Stand up straight or sit upright, hold your shoulders back. These are all commands that we were told to do as children so that we would have good posture. Yet we were seldom shown ways to accomplish this and nor do we really know what good posture actually is. The consequences of this problem can be seen all around us: stiff necks, shoulders hunched forward or pulled tightly back, restricted breathing, and tightness in the thighs, legs and ankles. Backaches, headaches, and other painful symptoms are often the unfortunate result.

Good posture is generally considered to be the natural and comfortable bearing of a health person. In the standing position this means the body is natural - but not rigid and straight. In the sitting it means the back is comfortably straight. How you stand, sit and move have a profound influence on how well your body functions. Good sitting and standing positions help to promote normal functioning of the body's organs and increases the efficiency of muscles. One of the problems with being able to do this is that as we start to grow older and tense ourselves in reaction to life's worries and concerns, our posture deteriorates, often quite seriously.

There are many disciplines that work with the structural alignment of your body. Some of these include chiropractic, osteopathy, yoga, Alexander technique, tai chi, cranio-sacral therapy, physical therapy, Feldenkrais method and Rolfing - they can all help to correct structural alignment. There are differences in the way various disciplines view influence between bodily structure and function, however they all work to correct structural or postural problems so that the body is able to work at its best.

In the following section I provide a brief outline of the approach to structural alignment from the perspectives of chiropractic, osteopathy, Alexander technique, yoga and cranio-sacral therapy.

Chiropractic considers that spinal subluxations impinge on structures, such as nerves, blood vessels and lymphatics, passing through spinal column resulting is disease. ‘Adjustment' of a subluxated vertebra removes the problem - thus allowing normal ‘flow' to the diseased parts.

Osteopathy is concerned with the affect structural and mechanical faults will have on physiological processes. They are interested in the impaired mobility in intervertebral joints and work to restore proper mobility - this can be done by working on soft tissue and connective tissue structures rather than actual spinal manipulation used by chiropractors.

The Alexander technique is another way of looking at the body posture. It is a method that works to change movement patterns or habits in our everyday activities. It works to improving the ease and freedom of movement, balance, support and coordination. It is not a series of treatments or exercises, but rather a re-education of the mind and body and a releasing of unnecessary body tension. It can be applied to sitting, lying down, standing, walking, lifting, and other daily activities.

There are many forms of yoga but they all aim to use postures to improve body functioning. Yoga has an overall tonic effect for the entire body as it strengthens the spine, upper back, arms, shoulders, wrists, buttocks, thighs and abdomen. It also stretches the chest and the lungs and spine. It stimulates the cardiovascular system, thyroid and pituitary glands. These measures mean that yoga facilitates the development of a good posture with flexibility and strength.

Cranio-sacral therapy considers postural alignment to be dependent on a free and open connective tissue system throughout the body. Connective tissue surrounds and supports all of the structures of our body and when it is restricted it can cause tension on these structures which can result in postural malalignment. The connective tissue restrictions can be caused by trauma - physical and emotional, or by habitual body patterns due to stress. Cranio-sacral therapy helps in releasing these connective tissue restrictions, freeing the trauma or holding patterns and therefore allowing for free movement.

Each of these approach and others that are similar, work on establishing a harmonious alignment in the structure and therefore also the function of the body. They all have different approaches and techniques - with the common theme of working to improve posture and wellbeing.