Posture and Natural Curvatures
The word posture comes from the Latin verb ponere, which means "to put or place." The general concept of human posture refers to "the carriage of the body as a whole, the attitude of the body, or the position of the limbs (the arms and legs)."
Webster's New World Medical Dictionary defines neutral posture as the stance that is attained "when the joints are not bent and the spine is aligned and not twisted. Neutral posture has given rise to the idea of achieving “ideal posture.” Ideal posture indicates proper alignment of the body’s segments such that the least amount of energy is required to maintain a desired position. The benefit of achieving this ideal position would be that the least amount of stress is placed on the body’s tissues. In this position, a person is able to completely and optimally attain balance and proportion of his or her body mass and framework, based on his or her physical limitations. Good posture optimizes breathing and affects the circulation of bodily fluids.
Read more about this topic: Neutral Spine
Famous quotes containing the words posture and/or natural:
“If one’s posture is upright, one has no need to fear a crooked shadow.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Mediocre people have an answer for everything and are astonished at nothing. They always want to have the air of knowing better than you what you are going to tell them; when, in their turn, they begin to speak, they repeat to you with the greatest confidence, as if dealing with their own property, the things that they have heard you say yourself at some other place.... A capable and superior look is the natural accompaniment of this type of character.”
—Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863)