With few exceptions (like that one client I had who held his tension in his feet - I hear ya, brother!), this is probably The Most Popular destination for holding stress.

(Though, I’ve become curious: Where would it be if we tried NOT to hold our stress there? Thoughts?)

I wrote a little last week about the Chinese Medicine characteristics of this time of year, namely, late summer, or the transition time between the seasons.

This period, roughly nine days before and after the actual seasonal change, is ideally a time of preparation for what's to come in terms of diet, activities, mindset, etc.

Earth (or, doyo) represents the center, the home, the body. Where we go to feel stable when times they are a-changin' - or, more importantly, to where we can best direct our energies until the dust settles.

Self-care is most important (and probably the hardest) during times of change - even basic stuff: eating well, getting enough sleep, and moving the body.

Compression and decompression are as important to a cell’s health as is its intake of nutrients and minerals.

The fact is, you may eat the healthiest diet in the world, and yet still be malnourished through lack of movement. Part of this is because cells, like any other living physical structure, require healthy stress loads to maintain strength and integrity.

And it was there, on that very day, and on that very treadmill, I made a startling discovery: Treadmills are misleading!

Here's why I say that.

My daughter and I 'walked' for 20 minutes at a pretty aggressive clip on our respective treadmills.

Why do we feel a need to clarify something so simple and seemingly self-explanatory?

Well, along with everything else regarding movement, it's become a topic we have to discuss at all because our lifestyles have made it pretty much optional.

Stretching as an exercise seems to have been around since ancient Rome, Greece, and of course, India, as with yoga.

I have to laugh as I hear people stating their intentions knowing darn well that if they hold true for a week or tow, they'll have bested last year's effort(s). It's like they know they're doomed to failure.

But, what if the problem is going unmentioned?

There is a prevailing mindset these days concerning health, fitness and well-being that has spawned what is probably a multi-billion dollar industry.

As a result, most of our clients are people who injure themselves trying to get healthy.

Advances in technology allow a satellite to monitor our heart rate, our breathing, our blood pressure and count how many steps we've taken from the car to the desk. And yet, the actual understanding of fitness seems to be getting lost.

In this video, I demonstrate one more neck tension relieving exercise - also from the Qigong series, "Eight Pieces of Brocade" (although, this particular move is from Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming's* 'sitting set', and therefore, it can easily be done, well, sitting. Or, even while you're still in bed.)

As you'll hear me say in the video, this move comes from a Qigong routine called, "The Eight Pieces of Brocade".

As the legend goes, it was developed in the 11th century by a Chinese general to help strengthen, revitalize and even heal his troops before and after battle.

… it’s gonna stick like that!

Did your mom ever tell you that?

(My mom didn't, but my grandmom would threaten me that a little bird was gonna come perch on my bottom lip if I kept sticking it out. Duly noted.)

Last week, I left off by saying we're going to add 32 pounds to your head.

Chances are, you've already done this yourself.

Now that we've introduced you some ideas about 'good posture' and alignment (which will continue to be fleshed out as this series goes along), let's try an alignment-oriented movement, which addresses the relationship between your head and your upper body.

In the last post, we introduced you to Bill's P4H Postural Postulate with an example of how that plays out when carrying a load, such as a box of books.

Let's use another example: this simple act of standing.

How do you posture yourself in business? Or in a relationship? Has anyone ever asked you that question?

Or, how about this? Are you postured for success?

Like Gina has been saying, the word posture gets used a lot, but really... what does it mean?

In the last post, I mentioned that the word "posture" can be misleading.

One, it’s because we tend to understand it more as an appearance, rather than a physical state based on biomechanical principles.

("Biomechanical": relating to the mechanical laws concerning the movement or structure of living organisms.)

As our name, Posturing for Health, includes the root 'posture', it only seems fitting to begin exploring here... as it's a word we are all too familiar with.

But what does it mean, really?