0:00 - 2:04 - Intro
- Niek didn’t believe the Information he’s about to deliver
- This will be an active podcast, You will be able to test things out in Real Time.
2:05 - 6:05 - What is Posture?
- Posture vs Alignment.
- There is no good or Bad Posture
- However there is alignment; how is the body designed to be organized when at rest.
- Is modern Posture actually misalignment?
- Modern-Day Posture is strongly driven by theatre and acting If You look far enough modern posture is driven by the need to create segregation in ancient Europe.
- This posture has now been adopted by the Health & Fitness Industry as the Gold Standard.
6:06 - 10:38 - The Fundamental Truths of the Human Body’s Design
- The truths of the body; what Biomechanic Experts see.
- the primary & secondary curve; primary curve = in the womb, secondary curve = birhting process.
- Internal vs. External Torque Chains; Internal torque chains bring You towards Your midline, external brings You away.
- Kelly Starrett’s role in bringin External torque chains into the public space.
- A dominant torque chain or curve will drive muscular imbalance; superficial muscular contraction is necessary for correction.
- Why superficial muscles are not responsible for alignment or posture “at rest”.
- Why You’re posture is stiff; why You’re movement is stiff.
- Making the Body move and Allowing the Body to move are two different processes.
10:39 - 14:35 - How the Unity Line and Innate Alignment was discovered
- Penelope Easten’s Book; The 12 steps tp the Alexander Technique; dove deep into alignment and natural movement
- Francois Delsarte; practiced theatre; had no idea about Body mechanics; simply disliked rigid stage presence.
- How Delsarte using song to accidentally stumble upon true Human alignment.
- In hindsight, people who were interested in Biomechanics tried to decipher Delsarte’s method.
- The emergence of the Unity Line.
14:36 - 18:21 - What is the Unity Line?
- The Unity line allows the bones to spirallicallly align with gravity
- Movement Analysts and experts like Roye Goldenschmidt and Naudi Aguilar have discovered this naturally and independently.
- The Unity Line defined
- The Unity Line is an invisible air column; it comes to fruition when skeletal landmarks are aligned.
- Niek took a 3-month break from the Unity Line concept because it felt so ridiculous.
- The Unity Line throws a wrench into the concept of what “Good Posture” really is.
- Faulty Sensory Perception
18:22 - 20:51 - What You will most likely experience when You try to get into “Unity Line Posture”
- Most likely You have been doing 1 of 2 things around posture; what this means for Your fascia.
- The Unity Line Posture will come more natural and less awkward looking as Your Fascial Tissue starts to change and “release”.
20:52 - 23:40 - Finding the Unity Line
- We are going to ID some Bony Landmarks.
- You will need a 30cm stick and a 1m stick.
- Landmarks on the Front of Your Body You will need to find and how to find them.
- Landmarks Summary
- Forgotten Landmark (26:25) - ASIS
23:41 - 25:10 - Finding the Unity Line in the Back
- Landmarks on the Front of Your Body You will need to find and how to find them.
25:11 - 29:03 - Exercises to find the Unity Line
- Exercises to find the Unity Line
- Difference between Anterior & Posterior Pelvic tilt
- Niek forgot a Landmark (ASIS)
- Your lower back curve does is not visible from outside of Your Body
- What happens if You do not have a straight line from Sacrum to T8.
29:04 - 32.54 - Getting Your Scapulas into Position, “awakening” them
- The shoulder throws everybody off.
- Getting in touch with Your shoulder; harder than You think.
- Bring Your Armpits to the front hack.
- Your scapula is actually on the side of Your Body.
- Using the 1m stick to see how close You are to the Unity Line.
- Grab the 30cm stick and make a cross at Your sternum
- What it means if these sticks are not touching.
- Move the 30cm stick to Your Costal Arch, make adjustments.
32:55 - 35:34 - How to try to move closer towards the Unity Line
- The spine will be compressed if You are not on the Unity Line
- Air Sack Analogy
- Try to get longer Hack; try to lengthen Your whole Body
- The struggle is part of the success.
35:35 - 39:47 - The Vertical Hanging Arm
- This is the silliest looking piece of the Unity Line
- This position radically shifts Your ability to move Your arm.
- Your Legs are like pillars that hold You up; Your arms are free hanging, they should be aligned with gravity.
- Exercise for finding the Proper shoulder slignment
- Gorilla Arms caveat; why Gorilla Arms get a bad rap.
- Pinky Finger Counterrotation Hack
- Why You look stiff & silly.
- How Niek gets his mileage in.
39:48 - 42:58 - You have successfully found the Unity Line
- Your Body organizes itself through these landmarks to find balance
- Movement gets optimized when organized around the Unity Line
- Why it feels stiff & rigid
- Vertical Hanging Arm Exercise; which requires less effort.
- How the Unity Line impacts Your Breath
- Your Lungs are mostly in Your back
- Oxygenatiion and Fluid Exchange are maximized when posture is ganized around the Unity Line
42:59 - 47:00 - How the scapula impacts the Gait Cycle.
- How the shoulders turn on the Serratus Anterior
- The job of the serratus anterior and how it impacts Scapular handling.
- Scapular Dyskinesis; how it effects gait.
- Arms start the gait cycle
- Exercise to test whether You are Scapular winging or not.
- Why do Humans need the vertical Haniging Arm; Brachiation
- Why Brachiation is a precursor to gait and throwing
- Brachiation translates into Throwing
47:01 - 48:55 - The Vertical Hanging Arm is only for standing or Walking
- Lines of Tension are required for Athletic Feats
- Lines of tension will organically arise as You increase demond of force.
- Moving from rest to athleticism becomes fluid when the Unity Line is the resting position.
48:56 - 52:22 - Stand facing forward in the mirror for alignment and Close-Out.
- What landmarks should be directly across from eachother.
- Your clavicles need to be level; what thi means.
- Level Your clavicles using Your Lungs; blow Yourself up from the inside out.
- How optimizing mechanics optimizes metabolism.
RESOURCES
Kelly Starrett - The Ready State
Kelly Starrett - Supple Leopard Book
Penelope easten - The 12 Fundamentals to Integrated Movement
Frederick Alexander - The Alexander Technique
Youtube Playlist with Jeando Maseoro - Alexander Technique Teacher
Roye Goldenschmidt - Movement Israel
Naudi Aguilar - Functional Patterns
Katie Bowman - How to Move Your DNA Book
Katie Bowman - The Movement Movement
Unity Line Landmarks Photo
Balanced around the Unity Line
images are from The Alexander technique, twelve fundamentals of integrated movement by Penelope Easten. https://uk.singingdragon.com/products/the-alexander-technique
Imbalanced around the Unity Line
images are from The Alexander technique, twelve fundamentals of integrated movement by Penelope Easten. https://uk.singingdragon.com/products/the-alexander-technique
