How Your Posture Speaks Volumes: The Fascinating Connection Between Posture and Life Story
It all starts with how you stand. Your posture tells your story and it's time that you start paying attention.
But first, posture
When a new clients walk into the studio to see me for a session we always start with posture. Posture simply put is how you stand upright in your body. And I know, it seems like a pretty simple concept and place to be, but with age, chronic use of your body, and over time, it becomes increasingly more difficult to simply “stand up straight”. So, before we move forward, creating new shapes and positions with your body, asking your body to use different muscles in new ways, I have to start with standing first. A place that we can all relate. It’s a familiar place for to be. We are used to standing upright. Relatability is very important when you’re trying to teach a new concept and something all clients can understand and relate to is standing upright.
In your upright position, working on your posture, I can begin to unravel your story. I can see where you compensate, hold tension, have weakness, and where you are unaware. I can begin to see the places that need to be reintroduced and the places that have been working a little too hard - taking on more than their fair share of the work. I can also observe the way you respond to your body. How you communicate with them. The relationship, or lack thereof, that you have with your body. It’s all there in your posture and in finding your posture. It’s actually super cool, very fascinating, putting all the pieces together, alongside you the client, filling in the gaps to the story, editing and aligning, one piece at a time. It’s why I love what I do. It’s one big beautiful puzzle that just needs a little rearranging, a little TLC.
With the help of discipline, compassion, hard work, dedication, love, patience, kindness, curiosity, and encouragement you can stand more effortlessly in your body. With less pain. More space. Less tension. Less aches. And not only that, this process will give you strength, mobility, and proper function in your body, not to mention amazing body awareness. You will actually become aware of all your parts and their individual relationships to the way you live and move in your body. Overtime, the transformation reveals itself. The little tweaks and adjustments begin to add up. Things begin to makes sense. Confidence builds. Awareness heightens. Before you know it, you’re not only standing more upright in your body, but you feel better in your body. That’s the key. That’s what’s most important.
“Your body isn’t perfectly symmetrical, things are supposed to be a little off.” I’m sure you’ve all heard this at some point in your life. That we aren’t meant to be perfect. And it is true, your body isn’t made from a cooking cutter, it is not meant to be perfect. But this idea that we aren’t meant to be perfect is a “yes, and…” statement. Yes, we aren’t perfect, but that doesn’t mean that your right shoulder should be an inch higher than your left. There is a difference between what’s natural and what’s earned. And when I say earned I mean it’s something that you have developed over time as a result of living. Living is a good thing, but poor posture isn’t. And it goes beyond it simply “looking better” to stand up straight, it’s about feeling better in your body. Daily activities and acts of living can contribute to your earned posture. Here are some examples:
chronic use
injury
sports
career/job requirements
weak core - not just your abs
poor breathing patterns
muscle weakness in other parts of your body
poor body awareness
emotions
smartphone use
driving
poor walking patterns
sitting/standing for long hours
muscle stiffness/tightness
housework
Refer to the above list when you want to start unraveling the story of your posture. If you begin to observe how the above things impact your posture you will begin to see what I mean about your story having a physical imprint. How you live your life, both the emotional and kinetic experiences, have an impact on your body. As you can see, things that help you earn your less than optimal posture are things that are actually quite “normal” behavior. Some things you can eliminate or make improvements too, but some things you simply can’t avoid. So, what do you do? How can you find your alignment when you still have to live?! For starters, you can book a private session with me (or someone in your area that has expertise in this arena). Without a doubt help is the best way to go. But, if you want to begin on your own, here are a few things that you can do every day to start working on your posture.
And now for the tips and tools!
5 Tips to Kickstart Your Posture:
Look at your posture in the mirror and take pics. Look at the head on view and the side view. If you can, have someone take a pic of the back view as well. Next, take a good look. What do you see? Make notes of what you see. Not criticisms, notes. Observations - right shoulder lower, left hip more forward, rounded shoulders, etc… This will help you gain awareness of how you hold yourself in space.
Use a wall for support to work on standing up straight Go to a wall and lean against it. Get as close as you can, backs of your heels touching. Roll your shoulders back against the wall. Keep the back of your head against the wall as well. Imagine you are growing up the wall. Hold it for a few breaths and then release. Repeat a few times. You can do this daily.
Invest in the tools for at home use:
foam roller - be sure it’s the long length. In the morning and at night, lie flat on the foam roller with your head and pelvis supported. Feet down, knees bent. Arms go out to the sides in a “T” position. Relax and breath here for 5-10 minutes. Do this daily or as often as you can to open up your chest.
1/2 foam roll - I love this variation for added stability
mobility ball - put one ball in a pillow case. Sling it over your shoulder and return to the wall. Place the ball in between your spine and your shoulder blade, lean back, and begin to massage that tissue. Repeat on the other side. Remain on each side for a few minutes. Repeat if you have time. And again, do this daily or as often as possible.
yoga strap - I like this long one, but any strap will do to start. Lie flat on your back. Bend your knees. Bring your pelvis to a neutral position. Place one foot in the strap and begin to extend your leg. Check in with your pelvis, try to keep it in a neutral position, hanging at your hip to move your leg. Important: keep your ankle in a flexed position and try to position your foot flat, like it’s trying to stamp the ceiling. Hold for 3-5 breaths and then switch legs. Repeat up to 3 times. Do this daily or as often as possible.
Work on your breathing. Poor breath technique can be a real pain in the ass for your posture. Tightness in your rib cage can be alleviated with your breath of done properly. To start, sit in a chair in front of a mirror nice and tall. Begin to breath. Notice what moves when your breath. Most likely when you inhale, your shoulders will lift. Work to keep your shoulders still on the inhale and rather, focus on expanding your rib cage wide. Stretch laterally to your edges. Next, work on releasing your diaphragm completely on your exhale. To feel this, place your hands on the upper part of your belly, above your navel, right beneath your ribs. Breath into your belly as you inhale, feel your belly expand. As you exhale, feel your belly sink into your body. Let your belly and your diaphragm release. But be careful! When you release, don’t let your spine slimp. Next, put those things together.
Sit tall
inhale without moving shoulders, but rather expand laterally into ribs
Feel and see your belly expand with an inhale, feel it contract and soften on the exhale - But don’t let your spine slump!
repeat, watch, feel.
That’s plenty to begin with! I’m going to follow up with a video to support the tips! Stay tuned!
Please leave me any questions or comments! I love to hear feedback and also love answering questions.