Before a Pilates programme can be truly implemented it is important to look at an individuals posture.
Our working environments bear a huge relevance on our muscular balance and can pull us out of our natural alignment. For example, working at a computer encourages some people to hunch forward developing a rounded upper back and curved shoulders. This in turn pushes our head forward which shortens our neck extensors and tightens our traps leaving us with headaches and neck or shoulder tension.
The emotions in our life can also affect our posture. When we are stressed or worried our bodies become tense, when feeling depressed we tend to slouch in order to make ourselves smaller. Or vice versa, when we are feeling ill or are injured it directly affects our mental status. In other words our physiology is closely linked with our psychology.
It is very important to correct our posture and muscular imbalances and return them to the anatomical ideal otherwise we will create our own injuries and cause our posture to become increasingly worse.
Muscles can become short and overly strong or long and weak. By identifying the areas of concern we can formulate an ideal pilates programme with specific modifications to correct any imbalance and regain that perfect posture that affects not only our physical but also our mental well being.