The word "posture" often evokes unpleasant feelings of being judged or feeling hopeless about "fixing" it. Learning what posture really is and what affects it can be transformational to your own well-being as well as how you connect with and communicate with other people.

This posts features a video addressing a readers questions about posture during pregnancy and when holding a baby.

Our reactions to other people can make us feel insecure and can provoke poor posture.

You may have heard the expression, “take up your space”...

But what does it actually mean? 

"Take up your space" gets to the heart of what better posture is, as the old approach of "straightening up" actually tightens and shrinks your space.  

...but you do need to know what “your space” is if you’re going to take it up.

So does that mean?  What would it feel like ?  

Have you ever felt insecure, tense, or stressed when giving a talk, speaking up in a meeting or when interacting in a group?

Or do you feel confident, but find that your posture doesn't necessarily project that confidence? -- and do you generate so much tension during the day that you feel drained and not so confident that you can do everything you need to.

I’m going to be looking at the idea of confidence from these two different perspectives - feeling confident about interacting with others directly and more indirectly (conveying confidence with your posture and not being dragged down by tension, strain, and fatigue).  You might relate to one type more than the other...or both could be relevant at different times.

This is your new excerpt. Edit here.