Hi, I’m Alexis, an osteopath here at BlossomingMe, and welcome to the very first episode of our new series, Recovery Reframed.
Over the next four weeks, I’d like to gently challenge some of the most common assumptions I hear in the clinic every single day. Not because they’re completely wrong, but because sometimes the way we think about our bodies can quietly slow our recovery.
My hope is that by the end of this series, you’ll have a little more confidence in your body, a little less fear, and perhaps start looking at your health through a slightly different lens.
So, let’s start with one of the biggest assumptions I hear almost every day.
Can I ask you a question?
Has anyone ever told you…
- “Your spine is out of alignment.”
- “Your posture is terrible.”
Or maybe you’ve looked in the mirror yourself and thought… “No wonder my back hurts… look how crooked I am.”
If that sounds familiar… You’re certainly not alone.
In fact, it’s one of the most common conversations I have with people when they first come into the clinic.
I remember one lovely lady who came to see me not too long ago. Before she’d even sat down she smiled and said, “I think my pelvis is out again.”
So I asked her, “What makes you think that?”
She said, “Well… my back’s sore; one hip feels higher than the other; my jeans don’t seem to sit straight; I just feel twisted.”
As she was talking, I realised I’d probably had that same conversation hundreds of times over the years.
- Sometimes it’s the pelvis.
- Sometimes it’s the neck.
- Sometimes it’s the shoulder.
- Sometimes people tell me their ribs have gone out.
- Or that one leg is shorter.
- Or that they know they have terrible posture and that’s obviously why they’re in pain.
And do you know what? I completely understand why people think that.
Because many of us have grown up hearing messages like…
- “You’re standing crooked.”
We’ve seen pictures of perfect posture.
We’ve been shown ideal spinal curves. We’ve been told our hips should be level. Our shoulders should be level. Our body should be symmetrical.
So if something hurts… Or if we notice one shoulder sitting a little higher… Or we catch ourselves slouching… It’s perfectly understandable that we think,
“Maybe my body’s out of alignment.”
Now before we go any further… I want to make something really clear.
Your posture matters.
The way your body moves matters.
The way different parts of your body work together matters.
And yes…
Changes in posture, movement patterns and the way we load our bodies can absolutely contribute to pain.
So today isn’t about pretending posture doesn’t matter. Because I don’t believe that’s true.
Instead…
I’d simply like to ask a different question.
Is posture the whole story?
Or could there be a much bigger picture that helps explain why your body is feeling the way it is?
Because in my experience…
When we only focus on trying to straighten the body… We can sometimes miss what the body is actually trying to tell us.
One of the reasons I love being an osteopath is that I get to watch how beautifully adaptable the human body really is.
Every single day I see bodies finding ways to cope. Finding ways to protect. Finding ways to keep people moving despite old injuries, busy lives, emotional stress, pregnancy, desk jobs, growing children, sporting injuries, surgeries… and everything else life throws at us.
Our bodies are constantly adapting. And that’s something I think we often underestimate.
Think about what happens when you walk.
- Your pelvis rotates.
- Your rib cage rotates.
- Your spine rotates.
- One hip accepts your body weight while the other swings through.
- Your arms naturally move in opposite directions.
- Your feet are constantly adjusting to the ground beneath you.
Now imagine trying to keep your body in one perfectly aligned position while walking.
You’d look like a robot. It would feel awkward. And it certainly wouldn’t be efficient.
Movement isn’t the opposite of good posture. Movement is part of good function.
That’s why I’d like to offer you a different way of thinking. Not better. Not worse. Just different.
Because I think this one idea has the potential to completely change the way you see your body.
Your body isn’t trying to be perfectly aligned. It’s trying to be adaptable.
Take a moment to really think about that. Because I believe it changes almost everything that follows.
So let’s come back to the lady who thought her pelvis was out.
Was it? Well… Perhaps.
In that moment… Her pelvis may well have been sitting a little differently. One hip did move differently. Her rib cage was certainly moving differently. She was carrying more tension through one side.
Those observations were real. They weren’t imagined. But here’s the important question…
Why?
That’s the question I become interested in.
Did her body wake up that morning and simply decide to become crooked?
Probably not.
Maybe she’d
- Been caring for her elderly mother.
- Spent three weeks carrying a toddler.
- Stopped walking because of heel pain.
- Been under enormous emotional stress.
- Stopped breathing well because of persistent rib cage stiffness.
- Changed the way she moved because of pain.
The posture wasn’t the diagnosis. It was information. It was one chapter of the story. Not the whole story.”
So…
Let’s come back to the question we started with. Do you really need better posture?
My answer is… Probably not in the way you’ve been led to believe.
I don’t think most of us need to spend our lives trying to hold one perfect position.
Instead…
I think we need bodies that feel comfortable moving through lots of different positions.
Bodies that can – Bend; Reach; Rotate; Carry; Walk; Sit; Stand; Get down onto the floor; Get back up again.
👉 Bodies that adapt to whatever life asks of them.
Because life doesn’t happen in one posture. Life happens in movement.
Now… Imagine
Two trees standing side by side. One is completely rigid. It hardly moves at all.
