Backbone health
Structure of the backbone
The backbone is not a single bone, but a column composed of vertebrae, each of which has a vertical hole in it and between each pair of which is a cartilage disc that serves as packing. The vitally important spinal chord passes through the holes in the vertebrae all the way from the brain to the coccyx. There are twenty-four vertebrae in all: the five sacral vertebrae, the twelve thoracic vertebra, and the top seven cervical vertebrae. God designed the backbone as a connected series of isolated vertebrae instead of as a single unbroken column for two reasons. First, a single bone would be easy to break, as is the case with the thigh bone or the double bone in the lower leg. Of course, even should one of these bones be broken by accident, a doctor can set it, and it will knit because God has provided our bones with a natural built-in adhesive. Consequently, though in such an accident a person might die of massive loss of blood, he is unlikely to perish because of a broken limb alone. Should the broken bone be the backbone, however, death is almost invariably the result, because fracture in it damages the spinal chord. For this reason, God designed the backbone as a flexible pipe. In other words, when subjected to a physical blow, the backbone will bend instead of breaking.
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Checking the backbone
The test for good condition of the sacral vertebrae resembles that for the fitness of the cervical vertebrae. Sit on the floor with your legs spread wide. If in this position you can turn your trunk from the waist 90 degrees to the right and left and if you can bend from the wait, keeping the upper trunk straight, until your head lies flat along first one leg, then the other, you have passed the test. In order to determine whether the sacral vertebrae are properly aligned, observe the way you hold your hips in standing. To prevent poor alignment from developing, always sit with your hips and back well against the back of chairs.
When writing or other duties make it imperative to lean over a table from a seated position, do not round your back.
This will help keep the lumbar and sacral vertebrae in correct alignment. God has designed the backbone in curves that are beautiful and that prevent the impact of leg movement from being transmitted directly to the head. In the orient, especially in temples where people practice zazen, or seated Zen meditation, effort is made to preserve proper alignment of the backbone. In fact, in zazen, any deviation from the current posture is punished by a tap on the bent back with a long stick wielded by a priest. In the Japan of about thirty years ago, parents, school teachers and military instructors made repeated and forceful corrections of the back posture of their young charges with the result that most people raised during those times carry their backs very well. Today, however, people overlook God's plan in aligning the vertebrae. Even worse, many seem to think that bad posture is both more comfortable and more natural. As an admonition against this attitude, I think it is sufficient to point to the grasses that rise stright and tall when they are in good condition and that bend and wilt when weak. It may be that a person who has already spoiled good posture is so much better for health and vigor that every effort should be made to correct faulty backbones. Once posture is correct, the person will find it more natural and comfortable than poor stance.
Medical effects of proper spinal-column alignment
Obviously if the vertebrae are correctly aligned, the holes in then form a continuous pipe through which the spinal cord passes unimpeded. On the other hand, incorrect alignment applies pressure to the spinal cord, develops impedence to its passage through the holes in the vertebrae, and thus dulls the transmission of impulses to and from the brain
There are small holes in the intervertebral cartilaginous discs through which autonomic nerves leading from the spinal cord progress to the various bodily organs. When alignment of the vertebrae is abnormal, these small holes are pressed out of shape, and the nerves passing through them are subjected to pressure. This pressure can upset the harmonious functioning of the body organs and weaken their vitality. It is easy to see how this works if one remembers that prolonged pressure on the arm makes the hand go numb. For these reasons, proper alignment of the vertebrae is of the greatest importance to the healthy, vigurous functioning of the internal organs.
Bends in the backbone can have injurious effects on the operations of the heart and lungs. Abnormal curves in the lumbar vertebrae exert bad influences on the working of the intestines and other organs in the lower part of the body, while abnormalities in the lumbar vertebrae adversely affect the operations of the stomach and liver.
Many people complain of pains in the lower back. In the past most sufferers from this ailment were elderly, but today young people too fall victim to such backaches. And the reason is poor posture assumed while sitting in chairs. When the posture and the pain become very bad, slipping of the intervertebral discs can result. This happens because the cartilaginous packing elements are soft enough to be deformed and forced out of place. Often in lifting something moderately heavy, people are attacked with sudden pain that may incapacitate them for several days. These attacks can readily be understood in terms of the principle of the derrick. As the chart shows, all is well as long as force a is transferred correctly along lines b-c-d, but if a bend occurs at point e, making it necessary to transfer the force along lines a-b-c-e, the load will fall heavily on the bend and cause it to bend even more. In terms of the human back, the sacrum can withstand such loads, but if the lumbar vertebrae are abnormally curved, application of a load will fall on that bend and intensify it.
5. Correct posture of the lumbar vertebrae
To extend my comparison between the human body and a divinely ordained design, I might state the following as specifications for correct use of the lumbar vertebrae: they are designed to twist on a horizontal plane about 90 degrees to the right or left; they are not designed to bend in the vertical plane except for rare and extraordinary cases and, even then, only for a brief time.
—Haruka Nagai en "five minutes physical fitness: makko-ho: "
