Astralign Mission Statement

I’ve worked in the physical therapy/bodywork field for over twenty five years. Over the thousands of hours I’ve worked with clients I noticed the majority of them complained about chronic neck and shoulder discomfort.  I further noticed that the ones with the most chronic shoulder/neck pain were also presenting with an exaggerated curve in the Thoracic spine area (Kyphosis). Knowing that the Trepezius muscle runs not just across the top of the shoulders but down the Thoracic spine I began to focus my treatments on loosening up the Thoracic part of the Trapezius muscle as well as the intercostal rib muscles attached to the Thoracic vertebrae and achieved spectacular results in relieving shoulder and neck pain.

I drew the conclusion that it was incorrect thoracic positioning (Kyphosis) that was at the root of most neck and shoulder discomfort. And that the causes of incorrect thoracic positioning were:

  1. a) Atrophy through lack of use of ‘binding’ back muscles such as the Serratus Posterior Superior, b) Forward head posture caused by contemporary demands of driving in cars, computer work . and Smartphone usage. 

This is serious business: Most heads weigh 10-14 pounds – every inch your head moves off axis it gains and additional 10 lbs of gravitational weight.  Beyond the stress this puts on the neck and shoulder muscles, improper head positioning if unattended will lead to degenerative changes in the spine. Also and perhaps in the long run most damaging is that Kyphosis collapses the front (floating) ribs down into the abdominal cavity putting pressure on the heart and other internal organs and restricting the amount of room the diaphragm has to expand – thus restricting optimal oxygen infusion into to the body.