Postural Therapy & Aristotle

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, bit a habit".

This quote, which I used in my high school yearbook (as we all had to choose a quote), resonates deeply in creating the teamwork and success when helping people feel, move, and function better in life.

I recently read the book, 'Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life'. It focuses on the town of Ogimi, in Okinawa, Japan. Okinawa is one of the five Blue Zones, in which people are documented to live long, healthy lives. This is especially true in Ogimi, where, according to the book, people never really stop working. They find a profession which intersects what someone loves, is good at, what he/she can be paid for, and what the world needs.

The book lays down variables to help one find his or her Ikigai. The variable that I connected to the most is it creating a state of FLOW (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi). Flow is considered a state of optimal experience, in which you're only focusing on the present task at hand and not worrying about the past or future. Think about skiing down a slope at fast speeds; your mind will only be on the present. According to the book, it's these Flow experiences which enrich life.

The Chapter on Flow on Ikigai began with the Aristotle quote!

One of the requirements to create Flow in everyday life with the things we normally do are to create rituals (ie habits). It's in developing automaticity in what we do that we can stop to see mundane tasks as boring and begin appreciating their beauty and uniqueness.

I'm going to share how this correlates to helping people with Postural Therapy:

Once we create a WHY as to ones pain, injuries, issues, I'll take a person through a highly individualized sequence of Postural Therapy stretches and exercises in a wide range of positions. The goal is to align the bones AND keep them aligned with the deep postural line on muscles and connective tissue. Upon finding the safest, most effective sequences for someone, it's all about ingraining and reinforcing those pattens in the body.

Remember how the Aristotle quote about cultivating excellence says it's not about a single actor, bit a habit?

The habits of those I help to who are successful in developing the pattens to feel and move better long-term range from:

• Doing ones sequence daily/near daily on his or her own. Yes, I have clients who rarely miss a day....and that's over years!

• Doing sequences occasionally and or shorter mini-routines throughout the day.

• Meeting on consistently basis, even if not doing the sequences regularly on ones own. This dedicated hour helps to re-ingrain the needed postural patterns in ones body if it's not feasible to do the sequences independently.

There are a good number of people who've come to me in lots of pain and feel so much better at the end of the initial session. Let's consider this Aristotle's reference to the 'act'. It's those who make it a 'habit' and do their routines consistently (to ones motivation or capabilities) who create lasting health and daily function.

To quote someone I and many of this article's readers know and admire (yes, one more quote), "I'm going to speak out loud and let you listen". On a health level, mind-body, the habits that I want...NEED....to better create include consistently:

• Mediating - life is simply better when I do.

• IML Stretch, Rolls, Drop - Various versions of a longer, passive exercise that repatterns the body. If we've worked together on a consistent bases, you've done one or all of these. When I'm compensated and in pain, I can stretch all day and it'll do nothing. These exercises deeply resets the body, especially in changing long-term compensatory pattens.

• Spending time with my niece and nephews! If you know me, that's my happiness now.

What's my intended takeaway for you?



Try to find which habits make life better, healthier, and happier for you. Design a way to do them on a consistent basis, and, over time, see the results!