Do YOU Have ... C.O.P.E.D.?

Chronic Orthopedic Postural Ecologic Dislocation

In basic lay terms that's when your body is out of whack according to the simple dictates of Gravity. Mis-aligned. Imbalanced. Most people live with it. Surprisingly, it's so commonplace, it goes unnoticed.

If you are diagnosed with Chronic Orthopedic Postural Ecologic Dislocation (COPED), who do you call? Might as well call Ghost Busters! 

Huh? Why you say that, you ask?

Well ... That's because it's not on the books. There is no such diagnosis. Not yet, anyway. You can take a shot for it, but not the kind you would imagine.

It takes almost as many forms as there are people. A fairly typical example looks like this ...

We're talking here about how the human body over time can get out of sorts in simple architectural terms. This is due to many factors, unique to each of us: Injuries, accidents and traumas, both physical and psychological. Bad habits. Absence of correct training. The human body is plastic. It adapts. We are shaped by our experience. 

We learn to cope with life's challenges, and organize our bodies to compensate. Trouble is, those compensations get rooted into actual flesh. And, they persist as limitations which impede enjoying life as it is in the present moment.

Take my Uncle Stash. [Please!] Round shoulders, flat forehead. Anytime he was asked a question he would shrug his shoulders if he didn't know the answer (which was often). When he got the answer he would slap his forehead. Over time ... you get the picture.

We take random imbalances in the architectural makeup of our bodies to be normal. It is usual; but, not normal.

Normal, in structural terms, as any architect or building trade worker knows, calls for things to be neatly stacked up on a straight line, everything even and level. "Plumb and square" is the rule. It applies even in architecture that seems to defy Gravity ─ on the surface at least. The truth is that deep down, where the weight stresses are carried, you can be sure that Frank Gehry's and Zaha Haddid's wonderful fancies are all perfectly even, in balance.

That sort of thing in terms of the human body is a problem. We pay for imbalances in terms of living below our potential for vibrant good health. It saps energy. Limits the potential for top performance and full creative expressiveness.

Unlike architectural buildings the human body is not a static structure. It moves. Also, it's segmented. Holding this all together is an exquisitely interconnected system of balanced tensional forces. Muscles, connective tissues, bones. Each segment ─ head, neck, shoulders, arms, torso, pelvis, legs ─ needs to be in alignment according to that plumb and square standard mentioned before.

There's a fix. It's fast, effective, and long lasting. Since the body is plastic the relationships in the arrangement of the body can change back for the better. 

There's a lot you can do by yourself. Like Momma said, sit up straight. Let your feet go out straight in front when you walk. Raise your reading ─ book or computer screen ─ to eye level. Oh, yes, that little smarty-ass phone too.

If you want personal assistance to accelerate this transformation, you can call on a qualified  Structural Integration Practitioner like me.