When you’ve lived with imbalances for an extended period of time, it often can be difficult to position yourself correctly, or, even more specifically, to know how to even assess if your body is positioned correctly.

That’s because of your body’s poor proprioception, which is your awareness of your body in space.

We develop a poor sense of balance and symmetry because our bodies have functioned otherwise for so long that our senses adapt to try to make us feel balanced, even when we’re not balanced.

One example of this is if someone has a chronically tilted head, that person’s eyes will adjust in order to keep a level field of vision. Once that person corrects for his or her tilt, what is actually a balanced field of vision might feel extremely imbalanced, even if it’s structurally aligned. This breakdown in perception versus reality can also create dizziness because of vestibular adaptation.

But that’s not the end of the story.

It’s important to know that your senses will improve, but it’s going to take some time as you continue to remind your body what balance feels like and looks like.

If you have someone with you while you’re doing your sequence, have them help you with basic alignment.

If you’re alone, it can be very helpful to set up your phone and video yourself. Our founder, Vinny, encourages you to do this in many exercises, and in your 6 assessments found in the Pain Assessment Toolkit.

If either of those options are difficult for you, don’t stress too much. Positioning is important but it doesn’t have to be perfect, and positioning will become easier with practice. In time you will be able to connect with your body more and more and develop a better sense of proprioception. In the meantime, use your ability to identify aligned positions as another way of tracking your progress.