Personalised support for posture, balance and movement
Postural Alignment Therapy takes a whole-body view of how you stand, move, and compensate, rather than concentrating only on the area where you may be experiencing a problem.
Through postural and movement assessment and a personalised sequence of gentle exercises, I explore patterns that may be influencing your posture, movement and physical balance.
The aim is not to force your body into an idea of perfect posture. It is to understand how your body is currently organising itself and provide exercises designed around your individual needs.
Postural Alignment Therapy is available in-person at Middlefield Wellness Centre in Fife and remotely online.
What Is Postural Alignment Therapy?
Postural Alignment Therapy is an exercise-based approach that considers posture, balance, movement and patterns of physical compensation throughout the body.
My approach is influenced by the principles of the Egoscue Method, which uses individual postural and movement assessment followed by a personalised sequence of exercises.
Rather than giving everyone the same stretches or strengthening routine, I look at the patterns that are relevant to your body.
What I observe during your assessment then helps guide the exercises I choose for you.
For a concise introduction to the approach, read What is Postural Alignment Therapy?
Posture Is More Than Standing Up Straight
It is not about holding yourself in the correct position
When people hear the word posture, they often think about being told to pull their shoulders back or stand up straight.
I look at posture differently.
Posture reflects the way your body organises itself against gravity and during movement. Your muscles are involved not only in creating movement but also in supporting stability, balance and coordination.
Your posture is not static either. The way you sit, stand, walk, drive, exercise and carry out everyday activities can all influence the patterns your body develops over time.
I am not looking for an artificially rigid position that you need to maintain all day. I am interested in how your body moves, adapts and distributes effort.
Why I Take a Whole-Body View
The area that feels uncomfortable or restricted is not necessarily the only area involved.
If one part of the body is moving differently or contributing less effectively to a movement, another area may begin doing more to compensate. Over time, those compensatory patterns can become familiar.
This is why I do not automatically focus on one shoulder because that shoulder feels uncomfortable, or look only at the lower back because that is where you notice tension.
Instead, I look at how the different areas of your body are working together. That broader picture can help me decide which movements and exercises may be useful to explore.
What Happens During a Postural Alignment Assessment?
Your first appointment gives me time to understand what you are experiencing and look at your posture and movement more closely.
Depending on your individual circumstances, I may consider:
- Standing posture
- Balance and weight distribution
- Shoulder and pelvic position
- Body symmetry
- Movement patterns
- Mobility
- Areas that appear to be compensating
- How comfortably you can carry out different movements
This is a postural and movement assessment, not a medical diagnosis.
I use what I observe to help determine which exercises may be appropriate for you.
Your Personalised Exercise Programme
You are an active part of the process
Postural Alignment Therapy is different from coming for a hands-on therapy and simply lying on a treatment couch. You take an active role.
Following your assessment, I put together a sequence of exercises based on the patterns we have identified.
These may involve different positions and movements designed to encourage greater body awareness and support changes in the way different areas of the body work together.
The choice and sequence of exercises matter.
I will take you through your exercises so that you understand what you are doing and how to perform them before continuing with them yourself at home.
As we review your progress, your programme can be adapted according to what I observe and how your body is responding.
Do I Need to Exercise Every Day?
Consistency is an important part of Postural Alignment Therapy.
Your personalised exercises give you something you can continue working with between appointments rather than relying entirely on what happens during a session with me.
How often and for how long you practise will depend on your individual programme.
I will explain what I would like you to do and help make the programme realistic enough to fit into your everyday life.
Postural Alignment Therapy and the Nervous System
Posture and movement do not happen independently of the nervous system.
Your nervous system is constantly receiving information about position and movement and helping coordinate how your body responds.
This is one of the reasons Postural Alignment Therapy fits naturally with the wider way I work.
I do not see posture simply as a collection of bones that need to be put back into the right position. I am interested in movement, muscular patterns, compensation, body awareness and how everything works together.
