Humans, like every other species, have a particular mechanical design that is the same for all healthy humans. This design is governed by the same laws of nature that apply to physics, engineering and architecture. Very young children, when learning how to sit and stand upright, discover the vertical axis of gravity within themselves, without actually knowing, of course, that this is what they are doing! Once they figure out how to align their bones along this axis, they are able to balance a bowling ball-like head on top of the spine, an accomplishment that is not unlike learning to ride a bicycle or balance a broomstick on the tip of one’s finger.
Aligned bones can be compared to the wall studs of a house that provide an underlying framework of structural support. Muscles that attach to aligned bones are elastic and free of unnecessary tension; they are thus able to perform their primary function, which is to move the bones, not “hold” the body up or keep it together. When bones are not aligned, muscles have to 
compensate and “pick up the slack”, working overtime and becoming storehouses of tension. Muscles that are attached to aligned bones are elastic and free of tension, not tight and overdeveloped. Toddlers, it turns out, are the gurus for how to live in natural, relaxed and comfortable bodies that have flexible joints, elongated spines and are free from stored-up tension and pain.
Adults who maintain this natural alignment 
throughout their lives continue to enjoy these same benefits and are far less likely to injure themselves in the course of daily activities. Such people tend to enjoy better overall health and to age with greater ease. Those people in the world who inhabit their bodies in a naturally-aligned way are not only able to be pain-free, they are able to function at a high level of physical activity throughout an entire lifetime.
The current epidemic of pain—back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, knee pain—is not the natural condition of a healthy human. The billions of dollars paid to doctors, insurance and pharmaceutical companies for surgeries and pain medication would be saved if the medical profession and our society as a whole had a clear picture of what a naturally-healthy human actually is. For this to happen, we must begin to look to the toddlers of the world, as well as those people who are able to carry heavy loads on their heads with ease and who age into their 70s, 80s and beyond with flexible joints, elongated spines and enduring vitality. Medical research MUST turn its focus from studying the dis-order or the dis-ease to using the baseline of good health, for herein lies the secret to how to live pain-free and enjoy greatly improved health.
