Bodystance Backpod - Backpod with yoga, the Feldenkrais Method, the Alexander Technique, and ergonomics

Backpod
®
combined with yoga, the Feldenkrais Method, the Alexander
Technique, and ergonomics
Reasonable flexibility is good, and yoga is good at
producing muscle flexibility. However, if the specific
joints in the thoracic spine are too thoroughly jammed,
self-stretching does not have the leverage to free
them. We can only move our spines by ourselves as a
unit, so the parts that are moving well will reduce the
force we can bring onto any parts that aren’t moving.
The Backpod
®
can bring much more leverage to
bear on a specific vertebra, and is a highly effective
addition to a yoga session. The same principle applies
to scarring inside a muscle. You can stretch the whole
muscle with yoga, but often specific massage with its
higher leverage is necessary to break down the patch
of scarring in it.
The Feldenkrais Method and the Alexander Technique
both aim to teach correct, perfectly balanced
movement. This is a worthy goal, but again if the spinal
joints are sufficiently locked before you start, in my
experience they won’t free themselves just by moving
correctly. The Backpod
®
and its programme provide
the specific higher leverage loosening needed to
obtain the full benefit from both of these approaches.
There is a whole area of ergonomics concerned with
the appropriate positioning of computer screens and
their keyboards for their operators. The advent of
laptops, tablets, smartphones and similar devices has
made ideal positioning virtually impossible, as their
screens cannot be detached from their keyboards.
Granted, extra screens or keyboards can be attached,
but almost no-one ever does, because of the loss of
convenience and portability.
So even more hunching forward is required to use the
new devices, hence the surge in neck and upper back
problems. Given that people aren’t going to stop using
the technology, the Backpod
®
and its programme
are logical ways to unwind its effects on the spine,
ongoing.
For a more detailed analysis of the musculoskeletal
consequences of hunching, see the iHUNCH page on
the Backpod’s website www.backpod.co.nz See also
the Wikipedia entry on the iHunch.
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Health Practitioner pages