Straightening begins in the bones
Posture. The Basic Principle of the CANTIENICA® Method
Humans are built for upright movement. Bones, joints, and muscles form a flexible whole. How well they work together depends largely on how the body is organized.
This is where the CANTIENICA® method comes in: The bones are consciously aligned, the joints are given space, and the deep muscles are activated and integrated into movement. In this way, alignment develops from the inside out—from the ground up to the crown of the head.
Upright posture begins in the bones. Before training the muscles, attention is focused on the skeleton: How do the bones relate to one another? Where does space emerge? Where does length emerge? How does the body carry itself?
Benita Cantieni has been researching these relationships for decades. Through her Vivatomy® method, she demonstrates how the organization of the skeleton can change.
Before
Previously:
The lumbar spine is hunched, the head is hanging forward, and the shoulders are slumped.
Afterward
Afterward (as instructed):
The coccyx floats, the sacrum straightens, the atlas supports the skull—and suddenly the spine “breathes” from within.
What changes when you stand up straight?
Straightening up changes your perspective—both literally and figuratively.
Your head lifts, your gaze turns toward the world, and your chest opens up. You stand firmly on your feet, gaining height, flexibility, and presence.
Postural alignment also changes how you perceive yourself and your surroundings.
This is where the CANTIENICA® method touches on the topic of embodiment: posture, movement, perception, and experience influence one another.
Benita Cantieni, together with Maja Storch, Gerald Hüther, and Wolfgang Tschacher, examined and described these interactions in the book *Embodiment: Understanding and Utilizing the Interaction Between Body and Mind *.
Improving your posture can help you feel more present, agile, and confident—both physically and emotionally.
Bones and deep muscles work together
As the skeleton aligns, the way the muscles function also changes.
The CANTIENICA® method pays special attention to the deep muscles: including the pelvic floor, the deep muscles along the spine, and the diaphragm. They support the skeleton in maintaining upright posture, stability, and movement.
Benita Cantieni describes the upright spine using the image that it “breathes from within.” The spine gains space; its segments can move in coordination, and the ribcage can expand.
This keeps the upright posture dynamic and responsive—whether standing, sitting, walking, turning, or lying down.
Alignment, Orientation, Stabilization
Three concepts are inextricably linked in the CANTIENICA® method.
Alignment: The bones are precisely aligned with one another. The joints are given space.
Straightening: Growing in length away from the floor. The sacrum straightens, and the spine extends upward toward the crown of the head.
Tensioning: The bones gain space relative to one another, and the deep muscles are activated. The body develops length, stability, and mobility.
Every change affects the whole. The feet influence the leg axes; the pelvis supports the spine; the atlas supports the skull.
Posture can be learned
Posture is a skill that can be trained.
The prerequisite is awareness: Where are my bones? How do they relate to one another? Where does more space open up? What changes when the sacrum straightens or the skull is supported by the atlas?
In CANTIENICA® training, such changes are precisely guided and verified through your own body. As you gain experience, your awareness becomes more nuanced, and the new alignment integrates more and more naturally into your movement and daily life.
Experience the process of straightening for yourself
Application Example: Straightening the Spine
In classical anatomy, the spine is a static structure. In Vivatomy, it is a living, pulsating organ of alignment.
A simple example from training:
From the bottom up
7 Think vertically
Stretch your body vertically from soles of your feet to the top of your head – and relax.
Release 6 shoulder joints.
Extend your collarbones wide apart, free your upper arm bones from the acromion, and let your arms hang relaxed. Keep your shoulder blades low and close to your back.
5 Head up
Pull the crown of your head towards the sky on an imaginary thread, your head resting weightlessly on the last cervical vertebra. Say “Ng ng ng”.
4. Extend your spine.
Invite the sacrum deeper into the body and stretch it upwards along with all the other vertebrae. Keep the midline on the side of your abdomen as long as the spine. Align the crown of your head directly above the perineum. Breathe from the perineum to the crown of your head.
3. Tilt your pelvis, activate your pelvic floor.
Align your ischial tuberosities, pubic bone, and coccyx vertically and hold them high above your legs. Gently contract and release your ischial tuberosities, contract and release again. Pulsating day in, day out…
2. Think from the floor up.
Stretch your lower legs upwards, away from the ankle. Stretch your thighs away from the knee.
1. Align your feet
.
Feet hip-width apart and slightly in a V-shape. Keep the middle of your heel and the base of your big toe hovering above the ground. Relax your knees.
From the bottom up!
Frequently Asked Questions About Posture Correction
For Benita Cantieni, “upward direction” means: lifting away from the floor, extending lengthwise, in harmony with gravity.
Give your bones space. Keep your joints loose. Lengthen your spine toward the crown of your head. This fundamental length from the bones creates the foundation for a flexible, stable posture.
Use gravity to your advantage.
Benita Cantieni uses the tree as an analogy: It grows with gravity. Your body, too, can stretch upward from the ground. Gravity becomes a force of lightness.
A head held high, a lengthened spine, and free-moving joints make standing upright easier and more natural.
The feet are our point of contact with the ground and thus the starting point for standing upright.
The center of the heel and the metatarsophalangeal joint of the big toe provide orientation. In the slight V-position, the foot axis aligns, the leg axis follows, and the pelvis finds its base.
Benita Cantieni’s principle: think away from the floor. From this contact, the upward tension grows.
The pelvis is the foundation of the spine and key to maintaining an upright posture.
The ischial tuberosities, pubic bone, coccyx, and sacrum provide guidance for upright posture and alignment. The levator ani muscle assists this process from within.
According to Benita Cantieni, when the pelvis is properly aligned, the spine can straighten and align itself almost weightlessly. The levator ani is connected via the multifidus to the deep muscles along the spine.
As below, so above. What happens in the pelvis has a ripple effect on the spine, rib cage, and skull.
CANTIENICA® body in evolution works with the deep muscles: the levator ani in the pelvic floor, the multifidi, and the autochthonous muscles along the spine—as well as the diaphragm.
The pelvic floor and diaphragm are closely interconnected. Benita Cantieni describes the two muscle systems as the “shell” and “lid” of the body trunk. In her book on the pelvic floor, she explains their embryonic development from a shared membrane; later, they form the lower and upper parts and remain interconnected.
During the process of straightening up, these deep structures work together: the organ lifters straighten from below, the diaphragm expands the ribcage, and the spine gains length and freedom of movement.
You can often feel the first change right away: more length, more space in the joints, a lighter feeling in your head, a different posture.
Lasting change comes through repetition. The more often you find this alignment and use it in your daily life, the more it becomes a habit.
The CANTIENICA® principle is very practical: feel, try, repeat. Over time, proper alignment becomes second nature.
Experience the process of straightening for yourself
How does it feel when your bones have space to expand, your spine lengthens, and gravity turns into a feeling of lightness?
Give it a try. Discover what your body is capable of.
CANTIENICA® Training Near You
Find licensed trainers and discover posture correction under personal guidance.
