HEALTH
Habits are hard to change, and when you sit eight
or more hours a day in front of a screen it’s no won-
der our backs and hips are out of kilter. Low back
pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide,
according to the Global Burden of Disease report,
affecting almost 30% of the population. It is one
of the most common reasons for missed work and
visits to the doctor’s office, and the World Health
Organization estimates the costs associated with
it to be $100 to $200 billion worldwide.
According to Kathleen, the problems often start in
infancy. We keep babies on their backs for hours
at a time, so they don’t strengthen the back and
neck muscles they use when they lift their heads
to peer around and crawl. We put shoes on them
because they look so cute, and when they do walk,
it is on hard flat surfaces that don’t stimulate and
strengthen the arches of the foot. When kids (and
adults) then sit for hours in front of a screen, or
hunched over a cell phone, it’s all downhill from
there.
Kathleen has now written a new book called,
Healthy Posture for Babies and Children (Inner
Traditions July 25, 2017). It is intended as a man-
ual for teaching parents, teachers, and kids how
to restore their natural alignment. The book:
Explores the principles of natural alignment in
accessible ways to share with children
Details simple and fun exercises--for kids and
adults alike--that “remind” the body of its natu-
ral patterns and movements
Explains how innate movements and natural
alignment play an essential role in the devel-
opment of a fully functioning body and nervous
system
If you have a child to care for, Kathleen Porter’s
book provides a graphic and easy to follow guide
for preventing back issues in later life. As for the
rest of us, her books can help us all recover the nat-
ural posture that babies are born with and people
in many other cultures around the world are able
to preserve throughout their lives.
Reviewed by Miriam Knight
INTERVIEW
Kathleen Porter is a longtime movement educator and author dedicated
to sharing revolutionary insights about skeletal alignment that released
her from decades of chronic tension and pain. She has traveled the world
learning from people who have maintained into adulthood and old age,
the innate natural alignment demonstrated by all healthy babies and
toddlers. Kathleen is focused on bringing awareness of these principles
to the mainstream so that more and more people can find relief from
an epidemic of posture-related pain and health issues. She is the au-
thor of Natural Posture for Pain-Free Living: The Practice of Mindful Align-
ment, Sad Dog, Happy Dog: How Poor Posture Affects Your Child’s Health &
What You Can Do About It, and Healthy Posture for Babies and Children.
Listen to Miriam Knight’s interview with Kathleen about natural posture
here:
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW