Most posture advice is just bad, and comparisons like this are the WORST. 😠😠😠

“Efficient posture” here is a just an exploitative combo of old posture myths, vague anatomical jargon (anterior pelvic shift, poor gluteal activation, etc.), and a little bit of macho BS like our natural posture should be as a soldier at attention.

And it makes my blood boil, because we internalize these ideas about ‘good’ posture…

It makes us feel:

⭕️ bad for relaxing.
⭕️ we’re wrong all the time.
⭕️ our muscles are too weak to do the right thing.
⭕️ broken when we try to follow the advice and it doesn’t work.

None of those things are true. AND it causes pain. 😠

Seriously, go ahead and try this posture on for size. Lift the chest, suck in the belly, pull the shoulders back, squeeze the glutes, pull the head up. Add in the psychological torture of trying to get it right and feeling weak/broken when it can’t be sustained.

😠 It’s MISERABLE. Honestly, does the “efficient posture” guy look happy or relaxed?

Images like these are meant to sell, to prey on fear and outdated ideas of pain+posture. It’s not meant to help.

Every single person that I have ever worked with has at least one of these ideas about ‘good’ posture. Practically everyone thinks some muscle or another is unactivated or too weak to have good posture.

And it’s just not true.

In fact, the “inefficient posture” here is actually BETTER than the “efficient” one, because at least it’s a little relaxed.

🤓 Efficiency is defined as the ratio of useful work performed to the total energy expended.

Adding a ton of muscular work to pull the body into a particular shape reduces efficiency.

💡 The answer isn’t more work, it’s less. 💡

Good, efficient posture is about coordinating the body with ease. And it’s natural -- our bodies are well designed, if we allow them to function freely.

If we want to improve that “inefficient posture,” our job is actually to identify where the muscles are doing extra work and getting in the way of that natural ease.

So let go of any ideas of posture that demand hard work, that make us feel unworthy or broken. They’re bad advice. Give permission to relax and release, and then give that permission again.

That’s a first step toward real efficient posture.

😴 We should wake up feeling energized and refreshed, but so often, we're stiff and achy. In this video, we've got three big tips to change that:

👉 Tip One: Sleep amplifies however we are when we go to sleep -- if we go to sleep tense, we often wake up more tense. If we relaxed a little before bed, we often wake up more relaxed.

👉 Tip Two: Drop weight into the pillow and bed. Often, we don't actually let ourselves be supported! And that means our muscles are working all night long.

👉 Tip Three: Ergonomics! A firm enough mattress and pillows placed to support knees and head go a long way toward being able to relax and restore through the night.

#maxtheskeleton practices all three tips, and he sleeps like the dead. He doesn't even wake up through this whole video!

Let me know any questions about sleep posture and waking up refreshed!

Bending can be a pain in the back. Change that with these three tips from me and my buddy #maxtheskeleton!

1. Bend at the ACTUAL hip joint (not the waist)

2. Let the spine spine be integrated (either neutral or all moving, but not making just one spot in the back do all the work)

3. Let the shoulders stay open while bending over

Watch the video above to see these tips in action.

🍑 These donut peaches are my favorite thing I’ve grown in my garden.

The smell alone is heavenly, and each bite is a bit of paradise.

I’ve been waiting to try one for almost two years.

🤷‍♂️ What does a peach have to do with movement, with facing down pain or tension, with figuring out what works best for your body?

Planting this peach tree was an act of faith, a gamble on my circumstances, and an investment in myself.

Fruit trees aren’t supposed to do well in containers. I was told by several gardening experts that it was doomed to failure.

It’s the same with our bodies. We come to believe we’re stuck with certain things, or stuck not able to do certain other things.

But a container was my only option as a renter.

So I researched and lovingly mixed my own potting soil for my little orchard. I even grew some calluses.

Holding this little beauty now, I’m glad I didn’t listen to the experts telling me “no way.” I’m glad I invested the time, money and effort two years ago. So worth it to me.

Often when we take that time with our bodies, we discover there's more possible than we realized.

And even if the whole peach enterprise had failed, well, I’d have learned a whole lot from that experience.

When we act on a bit of faith and invest in our growth, even if it truly is years away, someday we get there or at least learn a whole lot about ourselves on the way. And we’re happy to have made the journey and for our little bit of paradise.

I could easily have talked myself out of planting my orchard. I could have spent that money more practically, or not carved out the weekend to do the work. I could have kicked it down the road.

And if I’d done that, I’d be sitting here two years later, thinking “What if?” and even procrastinating it again, because a whole ‘nother two years is a long time to wait…

Instead, I’ve got peaches now.

The people who invest in learning what works for their bodies? They feel peachy, too.

This is different from everything else (chiropractic, massage, physical therapy…) 👀 🤔

San Diegans with chronic or recurrent pain or tension -- back pain, neck pain, knee pain, hip pain -- can take back their lives thanks to this approach called Alexander Technique. 🙌🙌🙌

Most of my clients have already tried practically everything, but our work together makes the difference. You can hear from a few of them in the video below.

And all the other stuff can be great. If it works for you, that’s wonderful!

☝️ But there’s a reason that the trusted chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists and PT’s in my network send their patients to me: because my approach is different and effective.

It's about learning how our bodies work and what works for us individually.

💡 Think about it like this: if you need car repair, you go to the mechanic.

But if you keep crashing your car or grinding your gears over and over again, maybe you instead need a driving instructor to solve the real problem of how you’re driving your car.

I’m like a driving instructor for your body. 🏎️🏎️🏎️

Good driving for your body means knowing how to release tension, to coordinate mind and body, and how to have good posture and movement.

And unlike a car, your body is alive. So when you learn to start using it better, you have the opportunity to heal.

❥ My clients love that I help them solve the actual underlying problems.

❥ They love that the fabulous results they get are sustainable.

❥ They love that they get back to living life (dancing, running, picking up grandkids, bowling better, martial arts… just a few real life examples)

❥They love that I listen to them and I help them figure out what works for their body.

👩‍🔬 And this is also why clinical research shows that this approach, the Alexander Technique, is significantly more effective for reducing chronic pain than massage or exercise, with results that can last a lifetime. 👩‍🔬

So if you’re ready for something different, that makes a real difference in your life, send me a message and let’s talk about how to solve your pain. Your tension. Your life, unhindered.

Want to see how it works? I’ve also got a special going for half-off a pain and tension relief session for the summer only over at wholebodied.com/summer-special.

👋 Let’s talk.