| Late in 2001, a great deal of media attention was | | | | organization, the head / spine relationship -- |
| focused on Ginger, a.k.a. "IT" - a secret invention that | | | | compressed or free -- determines the quality of the |
| the brilliant and eccentric inventor Dean Kamen had | | | | body's overall coordination."Our neuromuscular system |
| been working on for over a decade. Some reports | | | | is designed to work in concert with gravity. Delicate |
| said it would be an even bigger deal than the | | | | poise of the head sparks the body's anti-gravity |
| PC!What finally emerged in early December was the | | | | response: a natural oppositional force in the torso |
| Segway, a self-balancing "human transporter". It uses | | | | that easily guides us upward and invites the spine to |
| a combination of gyroscopes, tilt sensors and high | | | | lengthen, rather than compress, as we move. Instead |
| performance motors - and vast amounts of | | | | of slouching or holding ourselves in a rigid posture, we |
| computing power - to produce a scooter-like device | | | | can learn to mobilize this support system and use it |
| that lets you travel over virtually any kind of terrain | | | | wherever we go -- in the car, at the computer, in |
| without toppling over.As Kamen explains, "The idea is | | | | the gym."But this elegant design only works well if |
| to put a human being into a system where the | | | | the muscles in our necks are free of excess tension. |
| machine acts as an extension of your body. When | | | | And unfortunately, as we go through life, many of us |
| you walk, you're really in what's called a controlled fall. | | | | develop tension in our necks and other parts of our |
| You off-balance yourself, putting one foot in front of | | | | body, that interfere with both our upright posture |
| the other and falling onto them over and over again. | | | | and our ability to use our body as it was |
| When you use a Segway, there's a gyroscope that | | | | designed.You can easily see this for yourself if you |
| acts like your inner ear, a computer that acts like | | | | take a look at just about any group of adults running |
| your brain, motors that act like your muscles, wheels | | | | or jogging and compare what you see to children |
| that act like your feet."Segway's performance has | | | | running about at play. More often than not, the adults |
| earned rave reviews, although its $3000 price tag | | | | will be tightening their faces shoulders, arms - and of |
| may limit sales to industrial markets and the high-end | | | | course their necks. Most small children will be running |
| consumer market.The Segway is a wonderful | | | | about with ease and poise.The harmful posture and |
| reminder of our own ability to stand and move about | | | | movement habits many of us acquire as we grow up |
| with an upright posture. The Segway's design is | | | | can come about for a variety of reasons: the |
| impressive all right, but what's even more amazing is | | | | unconscious imitation of adults in their lives who |
| the design of our body that allows us to go about | | | | themselves carry excess tension, bad school furniture |
| life without falling over. After all, we are tall, relatively | | | | design or stressful family situations, to name but a |
| thin creatures with a high center of gravity resting on | | | | few.A machine like the Segway doesn't have to face |
| two rather small feet.Why on earth don't we just | | | | these kinds of problems. If something happens to |
| keep falling over? How do we stay upright?A large | | | | affect its functioning - perhaps a motor or computer |
| part of the answer lies in the way our head is | | | | failure - it's quickly fixed by repair or replacement.For |
| balanced on top of our spines and an ingenious | | | | us, it's more complicated. We can't just go out and |
| structure that allows for stability - our heads don't | | | | order a new neck when our old one becomes |
| easily detach from our bodies! - and for flexibility - | | | | excessively tight. But we can use our intelligence to |
| our heads can move quickly and easily in response to | | | | assess the situation and learn how to release the |
| changing circumstances.As Joan Arnold, a teacher of | | | | harmful posture and movement patterns that have |
| the Alexander Technique in New York City writes: "... | | | | crept into our lives.There are a number of somatic |
| when the neck muscles do not overwork, the head | | | | teaching and therapeutic processes that can help us |
| balances lightly at the top of spine. The relationship | | | | restore the grace and ease of movement we had as |
| between the head and the spine is of utmost | | | | children. The one I'm most familiar with is the |
| importance. How we manage that relationship has | | | | Alexander Technique. Taught for over a century, it |
| ramifications throughout the rest of the body. As the | | | | has a well-deserved reputation for helping people |
| boss -- good or bad -- sets the tone for an | | | | improve the quality of their physical functioning. |