The goal is not perfect posture. It is greater balance, awareness and adaptability in the way your body moves.
In-Person Postural Alignment Therapy
In-person appointments take place at Middlefield Wellness Centre in Fife. Your first session gives us time for your assessment, discussion and guidance through your personalised exercise programme.
First Appointment
Postural and movement assessment followed by guidance through your personalised exercise programme.
90-minutes£90
Book a First AppointmentFollow-up Appointment
Review your progress, reassess movement patterns and adapt your exercise programme where appropriate.
60-minutes£60
Book a Follow-Up AppointmentOnline Postural Alignment Therapy
Work with me from home
Postural Alignment Therapy can also be provided remotely.
Because much of the approach involves observation, movement and personalised exercises rather than hands-on treatment, we can work effectively together by video.
For an online appointment, you will need:
- A phone, tablet or computer with a camera
- Enough space for me to see you standing and moving
- Somewhere suitable to carry out your exercises
- Comfortable clothing that allows you to move easily
I can observe your posture and movement through video, guide you through your exercises and make changes to your programme as we work together.
This means you do not need to live in Fife to work with me.
What Might I Notice?
Everyone responds differently.
As you become more familiar with your exercises, you may become increasingly aware of the way you stand, sit and move.
Some people may notice changes in areas such as balance, mobility, ease of movement or the way particular movements feel.
Changes may happen gradually rather than all at once. Your experience will depend on your individual movement patterns and how consistently you are able to work with your programme.
There is no guaranteed timescale, and individual results vary.
Is This About Correcting My Posture?
Not in the sense of forcing everybody into one supposedly ideal position.
I do not want you spending your day consciously pulling your shoulders back or trying to hold yourself rigidly.
Instead, I look at how your body is functioning.
Where does movement come easily? Where does another area appear to be compensating? How does your balance change in different positions? What happens when we introduce a particular movement?
Those questions give us much more useful information than simply deciding whether someone looks as though they are standing straight.
My Approach to Postural Alignment Therapy
My interest in posture forms part of a much wider interest in how the body functions as a whole.
My background in healthcare, CranioSacral Therapy and nervous-system-focused work has taught me not to view one symptom or one area of the body in isolation.
Postural Alignment Therapy gives me another way of exploring those connections.
When I assess you, I am not looking for faults. I am looking for patterns.
I want to understand what your body is currently doing, where it may be compensating and which movements may provide useful support.
I am not interested in making everyone fit an idea of perfect posture. I am interested in helping you understand your own body and how it moves.
The Egoscue Influence
The principles behind my Postural Alignment work are influenced by the Egoscue Method.
The approach was developed by Pete Egoscue and centres around looking at posture and movement as a whole, then using individually selected exercises to work with the patterns identified.
Rather than applying the same exercise routine to everyone, the exercises are chosen according to the individual.
This principle of looking at the whole person rather than simply the location of a symptom fits naturally with the way I work at Middlefield Wellness Centre.
Postural Alignment Programme
When you would like more structured support
Sometimes one assessment and exercise programme is enough for what someone wants to explore. At other times, ongoing support may be more useful.
My Postural Alignment Programme provides a more structured period of support, allowing us to review how you are progressing and adapt your exercises as your movement patterns change.
This can also provide greater guidance and accountability if you prefer not to work entirely independently between appointments.
Postural Alignment Therapy in Fife and Online
I offer Postural Alignment Therapy from Middlefield Wellness Centre in Fife, Scotland, as well as remotely online.
My in-person clients come from across the whole of Fife, as well as Tayside, Perthshire and the Lothians.
If travelling to Middlefield is not practical, the online option means we can work together wherever you are.
Ready to Explore Postural Alignment Therapy?
You do not need to understand what is happening with your posture before you come to see me.
Your first appointment gives us time to look at the bigger picture, assess the way you stand and move, and begin creating an exercise programme that is personal to you.
Available in-person or online