Have we lost something in our search for advancement

I have recently been on holiday to Vietnam and was able to witness something first hand something that most of us lost the ability to do many years ago, that is the ability to squat.

As a toddler our first steps onto two feet involved us being able to squat. Try and observe young children and you will see that they do this all the time without thinking.

Then what happens we go to school sit slumped over our desks, laptops & tablets and we stop using our hip joints and start to bend with our spine. Yes our spine is curved and its design with vertebrae and discs does allow it to bend slightly but it is not really what it was designed to do. Instead we need to maintain a straight posture and bend at the hips. I would say in my experience as an Alexander Technique Teacher the majority of people I work with have completely lost the sense of where their hip joint is and how important it is in bending. People know they should bend with the knees but forget about the hip joint so when they bend they tend to bend at the knees and in the spine thus overusing the back muscles. No wonder back pain is so prevelant.

So what can we do to avoid this. Try this exercise to locate our hip joints by placing our hands on the point usually just below the front pockets in jeans. Now stand in front of a chair and fold over this joint allowing the knees to release forward as you go into the chair. Try to remember the hip joint whenever you bend and your back will become less tired as a result.