Posture is the personalised adaptation of each individual to the physical, psychological and emotional environment; it is the way we respond to gravity and communicate.
It is determined by the tonic contraction of skeletal muscles that stabilise the joints.
Posture is maintained and continuously adjusted, both in static and dynamic conditions, through reflex nervous mechanisms activated by stimuli coming from: the eyes, the inner ear, information related to the position and movement of the head in space, and proprioceptive sensory receptors located in muscles and joints.
Information from the external and internal environment is collected by the tonic postural system, which processes it and provides an appropriate response to counteract gravity and other disturbances caused by external situations.
Reflex mechanisms, known as postural reflexes, are mainly expressed through the extrapyramidal system: the motor pathways and nerve centres that act directly or indirectly on movement, controlling instinctive reactions and adapting them to voluntary movement, which is instead coordinated by the pyramidal system.
Beyond conscious awareness of body schema, proprioception, mobility and flexibility, it is essential to re-educate posture through the only truly effective approach: the involuntary one.