 Poor posture doesn't just move your head forward, it drags you down. The more you're out of balance, the greater the pull from gravity. If you're overweight, the drag increases.
Posture restoration usually focuses on correcting the forward head and rounded shoulders position. Head up, shoulders back may change your "latitude" more than "longitude". The PostureJac provides a means to develop "longitudinal" strength by stretching upwards.
Don't just support your head, lift it....
Humans have used their head for transporting loads since ancient times. To prevent damage, it needs to be balanced, stable and vertical. The trunk and neck generate the upward force needed to lift the load. Notice how these women lower their shoulders to the load.
People who transport loads this way (70% of body weight or more), are known for their exceptional posture habits. Anything less would cause injury and disability.
...like it's been done for millenia!
It is possible to generate upward postural force through your neck and trunk. We call it spinal lift. It develops excellent, habit forming postural strength..
A typical head weighs 10 - 14 pounds. In fthe forward head position gravity pulls it down. Our body sags and compresses. To overcome this gravitational pull, the body must lift itself back up and find balance around the spine.
The unique design of the PostureJac develops a similar kind of postural lift. Muscles throughout the neck and trunk are recruited to generate a lifting force. Balance, reduced strain and fatigue, and better mobility benefit the body and prevent and overcome injuries.
"Gravity is the therapist." ...Ida Rolf
Balanced lifting against gravity improves your body condition. Many structures like the tensegrity displayed below demonstrate how gravity can assist in maintaining balance and strength.
The key is proper skeletal balance rather than relying on muscle strength. Bony structures must effectively align through muscle coordination. Through these actions an upward spinal force is generated (see spinal corkscrew principle).
Tensegrity and Vertical Posture
 Vertical posture holds the whole body in a dynamic tension sustained by gravity. Architect Buckminister Fuller used the term "tensegrity" for his free-standing structural designs like these that seem to defy gravity. (photo courtesy of Andy Payne, LIFT Architects). Changing this distribution of tension changes the shape, and can add stress and compression to the entire structure.
Highly respected for his analysis of living anatomy, Thomas Myers, author of Anatomy Trains, uses tensegrity to explain how tensions in our muscles and connecting fascia develop efficient structure, and even the distribution of forces.
Functional tensegrity in good posture utilizes gravity to hold everything in a .dynamic synergy centered around the spine. The load is distributed around the trunk allowing our body to move and protect our organs without collapsing or crushing injuries. A stabilized core minimizes the load on each component, including the spine. The load on the spine grows enormously when tensegrity is weakened.
Would you like to optimize your height by preventing or reversing sagging posture?
 You may have noticed, or people may have commented on your declining height. Perhaps you have seen it in others, even your own kids. Your realize that there should be more height there if you could only stand straight.
The PostureJac doesn't use magic to stretch your spine and make you taller. Try it for yourself:
- Stand up and depress your shoulders like this example.
- Stretch your neck to lift your head.
- Notice what happens to your posture. Chances are your look and feel taller, lighter and stronger!
Or
- While you are lying on a flat surface like a bed, with your hands at your side, try moving your shoulders toward your waist.
- Chances are you will feel your head moving in the opposite direction. This is the spinal lift.
What if you could maintain that position throughout your life? You woundn't need the PostureJac. Most of us give up long before the new habits have been embedded. We're also inconsistent in our actions. No wonder the body forgets!
Let the PostureJac help you develop those habits with consistent repetition of mobility pathways. Gentle stretching and activation restores conditioning and restores your postural support system.
This page offers explanations, demonstrations and models of the unique lifting action prompted by the PostureJac. See how it works with gravity to promote spinal lift, vertical posture and tensegrity in the body.
Please check out the video demonstrations and research findings below.
"My PostureJac arrived just after I had finished a six-hour drive in a small rented car. Slipping on the PostureJac to give it a try, I pulled my shoulder muscles down into a relieving stretch, and automatically 'jacked' my spine up back into its normal length. Now, when I come home from long plane trips, PostureJac gets a workout before I do.
PostureJac is a well-designed piece of equipment, that can be used for different exercises, but the primary one is in my opinion the best and most unique: using downward pressure on the shoulders to create upward movement in the thoraco-lumbar spine. PostureJac has an immediate 'why didn't I think of this?' feel to it, restoring length and freedom to a compressed spine when you don't have access to competent individualized bodywork."
Thomas Myers, Author of Anatomy Trains (Elsevier 2001, 2009), www.anatomytrains.com
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Spinal Lift