The other bends and sways with the wind. Now imagine a storm comes through.
Which tree is more likely to survive?
Usually… It’s the one that can adapt. The one that can move. The one that isn’t fighting every gust of wind.
Our bodies are remarkably similar. The goal isn’t to become perfectly rigid. The goal is to become
- Adaptable
- Strong
- Resilient
👉 Able to respond to whatever life asks of us.
And I think that’s a much healthier goal than chasing perfect posture.
Looking Beyond Perfect Posture
One of the reasons I love what I do is that every single person teaches me something.
Yes, I’ve spent years studying anatomy, biomechanics, pain science and the incredible complexity of the human body.
But some of my biggest insights haven’t come from textbooks.
They’ve come from sitting across from thousands of people, listening to their stories, watching how they move, and asking myself one simple question…
“Why has this person’s body chosen this particular strategy?”
That’s very different from asking, “What’s wrong with them?”
Because when we only ask what’s wrong, we often end up looking for something that’s broken.
But when we ask why… Our perspective changes. We become curious.
And curiosity is one of the most powerful tools we have in healthcare.
Over the years I’ve also become increasingly fascinated by just how adaptable the human body really is.
Think about this for a moment.
Have you ever carried a heavy shopping bag on one side? Or a child on one hip?
Have you ever spent hours gardening? Moved house? Painted a room? Driven all day? Worked at a computer for ten hours?
We’ve all done things that temporarily change the way we move. Maybe afterwards you noticed
- One shoulder felt tighter.
- Your back felt stiff.
- Your neck felt sore.
- Or your body just felt… different.
Does that mean your body is damaged? Usually not.
More often than not, it means your body has adapted to the demands you’ve placed on it.
That’s what healthy bodies do. They adapt.
I’ll often notice this in myself. After a busy clinic day, I might realise I’ve spent hours leaning over patients from one side. Or perhaps I’ve been sitting at the computer longer than I intended while working on course material.
Sometimes I’ll stand up and think, “Wow… I feel a little stiff today.”
I don’t panic. I don’t immediately assume something has gone wrong.
Instead, I see it as information. My body is simply letting me know that it’s responded to what I’ve asked of it today.
Maybe it needs a walk. Maybe it needs some movement in a different direction. Maybe it needs a good night’s sleep.
That feels like a much kinder conversation to have with myself than, “Oh I’ve done it again, I’ve overworked myself… I’ll pay for that!”
Now, I know some of you might be thinking…
“But Alexis, I really can see that one shoulder is higher.”
Or… “My pelvis really does feel twisted.”
And you know what? You may well be right. Bodies aren’t perfectly symmetrical. Mine isn’t. Yours probably isn’t either.
- One foot is often slightly longer or wider than the other.
- One hip may move a little differently.
- One side of the rib cage may expand more easily than the other.
- One shoulder may naturally sit a little higher.
- One leg may appear longer in certain positions and shorter in others.
These are observations. And observations are useful.
As an osteopath, I spend a lot of time observing. I look at:
- Posture.
- They way people breathe.
- How they walk.
- If they are balanced.
- How they bend, squat, transfer weight.
- How their rib cage and pelvis move.
Because posture provides information.
But movement reveals function.
That’s where the real story often begins.
I’ve also noticed something else over the years.
I’ve seen people, often one after the other in clinic, that have really similar twists and strains in their body. But one feels pain in the right hip, and one feels pain in the left hip. Or where one person feels pain in the hip, where a different person would feel pain in the knee.
If posture alone explained pain, that wouldn’t make much sense!
Likewise, I’ve seen people whose scans show age-related changes, yet they’re gardening and hiking and traveling and enjoying life. And then I’ve met people who have very little changes on imaging who are experiencing significant discomfort.
What that tells me is something really important.
Pain is rarely explained by one single thing. It’s usually a combination of many influences.
- Movement.
- Load.
- Recovery.
- Stress.
- Sleep.
- Previous injuries.
- Confidence.
- Breathing.
- General health.
- Our nervous system.
And yes… Often posture is part of that picture too. But it’s rarely the entire picture.
That’s why I’d encourage you to think of posture as a clue… Not a conclusion.
It’s one piece of information. One chapter of the story. Not the whole book.
And I think that’s incredibly useful, and hopeful. Because if your body isn’t defined by one posture… Or one scan… Or one diagnosis…
Then it also means your future isn’t defined by them either.
Your body has the remarkable ability to continue adapting, learning and become more resilient.
And that’s exactly what we’re trying to encourage.
Not perfection 👉 Progress.
Not rigidity 👉 Adaptability.
Not fear 👉 Confidence.
What changed?
One of the things I really enjoy about healthcare is that it’s always evolving. As clinicians, we’re constantly learning. Sometimes new research confirms what we’ve believed for years. Sometimes it helps us refine our thinking.
And occasionally…
It completely changes the questions we’re asking. I think that’s one of the reasons I still love learning after all these years. Because the human body keeps reminding us that it’s wonderfully complex.
If we’d had this conversation thirty or forty years ago… Many health professionals would have confidently said, “Poor posture causes pain.”
