All Matter Has Motion
Chiropractic Principle #14 on Universal Life: “Force is manifested by motion in matter; all matter has motion, therefore there is Universal Life in all matter.” (Stephenson RW, Doctor of Chiropractic, 1927).
Our body is constantly in motion. Even while sound asleep, our body’s cells, tissues, and organs are constantly abuzz with activity, with its complex coordination constantly facilitated by the nervous system. The body becomes even more dynamic when we engaged in certain postures by day.
Vertebral Subluxations
Many of us are aware that bodily stress from activities or environments can cause vertebral subluxations. Subluxations are spinal misalignments that cause nervous system interference. If “all matter has motion”, it is certainly likely that our spine may have been subluxated while we were moving in a specific posture.
Dynamic Postures in Dancers
For example, dancers may have sustained a subluxation in the pelvis while holding an attitude leg in derrière posture (pictured above), a subluxation in the hip bone while standing in relevé posture, or even a spinal subluxation while doing a full split. Instead of just checking the dancer in a traditional lying down posture, why not do a check in the specific Posture of Subluxation (POS) that caused the issue in the first place? If the issue only occurs in a particular posture, why not check that specifically?
From my experience working with dancer patients, they are very aware of their own bodies. They would know if there is something holding back their usual poses and full ranges of motion. My advice in this case would be to get checked in order to get to the root sources of those issues, rather than waiting for them to accumulate or just pushing through the pain.
Likewise, as a competitive marathoner myself, I frequently get my own spine checked for vertebral subluxations. Many of my subluxations show up in a particular running stance or posture, so my Doctor of Chiropractic checks me in that POS if needed.
Posture of Subluxation (POS)
The ability to correct the patient in the POS is important because certain stresses may only be provoked in specific positions. This is reason why our clinic often checks and adjusts patients in seated, standing, or bending positions, according to whatever position the Koren Specific Technique (KST) analysis reveals. Chiropractic adjustments here are mostly done using a gentle and specific adjusting instrument called the ArthroStim, which “taps” the misaligned segment at a speed of 12 times per second. This way, nervous system interference can be removed and function restored, even in seemingly unusual postures. Gentle adjustments are done without any spinal “cracking, popping, or twisting”.
There are no limits to how many ways we can potentially subluxate ourselves when we are in too much (or even too little) motion. Are we looking into the root causes of these issues just from a static viewpoint, or a dynamic one?
In health,
Dr. Ashley Liew