horizontal when the
anterior superior iliac spine and the public bone are in the same frontal
planebut is that geometric measure really the best we can do these days?
50 MAS S AGE & BODYWORK OCTOBER/ NOVEMBER 2 0 0 6
As much as possible, confine the
clients movement to the pelvis. If
the client is shifting her knees,
dropping the rib cage back, or
retracting the head, the test wont
work as wellfor this reason, this
test works better the freer and
more supple the person is. If the
client is truly rocking just the pelvis
back and forth slowly, you should
feel the head rising into your hands
and then falling away.
Where is the top of the arc? The
point where the pelvis is in the
best position is where the head is
highest into your hand. Thats why
you have to be very sensitive and
poise your hand carefully just on
the headso that you can feel
changes in height measured in mil-
limeters. If the clients head is at its
highest at normal, then the pelvis
is positioned best for them. If the
height increases as she moves into
an anterior tiltremember, isolat-
ing the pelvic movement, leaving
the rest of the body at restthen
normal is too posteriorly tilted for
her. If the client lengthens into
your hand as she tucks her tail
under, then normal is too anterior-
ly tilted. Confirm your findings by
having the client do it a few
timesyou are looking for the
more consistent result.
This functional (rather than geo-
metric) measure of pelvic position
works well for me in practice, and
can be quite surprising sometimes
when you compare it to the normal
visual cues we use. The test
answers the question: in what
pelvic position is the spine freed to
be at its longest? The spine living its
full length is the higher value, not
having the pelvic angle conforming
to someones idea of good posture.
7
In general, spinal length is a
strong value in good acture. Even
a minor collapse or shortening in
the spine, and/or in the organic
core that hangs from its front, can
have deleterious long-term effects
on health and well-being. In a
healthy body, the organs are free
to move over each other like well-
oiled balloons with every breath,
and the spine is sprung into the
air like one of Kenneth Snelsons
tensegrity structures.
8
Proper (and
personally adjusted) pelvic posi-
tion is essential to both these
deeper goals.
9
Prehensile Feet
Finally, is the issue of feet.
Shoulders may have ubiquitous
bad positioning, but what happens
to feet in our society is positively
iniquitous. Shut up in leather
coffins all day, or bound tightly in
mis-sized running shoes while we
pound on them, our societys feet,
while not as deformed as Chinese
womens of former times, verge on
the same set of problems. I am not
advocating an atavistic devolution
when I say we need feet more like
monkeys. We need prehensile feet.
Partially I mean just what I say
toes should be more mobile and
able. Ruthie Alon (a mega-move-
ment teacher from the Feldenkrais
tradition) had us tearing up news-
papers into small strips using only
our toes. What agile feet I had
after that! Toes are so jammed
together and superfluous in our
culture. Bring back the toes! The
yoga teacher Kali Ray can inter-
lace her toes (all five)without
the use of her fingersin fact,
while in a handstand (see Figure
8, page 52)! Just sits there and
does it while talking about yoga
philosophy. No, I cant.
10
But such prehensility can also
extend into the arch. Some feet just
go flat, while others have the arch
supported by the mechanics of the
shoe or extra arch supports.
Neither are vital, active arches. To
a c t u r e
The more human
use of the human
body is the great
challenge of our
timespatial
medicine, I call it.

Figure 7.The spineindeed the

whole bodyis like a tensegrity mast.
a c t u r e
52 MAS S AGE & BODYWORK OCTOBER/ NOVEMBER 2 0 0 6
create great arches that offer suf-
ficient support for the superstruc-
ture above, there needs to be a
slight but active feeling your
ground in the tarsum of the foot.
I definitely do not mean a
white-knuckled grip on the
ground with the toesthats not
healthy. In a proper posture, the
toes simply rest on the ground
awake, but not tense. But in the
foot itself, a slight feeling of gath-
eringas if there was another
yoga banda in the feetin the
middle of the arch lends an alert-
ness and springiness to the arches,
and harkens back to when your
feet were your ear to the ground
as we walked over uneven and
variable surfaces, not cocooned in
synthetic materials cruising over
man-smoothed surfaces. Try it
with your handthe slight feeling
of gripping in the palm as if test-
ing or hefting an orangeand
then try to get the same feeling
with your feet. Keeping that feel-
ing in your feet as you go about
your daily business is a good medi-
tation for those with dead feet.
Spatial Medicine
F
rom living feet to a lifted cra-
nium, we have hit the high
points of posture as I perceive them, thirty years (just
getting started) into my practice. Length and alignment
are the overarching values that allow posture/acture to
become an active contribution to your health, rather
than a strain on it.
The more human use of the human body is the great
challenge of our timespatial medicine, I call it. How
do we get body mechanics right for a headlong popu-
lace in an urban environment? Bad posture/acture
contributes a large share to human misery, and it is so
unnecessary. How can we most easily transform it?
We are all working on this one person at a time, and
we all know how slowly that works.
In our next column (and our last column in this
series, at least while I write my next book), we will look
at what I have found to be the most effective and natu-
ral way to build good posturefrom the beginning.
(Authors note: With the cooperation of Massage & Bodywork, I am
publishing a collection of the Anatomists Corner articles, including those
referenced herein. To find this collection, visit www.anatomytrains.net.)
Thomas Myers has practiced integrative bodywork for nearly thirty
years. He teaches workshops internationally on anatomy, movement, and
soft-tissue work. His book, Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for
Manual and Movement Therapists, was published by Elsevier in 2001.
He lives, writes, and sails on the coast of Maine.
Notes
1.You can read more about the art of changing posture in the Anatomists Corner article on The
Anatomy Trains recipe (Massage & Bodywork, June/July 2004, page 80) oras a self-help projectin
Mary Bonds new book Heal Your Posture (Inner Traditions, 2006).
2.You can read more about acture in Moshe Feldenkraiss The Potent Self, page 108ff. (Frog Books,
distributed by North Atlantic, 1985.)
3.You can read about the suboccipitals in detail in Massage & Bodywork, October/November
2002, page 98.
4. You can read more about the reciprocity of the diaphragms in a couple of my Anatomists
Corner articles in Massage & Bodywork: August/September 2000 (Cups and Domes) and
February/March 2003 (The Plywood Principle).
5. Muscles,Testing and Function, 3rd edition, Florence Peterson Kendall and Elizabeth Kendall
McCreary,Williams & Wilkins Baltimore, 1983, page 25.
6. Ida Rolf, Rolfing (Rochester,VT: Inner Traditions, 1977), 102.
7. Some issues in pelvic repositioning are dealt with in Anatomists Corner columns in the follow-
ing back issues of Massage & Bodywork: February/March 2001, April/May 2001, June/July 2001,
August/September 2001 (all on the psoas and its friends), December/January 2003 (the femoral trian-
gle), and June/July 2003 and August/September 2003 (on the deep lateral rotators).
8. Jean-Pierre Barral and Pierre Mercier, Visceral Manipulation (Seattle: Eastland Press, 1988).
Snelsons versatile artwork is available online at www.keneethsnelson.net.
9.To learn more about the body as a tensegrity structure, read Body
3
, available from www.anato-
mytrains.net, or go to www.intensiondesigns.com, www.childrenshospital.org/research/ingber, or
www.biotensegrity.com for great pictures and models.
10. Ruthy Alon, Mindful Spontaneity (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic, 1996); for information on Kali
Ray, visit www.triyoga.com.
M&B
Figure 8.Yogini Kali Ray, founder of TriYoga, with toes intertwined.