Gravity Is the Healer

This photo, from the March 2022 Rotary magazine, tells the story of Balance*.

Two men carry similar loads of hand sanitizers in Bangladesh. One man looks burdened, and the other looks carefree.

The man in the foreground is out of Balance. He curves forward. His load pushes him downward. Pressure from his misaligned spine and joints compresses his body and creates wear and tear in his joints. The only thing that keeps him from falling over is very tight back and hamstring muscles.  Carrying like this is an exhausting struggle; He’s tired before his day begins.

The man in the blue shirt is in Balance. His body is on the axis, in line with gravity. He uses his core muscles to press the weight skyward. This is efficient carrying: his spine and joints are aligned, so there is no misplaced pressure to cause wear and tear. Instead of breaking his back, his work makes him straighter and stronger.

From the photo, we have no idea why there is such a difference in how these two people carry. That will remain a mystery. But we can choose which kind of carrying we’d like to imitate.

It’s an important choice, because whether we realize it or not, we are always carrying the load of our own body weight. Whether we carry our body weight efficiently or inefficiently determines how we look and feel as we age.

When we sit and stand in modern postures like the mannequins below, our body parts are pulling away from the center.

Sitting and standing in these ways makes our body parts more horizontal. We grow shorter. As our bones move apart they misalign at the joints. Hips and knees suffer as they’re forced to bear more weight than they are designed for.

This is the physics of flesh and bone. Like all physical structures, we are subject to the laws of gravity.

When we learn the guidelines of Balance we help our body parts re-group toward the center. The primary action is to put the pelvis in its rightful place. Then the spine must stack and align to center the work of support in the axial skeleton, the pelvis and spine. When this happens the back relaxes and strengthens. Pressure in the joints abates. Tension in the limbs dissolves.

When a person does even minimal shifts to bring the body onto the center line of gravity, long time compression and holding releases. Aches and pains dissolve on their own. Breathing capacity increases.

Consider the photo below. Since the older woman leans back she is tense in her quads and psoas muscles and throughout her body. Her breathing capacity is limited by tension and the resulting immobility. The weight of her 12-pound protruding head requires chronic holding and tension in her neck and upper back and throughout her body.

The black and white image is my 5th-grade attempt at graphic art. I printed out the photo and cut out her profile. I then cut her body at the bottom of her shirt leaving her arm intact. Applying the first guideline for standing her torso was shifted so she “can see her ankles.” As a result, she is no longer leaning back, her torso is more vertical and in line with her legs. When this happens in “real life” a person complains that they are leaning forward. But tensions begin to dissolve and there is less undo pressure in the spine and all the support joints.

Being on the axis sets into motion a profound and thorough healing. Every molecule in the body functions better.  Our physical life improves. The image at the top tells the story.  The healing power of gravity is available to all.  You just have to know how to access it. Come to Balance class and continue or begin your gravitational healing.

*Balance is based on the Aplomb work of Noelle Perez, Institut D’Aplomb, Paris, France. In the United States teachers of her work can be accessed through the Original Alignment website available soon.