International Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Open Access
ISSN: 2329-9096
ISSN: 2329-9096
Ronald J (Ron) Dennis
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Int J Phys Med Rehabil
T he Posturality of the Person: A Guide to Postural Education & Therapy (Posturality Press, Atlanta, 2013) introduces the concept of ?posturality? to characterize the quality of an individual?s posture. Quality in anything can be only partially quantified; ultimately, an assessment of quality is a function of an observer?s judgment of individual cases relative to a defined group, as in, for example, the judgment of an individual dog relative to its breed standard. Postural quality varies from moment to moment; the assessment of postural quality, whether by an outside observer or by the individual in question, is always conditional relative to the present moment. Assertions about stable postural quality (?I have good/bad posture?) are thus undue generalizations, subject to further observation and assessment. ?Right now? is the only available time for such assessment. Postural quality is a function of the extent to which, in real time, the body is used at its optimal structural dimension, or ?length.? ?Lengthening? by whatever name is thus the required principle that unifies the theory of posture as both support and movement. In practice, this principle enables the competent teacher-therapist to assess postural quality reliably and, through the employment of manual and verbal cues and without arbitrary physical exercises, to provide experiences of a normal posturality leading to accurate proprioceptive perception.
Ron Dennis, Ed.D. has taught the Alexander Technique professionally since 1980, first in New York City and since 1990 in Atlanta. His research paper on balance in normal older women ( Journal of Gerontology:MEDICAL SCIENCES, 1999 , Vol. 54A, No. 1, M8?M11), the first controlled study with ?Alexander Technique? in the title to enter the Index Medicus , placed this Technique in the global world of scientific research. Of his book, a reviewer on Amazon.com has said, ?In conclusion, The Posturality of the Person will reward those with professional and theoretical interests in musculoskeletal health as well as general readers looking for a sound, clear and practical basis for dramatically improving their own postural use.?