Safety part 1

Safety is a fundamental human need that needs to be met in order for us to heal and grow. Sometimes, we consciously know we are safe, but our bodies are locked into fight, flight or freeze. In other words, our bodies don’t know we are safe and are acting out of defense physiology instead of growth physiology. There are a few ways we check for the degree of safety in your body/ nervous system.

The biggest and simplest way we access safety is via posture. Does your resting posture look more relaxed and upright or does it look like you are ready to fight, run or curl into a ball (rounded back and head forward of your shoulders)?

Two others way we check for this is by checking what we call adduction and abduction stress in your legs and pelvis. This is where we gently check how easy it is to press your legs together(adduction) and spread them apart(abduction). When your legs bounce apart when we try and press them together, this represents a subconscious bracing against being knocked down or being knocked off balance. Think of the feeling of being on an airport bus or train that is starting to move or that is stopping, you spread your legs to brace yourself.

When your legs resist being pulled apart, this represents a pattern where your tail bone is tucked towards the front of your body and is similar to a dog tucking their tail after being attacked/struck.

With Network Spinal care, we regularly see improvement in all of these indicators as people heal and have more safety in their bodies.

Next Level Chiropractic – 14200 Midway rd #110 Dallas TX 75244

What goes into “Good Posture”?

Most people look at posture in a binary or 2 dimensional way. You either have good posture or you do not. In this model, there is not much you can do to improve your posture except to try and stand straighter (a lot of effort goes into this). As a side note, most people we have met in the office during initial appointments identify as having “bad posture.”

In reality, a lot effects your posture including: the health of Autonomic Nervous System (subconscious), the health of your emotional state (happy and angry have different postures), physical stress, rest, and even things like the weather.

Posture can and should fluctuate throughout the day with “good posture” meaning that your posture is pretty good most of the time.

Said more complicated, posture is an external representation of the sum of your internal world (thoughts and emotions).

Here is a closer look at how stress affects posture:

Stress activates the fight, flight or freeze nervous system. Your body automaticity assumes a posture ready to fight, run or curl into a ball. This is the most common reason for “bad posture.” Once again, said another way, if you are stressed for ANY REASON and your body doesn’t have strategies to use that stress for positive gains, your body assumes a stressed/hunched over/shoulders rolled/head forward and down posture. This automatic response to stress is so powerful that an armadillo will freeze even when it means certain death.

So how do we attain “good posture?” Improve your internal sate. Some examples of how to do this are-Help your body take on stress in more effective and useful ways; exercise, talk therapy, meditation, long walks, 20 second heart to heart hugs with someone we love, and our personal favorite getting a Network Spinal entrainment.