I’m pretty sure that at some stage in your life you have heard someone tell you to stand up straight, right? And you probably thought, nag, nag, nag! Or you tried to, but couldn’t get it right because you felt more comfortable slouching, ‘cause it hurt to stand up straight, or it was simply too much trouble (I know I did!!)?
Well, I went through my own personal trials and tribulations with my mother nagging, going to so many different physiotherapists and doing so many exercises, with nothing working, to help me fix my sagging shoulders and curved spine (labelled scoliosis). The problem was that the muscles were already so much in spasm to protect the various nerves in my lower, middle and upper back that were pinching, that no amount of trying to stand up straight, and no amount of exercise was going to work!
What did work, though, was fixing the alignment of my hips and then relaxing the muscles in my back by means of lots of massages and pressure point work. The reason this worked for me – it also addressed stubborn thinking patterns!
Seriously, if you think about it, what you think and feel, reflects in your physical body! If you think of someone being a pain in the neck, your neck muscles automatically tighten! If you carry the whole world on your shoulders, your shoulder muscles will tighten up.
But let’s stay with the physical alignment for now. Your body’s structure is based on your spinal column sitting on top of the hips. If the hips are not straight vertically in both the frontal plane or the sideways plane, it will mean that the normal curve of the spine will be out. In other words there will be more curve where it normally curves and more bend where it normally bends. This means that there will be more pressure on the cushions between the vertebrae, and therefore more of a chance that the nerves will be pinched, restricting the flow of messages from the spine to the area, limb or organ that the particular nerve feeds.
If this happens over a long period of time, it will mean that the area, limb or organ that is fed by a particular nerve, will not get the proper nourishment it needs, its function will be impaired and the body will start to want to protect it! If it is a limb that is affected, the joints are usually affected, especially on the end of the nerve’s path, in the fingers or feet. So now your body takes whatever it has in excess – water, acid, toxins, fat…yup! and goes and dumps it in or around these areas under pressure to protect it! The area bulges, and if it is acid, arthritis develops in the joints!
If, like with me, you have nerves pinching in your lower back because your hip alignment is out, you will probably develop problems in all the organs and limbs this area feeds – your legs, knees and ankles, the sex organs, and the colon! Mine even resulted in my left leg collapsing out from underneath me!
Needless to say, if this condition exists for 10 or more years, serious problems are going to develop in all these organs and areas!
If your colon does not function properly, you cannot eliminate properly and your kidneys and liver come under pressure…you also do not absorb nutrients properly and all types of other ailments usually develop because of this.
Sexual dysfunction, both in men and women, usually stem from this simple cause! Once the pressure on the nerve is released by adjusting the alignment of the hip, the body’s natural regenerative ability takes over, and it fixes itself, especially if you give it the proper nutrients to assist!
Hip, knee and ankle problems usually rectify in a short period of time and you can even prevent replacement surgery if you work with a knowledgeable health practitioner that will assist you to strengthen and rebuild the joint and relax the surrounding muscles and tendons that have been in spasm for so long!
If the hips have been out of alignment for a while, the curve of the spine adjusts and this usually affects the neck area, causing problems in the shoulders, elbows and fingers. Usually you would also slouch forward, so placing even bigger pressure on the vertebrae and cushions at the junction between neck and body, the “widow’s hump” area!
So, posture, posture, posture!
If you have no serious problems yet, this is a good reminder to keep your posture up straight – head on shoulders, on hips, on feet! The easiest way to keep your head up straight, and fixing the shoulders back at the same time without straining them, is to tuck your chin in and think of a wire holding you up to the sky from the hairs on the top of your head…and a chain holding you from the bottom of your spine onto the earth…with you stretched to your full potential in between!
To fix the alignment of the hips is usually easy, and something chiropractors and similar practitioners can do.
The problem is that the muscles that have been in spasm to protect, also need to relax, otherwise they will simply pull you out of alignment again, so either a massage of the area or a warm relaxing bath afterwards is vital for these muscles to “let go”!
Breathing out whilst they are being worked, helps your mind to let go as well too, and then they will relax all the more easier!
Preventing the hips from going out of alignment is very important, as this is the base of the whole body. The organs in this area and the legs are vital to our functioning as a whole.
Things that throw the hips out?
Standing on one leg
Crossing the legs at the knees
Carrying anything on one hip – especially children!
Carrying anything over one shoulder
Bumps, falls and accidents – GET IT ALIGNED IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS!!!
Giving birth
Keep these simple, basic things in mind and prevent or fix the cause of the imbalance.
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