Have you ever marvelled at someone who has the habit of good posture? Over the last few years I have grown interested in the subject of posture. Does someone who displays good posture feel different about him or herself than someone who slouches? Is there a correlation between good posture and self-confidence? Does the maintenance of good posture inhibit the effects of aging?
The psychological steps to good posture
Overcome the fear and get rid of self consciousness
When I was a young person I found that I was always the tallest one in the crowd. I was blessed genetically with height and it came early in my life. At the time, however, I did not consider my height to be a blessing as it put me apart from others my age. I found myself stooping and slouching to ensure that I was not too different from the rest of my friends. This resulted in a habit of poor posture.
In the past, when I tried to adjust my posture, I found I could do it in private but when I was in a more public environment, even with those I knew well I became self conscious. I would walk into the room and find that I would inevitably start to slouch or stoop as this was the more natural position for me. I felt almost brazen to walk into the room standing so tall. I felt I was sticking out.
I have since made a conscious effort to improve my posture on a daily basis. I have studied both the physical and psychological aspects of this improvement. I found that as my posture improved so did my mindset. I was happier, more alert. I found that developing good posture demanded a retraining of both my mind and my body. This endeavour along with losing some unnecessary weight has helped to elevate both my mood and the physical spring in my step.
The physical steps to good posture
When I had first contemplated a change in my posture, I went to a workshop put on by a chiropractor on anti-aging. According to him, one of the most important things we can do for ourselves is to foster good posture. Here are some ideas for achieving and maintaining youthful vigour.
Loosen your shoulders
I used to think that it was important to keep my shoulders back in order to attain good posture. I took to heart the advice “shoulders back”. I always found this to be a strained position and have learned that in actual fact good posture has nothing to do with my shoulders. The first thing you want to do is relax your shoulders. Just stand and gently rotate your shoulders a few times to relax and loosen them and then let them hang just where they are.
Put a string on your sternum
As you stand with your shoulders nice and loose, imagine a string is securely fastened to the very centre of your sternum. Now imagine that string being pulled up from directly above just in front of your nose. As you imagine this, you will feel your sternum rising until the string is taut and your sternum can rise no further.
Eyes forward, chin down
When your sternum is pulled up as in the previous section you may find that you are looking up toward the ceiling. Simply bring your eyes forward and your chin down. You will find your head is now squarely positioned above your shoulders. This is very important as your head has quite a bit of mass and when it is positioned back or forward of your shoulders it requires compensating muscles to hold it in place.
The pelvic tilt
The idea of good posture is to align your head directly over your spine so that the weight of your head is well supported by all the skeletal strength available. Once your upper body is properly positioned, you will benefit from also aligning your lower body which is primarily done by tilting your pelvis forward. When done properly you will feel your buttocks tighten slightly.
Relax your knees
You may now find you are feeling quite stiff as you stand there with your pelvis tilted forward. Check to see if you are locking your knees. Relax your knees and keep your shoulders loose. You will feel the relaxation best when you start to walk. Just relax your knees as you walk and you will have an idea of how they should feel when you are standing.
Breathe
With all this going on, you may be forgetting a very important thing, to breathe. Good posture requires a relaxed breath.
Strengthen your core
Good posture is actually a fairly athletic endeavour. It will help if you spend some time each day strengthening your core, that is your abdomen area. The muscles of the abdomen assist in keeping your body aligned and in particular your pelvis.
Benefits you can feel
Posture can be a metaphor for how we think and feel about ourselves. I needed to learn how to stand erect in the presence of others, to take my place and fully occupy it. Holding your chest up and keeping your head high in public can be a challenge if your are not used to it, however, the confidence and self assurance you develop will add to the value you feel for yourself and your life.
The physical benefits are very significant as well. As we get older we can combat back pain, display a more youthful vigor and remain more physically capable. The chiropractor who put on the posture improvement workshop really did have it right. Good posture is the anti-aging formula.
Tips
- Relax your shoulders
- Lift your sternum
- Look forward, chin down
- Tilt pelvis
- Loosen knees
- Breathe
- Strengthen your core
- Hold your head high in public
- Practise…time is on your side
Time is on your side
I have found that good posture requires practise and takes time to acquire before it becomes an automatic thing. Practise…time is on your side.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I was always the tallest. Yup, growing up I slouched because I was not confident enough. This is a good read!