Many of them have been my own. Many of them belonged to my teammates or opponents. And many still impacted my friends and family.

Over the last few years working as a physical therapist, I’ve noticed something quite different than what I would have expected in this type of industry.

The vast majority of the people that come through the clinic door don’t have an acute injury. And this includes all the athletes with their sprains and strains.

What I mean by that is that these people didn’t have a sudden trauma that initiated their pain and dysfunction.

Although a majority of these individuals may state an event where things went downhill, their history actually tells quite a different story. Most of them can recall multiple low back pain episodes or multiple ankle sprains. There is very seldom just the one injury.

And that’s what brings me to the importance of the everyday.

(I realize that the song has nothing to do with the everyday other than the title, but it’s a fantastic song so enjoy while you read the post)

This is probably the most important lesson I attempt to impart on my clients. It’s the one knowledge bomb I try to send them home with.

It’s your everyday activities that injure you or keep you in pain.

At it’s very essence, this statement simply means that there is something that you do as part of your daily activities that continues to irritate or injure you. If you could remove or modify it, your body would be given the opportunity to do what it does best, which is heal.

The challenge is to figure out what it is that causes you the problem in the first place.

And then remove it.

Yours in movement.

Dev Chengkalath

Do your shoulders feel tight and stiff? Does your back ache on a regular basis?

Are you always sore?

The culprit to all that ails you may be your posture!

Instead of telling you all the things that may be wrong with your posture at this point, I’ll tell you what should be happening with it.

The best posture is the one that keeps changing.

So make sure you change your position often and avoid prolonged postures. These include long periods of driving, sitting on a couch, or working at a desk.

If you have to sit, make sure your chair or workstation is adjusted for your body to minimize strain.

Neutral posture starts with your hips and pelvis. From there, your head should be held tall with your chin tucked in. Keep your shoulder blades back and down and your chest up. Basically, think long and tall when sitting or standing.

This will help you avoid slouching.

Hmm…isn’t that just like your mother used to say?

To your posture.

Dev Chengkalath