Sentient Times Apr/May 08

In 1972, while carrying a heavy box, I fell down two flights of marble stairs and injured my pelvis, back and neck. I was in constant pain, which required costly treatments, and was forced to give up my career as an artist. Ten years of physical therapy, acupuncture and yoga brought minimal relief. Still, a part of me remained hopeful. During visits to Latin American and Mediterranean countries I observed that a majority of the people there enjoyed great freedom of movement into old age. This ignited my passion to live with that natural ease in myself. Shortly after I was certified by the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Paris, I developed a method, which finally—and completely—resolved all pain in my hips, sacrum, back, shoulders and neck. Now, at sixty-five years of age, I am stronger, more limber, and taller than I was thirty-five years ago.

In the 1930’s, in highly industrialized Europe and the United States, there was a significant change in postural concepts, including a novel modern definition of controlled “good” carriage which relied on “fixing” our looks—but forcing our bodies into a type of posture which overtaxes our muscles and weakens us, keeping us in a vicious cycle. This conventionally accepted approach to posture, whose influence remains to this day, is mentally and physically stressful. Legs, belly, arms and neck are too far out front for comfortable balance, which should be based on weight distribution and a centered, vertical alignment of the legs and spine. To remedy the lack of tone in major pelvic and back muscles, we tighten the belly; tuck (straighten) the pelvis; push up the ribs and chin; and push back the shoulders. Our muscles remain distressed because they are continually contracted.

Many of us feel stiff, vulnerable or in pain, and are distressed by our bearing, looks, and limited motion. Half of all working Americans have back problems.

Fortunately we don’t have to correct our posture or push our bodies into shape. By shifting our attention away from “shoulds” and prescribed forms, we allow the beauty of moving freely to unfold gently within us. This friendly, aesthetic view of our bodies combined with centering movements immediately enlivens our powerful kinaesthetic sense of fluid motion. We can then feel the difference between stressful holding patterns and vibrant mobility. Physiology merges with psyche, anatomy with art, structure with soul. The more we practice moving with the natural resiliency of little children, the more our
bodies become free of muscle and joint pain and stiffness due to strained motion. We feel our actions toning and relaxing us. We can savor pleasurable, personal postural expression.

Imagine sweeping, raking, preparing food, and sitting for hours at the piano or computer feeling fluid and expansive. Imagine gardening, dancing, lifting and carrying heavy objects feeling safe, strong and confident. Using centered movements we can enjoy more flexibility, comfort and ease during our daily efforts. Centering provides relaxation, which is essential for physical well-being. Integrating the centering movements with our everyday activities reveals a delightful secret—we can experience vitality and joyful expression as we age.

After an initial period of practicing the centering guidelines (anytime, anyplace) our bodies become more spacious and supple, and reshape at our own rhythms of practice and in concert with our body histories. This sweet, organic process relieves us of idealized, judgmental concepts about our carriage and appearance. Posture becomes unhampered motion which feels like tiny explosions of ease. Chores can become pleasurable and our everyday activities can gift us with full-bodied fitness while we move in harmonious relationship with the environment.

Embody Your Self

lI invite you to a taste of this embodiment right now by experiencing what I call the “Elemental Placement.”

For all the strengthening/relaxing movements incor-porated with daily activities, the first step is to shift the four key areas—pelvis, legs, torso and arms, neck and head—into a comfortable, centered and balanced weight distribution. As you begin, practice the movements slowly, gently, so that you can sense your gestures and give your body time for readjustments. Expect some “blissful aches,” harbingers of increased flexibility and strength. This is a sign that tight tissues are becoming more elastic. Forget about changing or improving your posture, profound release of strain can happen when you view your body as responsive, sacred clay.

Always begin your practice with Movement 1, which focuses on the pelvis, the main center for physical strength, fluid motion, and subtle energies (dantien in Chinese, hara in Japanese). Relax your body, specifically the buttocks and abdominal muscles, so that they can lengthen away from the torso toward the ground, to ground you.

Simultaneously, practice Movement 2, moving your legs slightly farther back, until you feel most pressure toward the heels and some pressure toward the front of the feet. Avoid tucking the pelvis or sticking out the buttocks. Instead, simply let your pelvis relax as your legs move back. The combination of these movements creates the firm foundation for free motion—the grounded pelvis rests on centered legs.

