Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/72093
Once viewed in this fashion, the 5 A A bit counterintuitively, the adductors on the high hip side of a tilted pelvis can use some work. B psoas-diaphragm balance is an image you cannot let go of. It is central, essential, and determines so much else in the posture and movement. Simply put, if the psoas is pulling down too much, the back of the diaphragm gets pulled down with it, the lower ribs are pushed forward, and the cobra exposes its throat (Image 6B). In this case, the breath is forced to the front of the diaphragm. If the lumbars are too far back and the chest collapses, the cobra seems to lower its nose, and the breath is forced away from the front to the back of the diaphragm (Image 6C). In cases of spiral twists in the pelvis or spine, one cobra can be doing one thing while the other tends toward its opposite. These patterns are not as common as the two described above, but they do show up. To BodyRead this dynamic in those with asymmetric patterns, assess from each side, not just one. BREATH AND THE SHOULDER Since we are speaking of the breath—a core function if ever there was one ("When you can't breathe, nothing else matters," dryly intones the American Lung Association)—let us remind ourselves of the assessment we looked at with the arms and shoulders. When the shoulders are free and the rib cage well positioned, the shoulders will ride up and out a little on the inhale, and down and together a bit on the exhale. This movement connotes a healthy relationship between the ribs and the shoulders, core and sleeve, as opposed to moving straight up and down, or not moving at all. A 6 B C View the psoas-diaphragm complex as a single unit, resembling a cobra from leg to lung. In B, the psoas is pulling strongly down, exposing the cobra's throat and pushing the diaphragmatic movement to the front. In C, laxity in psoas tone allows the cobra's nose to fall, pushing the breath to the back of the diaphragm only. NECK UPRIGHTNESS Head-forward posture (HFP) is perhaps the most common body- function fault worldwide, certainly in the Western world. The way we arrive at HFP, however, is cervical: 102 massage & bodywork may/june 2012