The human body performs many automatic tasks including self-repair,
maintenance, and an incredible ability to adapt. We fall, get up, pay
too little respect to the pain (we have more important things to do),
adapt to the pain and get on with our busy lives. We usually take our
ability to recover for granted -- until that ability falters. We often
adapt many times throughout our day to the little and big insults to
our body, but at what price? How many adaptations can we make and
still function without interfering with our self-repair and
maintenance abilities?
One indication of an excessive level of adaptation often includes
tension and pain in the mid-back region. It is a rare and lucky
individual who does not have some degree of tension or discomfort in
their mid-back. In my 20-plus years of practice, I have probably come
across no more than 10 clients who did not share this common regional
tension. Mid-back tension can be a result of several things, one of
which is an unbalanced posture wherein the body has to adapt to that
unstable situation.
What is a balanced posture?
A balanced posture finds the muscular/skeletal system organized so
that your skeletal bones are 'stacked and balanced,' thereby keeping
you upright with ease (as opposed to dis-ease). Gravity is a never
ending and constant force. When you are off balance, your brain
automatically responds by sending a message to your muscles, making
them continually work overtime to hold you up and to prevent you from
tilting too far in any one direction. As long as you are off balance,
this neuromuscular adaptive reaction contributes an ongoing and
constant stress that over time can wear on you in many ways.
Frequently, it really is that simple. We have an amazing physical
body with abilities we all too often take for granted (rumor has it
that we humans use less than 10% of our abilities). Often times by
simply learning a bit about our physical structure, respecting its
basic principles and reducing those obstacles that interfere with our
natural abilities, we can often help ourselves to de-stress, repair
and maintain our body rather easily.
Jacques Descotes, former President of the French Osteopathic
Association, uses the following analogy: "Imagine the body as a
tightrope walker, with its many muscles making small adjustments right
and left, backwards and forwards, in order to maintain an upright
balance. Any small deviation from this sometimes fragile equilibrium
can accumulate and contribute over time to a functional
difficulty."
How do I find balance?
Quite often, one of the means to reducing mid-back tension can be
found by simply balancing your sitting posture!
Do you know what your "sit bones" are? If you are leaning
too far forward in your sitting position, you might feel pressure in
your hamstrings. If you are slouching too far backward, you might feel
pressure on your gluteal muscles. When you are balanced, take time to
practice feeling the pressure on your "sit bones". In that
position, the weight of your upper body is more likely to be balanced
on your skeletal structure. This enables the surrounding muscles to
relax. When your upper body weight is resting on your hamstrings or
gluteals, the muscles in your upper back often respond to this
imbalanced state by tensing up. You might consider tension in your
mid-back as a signal from your "internal monitoring system"
that your posture is off balance.
How do I balance my standing posture?
Imagine standing at your sink or counter, doing any number of
things (washing dishes, cooking, brushing your teeth, etc.). Try to
avoid leaning forward into the "Hunch Back of Notre Dame"
position. Pay attention to your body and respect your posture. You
might lower your torso by spreading your legs and feet. This would
enable you to accomplish your task in a posture more ergonomically
balanced instead of hunching over (remember the leaning tower of
bones).
A "Therapeutic Shopping List" for Mid-Back Tension
The next time your bodywork therapist works on your mid-back, you
might request specific work on the following muscles in addition to
the regular routine:
Chances are that any or all of these muscles are in a state of
distortion, tension, and adaptive compensation (holding you upright
when they have better things to do). By correcting the issue in the
tissue and returning your body to a healthier state of balance, you
stand a far better chance of relaxing, letting go, and releasing the
tension in your back.
Clearly, good health is not a static state so much as it is an
ongoing quest -- for equilibrium, balance, and ease. Maybe our parents
were onto something when they told us to "sit up straight."
Taum Sayers is a CMT and practitioner of The Berry Method®
of corrective massage.
