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The Nine Postures of Strength
When a person is physically challenged in an energetically neutral and non-competetive manner to be strong, they will position their body so that their location of strength can easily meet the challenge. For example, a SoulType 7 puts their forehead forward, as their forehead is the strongest part of their body; a SoulType 4 stands with their lower abdomen forward because this is their location of strength.
We call the position a person assumes to show their soultype a posture of strength. There are a total of nine postures of strength, and the body of every human being naturally knows how to do one of the nine. When in their posture of strength they become stronger than their muscular strength and can comfortably withstand a very energetic push. They can resist the push when in any of the other eight postures of strength only with muscular effort and tire quickly from the push.
We call the place of strength that each posture emphasizes a movement center because all body movement begins and is sustained from this place. This can easily be seen particularly when watching a person in peak performance. For example, Olympic gold medal performances are usually a pure expression of movement from one's movement center.
The Physical Response
In daily life people are accustomed to using muscular effort to do things, instead of using their energetic strength which is more effective. So, when students are being helped to find their posture of strength, the first thing they do is try to use their physical strength. However, we instruct students not to push back. This means that students must find a stationary way to position their bodies, set their body tone, and use something other than muscular strength to hold their ground while not pushing back. In the process of doing this, each student's underlying energetic strength emerges.
One of our students described what it is like to see a person lock into their posture of strength, "People can come into the room looking ordinary, but then all that changes. When people hit their posture of strength they look strong and beautiful and elegant. They glow!"
Irrespective of size, weight, or physical strength, it becomes much easier for the person being soultyped to hold their ground and be strong in their posture of strength. This marked increase in energetic strength is readily apparent to the person being soultyped, to us, and to observers.
An 84-year-old student, who had two hip surgeries and walks with a cane, said that whenever she accesses her posture of strength she is exceptionally strong and cannot be budged by Alan, who weighs 200 pounds and has a black belt in Aikido. When asked to describe her experience of this, she said, "You cannot move me. I am really strong. It is not just body strength, it is a kind of strength of character. I feel as though there is something in me that has the old strength and power to do something interesting on my own."