Ground Force Reaction

 The effect of lying on the ground with gravity weighing upin us is called ground force reaction. Here is why it is important.

Today we’re talking about something called ground force reaction, a term that describes how your body responds to contact with the ground.

In posture therapy, we use this concept intentionally. You’ve probably seen an exercise where you're lying flat on your back with your arms out to the sides. I often compare this to pancake batter hitting the griddle. Think about it, when the batter touches the hot surface, it flattens and spreads. That’s exactly what your body does when it meets the floor.

So if your shoulders are rounded or your head naturally pushes forward, lying down allows the ground to gently push back on you. This pressure helps open up your posture, lengthen your spine, and guide your body back to a more neutral position, often without you having to think or force anything.

That’s why a lot of the restorative work we do in posture therapy starts with lying down. The ground does part of the work for you.

So if you’ve ever wondered why posture therapy sometimes looks like “just lying there,” now you know, you’re working with gravity and ground force to realign your body, gently and naturally.

Serving Colorado from our centrally located office in Westminster and seeing clients from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs, Denver and Boulder, we can also help globally via WebCam such as Zoom or FaceTime.

Anu Lawrence owned Egoscue Method clinics for over a decade before moving to private practice in 2022 and is a certified master instructor in the Egoscue Method, having learned the craft from Pete Egoscue directly.