Postural imbalance, maintenance and prevention

We as humans are designed for activity, yet many of us spend far more time sitting in a seat- at a desk and computer, in a car, on a couch. Our joint and soft tissue health is adversely affected by too much time spent in sedentary activity: our circulation, digestion, and thinking become sluggish; some muscle groups shorten, others over-lengthen, all become tight, adhered, and weakened. Many of us who sit at work are sitting with "slouching" and forward-head posture that causes further injury: compression of the discs of our lower back and shortening of our back leg tissues, which can create low back and pelvis pain, as well as sciatica-like symptoms; over-stretch of our mid backs and shortening of our chest and arm tissues, which can create numbness and tingling in our arms and hands; shortening of our back neck tissues, creating tightness, headaches and jaw problems. Additionally, this hunched, forward-head posture is our natural position of self-protection, adopted in times of stress and anxiety. Prolonged adoption of this posture then perpetuates a cycle of stress and reinforces the slouched posture. Helping you identify postures and habits that contribute to and perpetuate these and many other symptoms is at the core of massage therapy. Manual techniques address fascial adherence, tight muscles, trigger points, sluggish fluid circulation, neurological compression, stress and anxiety, and much more. Therapeutic exercise for at-home self care is addressed to give you tools to help yourself. Massage therapy is intended to empower people to recognize postural imbalances, take steps to correct them, and prevent them for the future.