It seemed logical. If something looked crooked… Surely that must be the problem.
If one shoulder was higher… If your spine wasn’t perfectly straight… If your pelvis wasn’t level…
That seemed like the obvious explanation. And to be fair… Sometimes it was part of the explanation.
But over time… Researchers started noticing something interesting. Actually…
Something quite surprising.
They began looking at thousands of people.
People with back pain. People without back pain.
People with neck pain. People without neck pain.
People with “good” posture. People with “poor” posture.
And they started asking…
“Does posture consistently predict who will have pain?”
The answer…
Wasn’t as simple as anyone expected.
They found people with what many would call “beautiful posture”… Who still had pain.
And they found people who slouched… Sat awkwardly… Worked physically demanding jobs… Or stood in ways that looked less than ideal… Who had no pain at all.
Now…
That doesn’t mean posture is irrelevant. Far from it.
What it tells us is something much more interesting.
Posture is one influence. Not the influence.
Imagine you’re baking a cake.
Could flour influence the final result?
Of course. But flour isn’t the whole cake. You also need eggs, liquid, heat and time.
The same is true of our bodies.
Posture may contribute. But so might…
How you breathe; sleep; how much stress you’re carrying; how strong and confident you feel; how often you move; how well you recover; your previous injuries; your general health; the demands of your work; your fitness; even your beliefs about pain.
When all of those ingredients come together… They create the experience you’re having today.
And that’s actually incredibly good news.
Because if posture was the only thing that mattered… Recovery would simply be about finding the perfect position.
But most of us know from experience… That doesn’t really happen.
Have you ever caught yourself sitting beautifully upright… Only to notice your neck still hurts?
Or perhaps you’ve found yourself completely relaxed on holidays… Moving more…
Laughing more… Sleeping better… And somehow…
Your pain starts settling down… Even though you’re probably not thinking about your posture at all.
Why?
Because your body doesn’t experience life one factor at a time. It experiences everything together.
One of the biggest shifts in my own clinical thinking has been moving away from asking,
“What position is this person in?” Towards asking, “How well can they move between positions?”
That might sound like a small difference. But it’s enormous. Because life isn’t lived in one posture.
Life is movement.
We bend, reach, twist, carry, lift, walk, sit, stand, roll over in bed, play with grandchildren, unload the dishwasher, garden, travel, dance… Live.
The body isn’t designed to hold one perfect position all day. It’s designed to move confidently between thousands of different positions.
Sometimes people ask me,
“So what’s the perfect posture?” And honestly… I think the best answer is…
Your next posture.
Because the healthiest posture is often the one that changes.
If you’ve been sitting… Stand.
If you’ve been standing… Walk.
If you’ve been walking… Sit for a while.
Variation is healthy. Our bodies love variability. They’re built for it.
In fact… When I assess someone in the clinic… I’m much more interested in how they move… Than whether they look perfectly straight standing still.
Can they rotate comfortably? Can they breathe well? Can they transfer weight? Can they balance confidently? Can they bend without fear? Can they get up from the floor? Can they walk with ease? Can they adapt when life asks something different of them?
Because those questions tell me much more about how their body is functioning.
I think that’s one of the biggest lessons my patients have taught me over the years. The people who tend to do best… Aren’t usually the ones chasing perfect posture. They’re the ones who gradually rebuild confidence. They become less afraid to move. Begin trusting their body again. Improve their capacity. And over time… Their body often responds remarkably well.
Not because it’s become perfect. But because it’s become more adaptable.
Before we finish today, I’d like to invite you to try three simple things this week.
No pressure. No failure. Just curiosity.
The first invitation is simply to become curious.
This week, notice how often you catch yourself thinking…
“My body’s out.”
“My posture’s terrible.”
“I’ve done something wrong.”
Don’t judge yourself. Just notice. Then ask yourself a different question.
“I wonder what my body is trying to tell me?” (Rather than, “What’s wrong with me?”)
The second invitation – Instead of chasing the perfect posture… …see if you can give your body a little more variety.
If you’ve been sitting… Stand.
If you’ve been standing… Walk.
If you’ve been gardening… Stretch into a different direction.
If you’ve been working at the computer… Take a few deep breaths, move your rib cage, move your hips, walk to make a cup of tea.
Healthy bodies don’t usually need one perfect position. They thrive on variety.
And finally… the third invitation – I’d like to invite you to trust your body just a little more.
Remember that your body has spent your entire life adapting, learning, protecting you, helping you. It is far more capable than you realise.
Over the next few weeks
We’re going to keep gently challenging some of the assumptions that many of us have grown up believing. Not because they’re completely wrong, but because sometimes seeing the body through a different lens changes the way we care for it. And I hope, little by little, these conversations help you become more confident in your body, in your movement… and perhaps just a little more curious.
Because I truly believe, Recovery begins with understanding.
So that’s it for today.
Did it raise any questions or aha moments? If so, I’d love to hear them. So please put those in the comment section. I love answering questions. I hope you found today useful. And if you know someone who could use this information, please share it. Remember to comment, like and subscribe.
Until next time and in health,
Bye for now.