In Movement 3, the lower back moves slightly forward as you soften the diaphragm (the base of the ribs goes slightly down), which can straighten the lower back. The arms move slightly farther back, centered with the thighs.

In Movement 4, the neck and head stretch out front and then move back and up, with an upward stretch from the base of the head and the chin remaining down. This stretch can straighten the neck and upper back. Elemental Placement centers you into flowing movements that resonate with deeper levels of your being.

These guidelines reflect the essence of yoga in our everyday actions. Patanjali (considered by many to be the founder of Raja Yoga) said “Posture [asana] is to be seated in a position which is firm but relaxed.” A centered pelvis can be our firm yet relaxed “seat” all day long. Sitting up while meditating, eating, playing an instrument and typing can all have the same value and centering quality. Combining Elemental Placement with sitting up at the edge of a wedge will free us into sensing how to sit with vitalizing comfort in any seating arrangement.

Often, after sitting up for an hour or so, we feel stiff and tired—we’re frequently told that our furniture is to blame for our discomfort. By shifting how we sit we can keep our lifestyle, and our favorite chair!

Conventional foam wedges have a fixed form which generally accommodates a compensatory rounded upper back, arched lower back and tucked pelvis. These wedges act as a crutch and tend to promote further compensations. In contrast, home-made wedges (a small pillow, folded sweatshirt or piece of soft fabric) are re-shapeable and can be adapted to the height and bodily shape of the user, and in accord with the shape of the chair. Seats then become quiet allies in providing us with a pleasurable, peaceful experience.

Over time, centering our bodies while sitting up or engaging in other activities helps us cultivate an exquisitely simple, practical way of moving with comfort and ease. We can become more resilient as we age. We can feel at home in our bodies, and sense connection, belonging, aliveness.

Place a wedge toward the front edge of a chair. Practice “Elemental Placement,” then follow the four steps at right to achieve excellent posture for sitting up:

Angelena Thusius


1. Place your hands on top of the pelvic bones, relax the pelvis and bend forward from the hips—as though they were a “hinge.” To ground your pelvis, let the abdominals and buttocks relax and lengthen away from the torso. Allow a one-foot space between your knees. Keep a little more space between the big toes than between the heels for centered alignment of the legs.
2. Sit down on the front edge of the wedge. Keep the ribs down. Your weight is on the entire surface of the pubic bones. Your pelvis is centered (thanks to the wedge) and can support the weight of the torso. Sense most pressure toward the front edge of the wedge. Bring up the torso slowly while your hands put downward pressure on the pelvis, to help you sense the pelvis stretch away from the torso. Let one thigh slant slightly diagonally downward, to place your pelvis and torso into comfortable weight distribution. Extend the other leg slightly out front so that it can act as counterweight, allowing you to bend forward or turn the pelvis easily from the hips.
3. Continue grounding the pelvis. Move one arm at a time, keeping the shoulder down, rotating the upper arm muscles outward and allowing the entire arm to move back, centering it with the torso. Drop the ribcage slightly downward as though you are “nodding” or bowing from the lower ribs. Place the inside of one hand on the diaphragm, to help it soften and relax downward. Sense softening throughout the diaphragm/solar plexus area, with a corresponding lengthening, straightening in the lower back muscles. Next, stretch your head out front, and then slowly bring it back and up, keeping your chin and shoulders down. Sense straightening in the upper back and neck.
4. Drop your hands onto your lap and stay in this relaxed placement for a moment, giving your body time to realign you into comfort and to relieve you of muscular strain. Avoid “holding yourself up” and tightening the abdomen—thanks to sitting on the wedge, there is no muscular effort in your torso and pelvis. Continually ground yourself by bending forward from the pelvis—the main center for free, vital motion.

Angelika Thusius has researched posture and movement for more than 30 years. This research led to her creation of the Kentro® (the Greek word for center) Body Balance method, which she has taught since the mid-1980’s in America and Europe. Ms. Thusius, the author of KENTRO® Body Balance, The Secret Pleasures of Posture, holds classes and workshops in Ashland, OR. Call (541) 552-0922.