What would perfect posture be for you? Even the process of asking yourself that is a sort of meditation. Ask yourself:
What would complete support feel like?
What would complete freedom of movement allow me to do with my body?
What would an elegant sense of poise and balanced tone feel like?

One thing that happens is the experience of this “perfect” alignment can actually be “unremarkable”. This means that nothing stands out, and in some ways the body ceases to be a nuisance or irritant.
This can also mean a heightened sensitivity to inner subtlety, coupled with an increased tolerance for outer agitation and worldly troubles.

For me, the first consideration is the issue of support: how well is my body resting into ground, in standing,walking and general movement? How effortlessly is this happening? What’s getting in the way?

How well does the rest of my body adapt to these needs for support from the ground? When we have structural integrity throughout our body-system, the body takes up its natural space, without being collapsed in on itself or pressed outwards tensely. This is what is alluded to above by “balance of tone” in the body. The lines of movement release out in to space in all directions, and we retain a sense of depth, and of weight, in motion and stillness. There are words for this: “palintonicity”, a word coined by Jeffrey Maitland to mean “even tone”, and also meaning a balance of tensions extending inward and outward in all directions, effortlessly. To me this also implies an ability to connect experientially, in the moment, to the opposite side of the focus of our conscious attention in movement. For example, sensing the back of the hand while efforting to mold or sculpt a client’s tissue in bodywork; to use the feet/legs to push up from the floor while lifting a heavy box or just yielding into the ground to allow a wave of ease up through my body after working with a task that keeps my arms and hands busy way over my head for too long.These can be subtle cues, these reminders to maintain a balanced tone! Even with this subtlety, great power and potential is made available to us in this way.

Please notice that I have tried to avoid being doctrinaire regarding Rolfing®, spiritual practices, diet, exercise, sexuality, ethics and all of the various “postures” we can ( and should) maintain in life. Everyone has their own path. This being said, Rolfing Structural Integration is a highly effective method for pursuing the definition of “perfect posture” for you which you can apply to yoga, dance, sports, work and play. Please see the rest of this site at rolfinginboulder.com for more information on Rolfing.