World Travel

So you are on this whirlwind tour through China. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and your time is limited. There is so much to see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and of course to eat. Did I forget to mention the shopping? You have a list longer than your arm of people who could, would, should, or expect you to bring them something home. How much should you eat, spend, carry, ship, and wear?

Having spent the last 24 hours in travel, split up between arriving at the airport, lining up, checking in your luggage, lining up, going through security, wandering around the departure lounge for 2 hours, lining up, embarking, finding your seat (window seat over the wing), spending 14 hours, 2 meals, 3 bathroom trips, lining up, disembarking, walking to get your luggage, lining up, going through customs, gathering with your tour group, getting your luggage on the bus, lining up, getting on the bus, and finally arriving at your hotel, lining up, getting your room key, going up to your room and flopping on the bed totally exhausted. This is the beginning of the trip! Yay!

Okay so this was almost our experience. Ours included a stop at a Chinese restaurant in Beijing for our first meal (breakfast) and a stop to see Wal*Mart in Beijing on the way to the hotel. From there on, things just got more crazy. The shopping on Silk Street the first day, the lunch, the supper, and bed! Is it possible to be so tired you can’t sleep? Yes it is. For the next two days we had to explore the Forbidden City, lunch, Tiananmen Square, the Golden Temple, the Emperor’s Summer Residence, and of course, the spectacular Great Wall, supper, bed. On a typical day the tour bus would spend an hour in traffic, drop us off, pick us up at some other destination that we would walk to, another long bus ride and another long walk. And you think you’re tired of reading this?

The sites were spectacular, we were on sensory overload, but what can we do about the fatigue? This is unusual activity for most of us. Normal daily routine doesn’t usually mean wandering and sightseeing for several hours, unless you are addicted to shopping malls.

This kind of activity puts all sorts of stress on the parts of your body that are particularly susceptible to gravity. Isn’t that everything? Well, in a way yes. But some things involve a lot more gravitational stress than others.

If we were to go to Italy and admire the lovely architecture, there would be one building that would catch special attention and curiosity because of gravity. That would be the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Looking at it, you would wonder how it could stay standing and how much stress its structure is experiencing because it isn’t straight. If we are not straight (and most of us are not), all the leans and bulges are pulling us forward and down. Casual observation would lead me to conclude that most tourists are not noted for their athletic build. We bulge and sag, and bend and slouch. Add a camera bag, shopping bags, goody bags, laptops or whatever that weigh us down even more.

Like the buildings, we would carry the weight with a lot more ease if we were straight up and down. That has to do with posture, and it is never a good idea to be bent over, but to do it for hours a day is a killer. This altered center of gravity causes such stress on joints and makes unreasonable demands on muscles that they ultimately cry out in protest before the day is half over. Okay, they don’t cry, they just ache. The head! The neck! The shoulders! The lower back! The hips! The feet! We all have our special attack point(s). Add to that, a stomach filled with too much unfamiliar food, and that restful sleep is just a dream wish.

This doesn’t just apply to China, although the 2008 Olympics is going to be one vast set of line ups, and walking, and sitting and eating and…You have to prepare for the hawkers. Talk about an Olympic sport! The point here is that travel and tourism places unusual physical demands on our system that can make it react and considerably dampen our trip. What can be done to improve the situation?

One simple solution is to be as straight as you were when you were a kid. That way with a natural healthy posture, gravity flows though you and it doesn’t pull you down. This isn’t as simple as telling yourself to stand up straight, get your head up, put your shoulders back, tuck your tummy in. There are a lot of changes that need to take place to make it a long term change

• Muscles that pull you into forward head posture have grown tight and strong over a short stretch length. They need to relax and release.
• Muscles that let go so you can get pulled forward, must be activated and toned up.
• The body needs to get the message of what good alignment feels like and to regard it as normal, wanting to return to that position. We call it "kinaesthetic awareness"; the body is aware of its position and movement.
• We must practice this mechanism so that it feels natural and comfortable.

Okay so you are not going any place exotic like China . How many different situations do you find stressful to your back and shoulders while not necessarily doing anything? Do you go to the mall? Attend sports events? Stand in long line ups? Wander around museums? If you are planning to go to the Olympics this summer, add to this mix a good dose of hot, humid weather. Really it is just doing normal activities - for extended periods of time and you realize that this is the stress your body is subject to. Would it be a good idea to reduce this so that it would last longer? Would it be worth it to prevent pain rather than spend a lot of time, money, and effort to treat pain after the fact?

We have a solution to these challenges that will be helpful when the situation brings on the fatigue, exotic vacation or not. There is so much information to inform us about the importance of good posture and body alignment to reduce the stress on all body systems. Let’s be clear. It is not just about back pain. It is about joint, muscular, myofascial pain, pinched nerves, breathing, gas exchange, thoracic and abdominal compression, blood pressure and a whole lot more. This is about more than having a good vacation.

We recommend a unique device that can improve the quality of the exotic vacation experience. More importantly it can change your body alignment for each day for the rest of your life and reverse the downward trend of excess curvature and spine- related pain. There are many devices available to correct posture. This one is different. It is an active support device, not a passive one. It recruits muscles to do what they are intended to do. It helps tight muscles to stretch and return to vitality throughout their whole range of motion. It activates and strengthens the weak muscles to equip them for their task. Healthy muscles keep the joints in their proper position, especially when carrying loads like cameras, carry on luggage and shopping bags.

Whoever heard of training for a tour vacation? Is this an Olympic sport or something? Not really, but if you or anybody you know is going to Beijing, or anywhere else where you are vulnerable to fatigue; standing in line, standing and watching events, walking from one venue to another, waiting at the airport, waiting for the tour bus, sightseeing, tell them about this article . What about Disney World or those sorts of places? Got kids? Carry a backpack? What if you have to carry kids, or a pack on your back? It simply adds to the fatigue unless you have ideal alignment to carry a load. You may see more about this for recreational backpackers, kids carrying school bags and parents carrying kids. That is a whole subject itself.

My personal experience started in Washington while touring the museums. After a long car ride, we wandered from one exhibit to another, My back and shoulders were feeling the fatigue that dampened my enjoyment of the exhibits. When we went to China , I made sure to bring along something that would line me up. I found it very useful on the long walks through the fascinating sites. It truly was a comfort for me to be brought back in line.