Walking and Posture: How They Connect
Walking involves your entire body. When you walk, every joint is in motion. Efficient walking is crucial because inefficient walking can lead to compensations in your body. These compensations can cause postural imbalances. Therefore, your posture is directly influenced by how you walk.
Often, healthcare professionals may consider your posture but overlook how your walking pattern affects it. We believe that the way you walk impacts everything, from your feet to your head.
Walking is a repetitive daily activity. Postural imbalances and injuries can alter your gait, often without your awareness. Once established, this altered gait pattern becomes fixed and repeated, hardwiring the dysfunctional pattern into your brain. Changing this pattern requires external influence, and that's where Anatomy in Motion (AiM) Gait Therapy comes in.
Anatomy in Motion (AiM) Gait Therapy is a logical method for assessing and correcting postural problems, relieving pain, reducing the likelihood of future injury, and improving physical performance. AiM encourages the body to move in ways it has "forgotten" due to adaptation and compensation. By systematically encouraging each joint to move properly again, AiM helps reintegrate "missing movements" back into the gait cycle.
The first session involves an initial assessment of posture and gait analysis. We address each individual's movement inefficiencies and limitations—everyone has them.
Although we start gently, patients often feel they've awakened unused muscles, even in the first session. Most bodies do not function correctly, leading to some muscles being underused and others becoming tight and overworked due to inefficient movement. Allowing chronically shortened muscles to lengthen and contract fully helps them to loosen and function more efficiently. Certain joints may not move enough, causing others to overwork in compensation. These issues are addressed during AiM treatment.
Sometimes, finding and correcting the root cause of a problem is like peeling layers of an onion. Sometimes the root cause is obvious, and the body quickly adapts to new information, resolving the issue in a few sessions. Other times, especially with old issues, more unraveling is needed. External factors like improper shoe choice, a heavy handbag, or poor desk setup can also contribute to recurring issues unless identified and resolved.
These one-on-one sessions suit any ability or activity level—from those in pain or struggling with stairs to athletes aiming for peak performance. The AiM method is highly adaptable and can be gentle yet firm. It respects each individual's capabilities. The chosen therapeutic movements are specific to the patient and their problems. Often, pain is not where the problem lies. AiM helps identify and treat the actual cause of each condition, adhering to our philosophy of addressing the root rather than just the symptoms.
