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? (See "C" in diagram, the ischial tuberosities.) If you are leaning too far forward in your sitting position, you might feel pressure in your hamstrings (A). If you are slouching too far backward, you might feel pressure on your gluteal muscles (B). When you are balanced, take time to practice feeling the pressure on your "sit bones" (C). 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 "A" or "B", 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. For more information on his 2-day workshop at Gatekey (November 18th and 19th), contact Jamie Elswick at 907-230-5258 or aslae4@UAA.ALASKA.EDU or www.musclemanagement.com