Good Posture isn’t a Position
Find out what your thoughts, emotions, the way you focus, react to things have to do with your posture…and why trying to get yourself in the “perfect position” will just make your posture worse.
Today I'd like to talk about something that's really important to understand about good posture - that it's NOT a position.
This is one of the most important mindset-shifts to take on if you’re trying to improve your posture.
Finding the "right" position is often the things that people are trying harest to do -- and it's the reason why they don't improve.
It’s understandable that you might have picked this up somewhere -- this idea of "good posture" being a position to hold.
If you try and fix your posture this way, you might find that it's not very pleasant or sustainable.
Some people might have been told to sit up straight for their entire lives and they just keep slouching. There can actually be a lot of shame around the topic of posture because it's often something people have tried to correct for a long time and they haven't been successful.
If you've been trying, but failing to correct your posture, you may have come to the conclusion there’s something wrong with you or something about your body or genetics that has “doomed” you to having poor posture.
People often come to me with that sort of discouraged attitude, think that they are "just" supposed to be able to stand up straight and they can't.
But the problem isn't you!
The problem is this whole idea pulling the shoulders back, lifting the chest, and holding the tummy in. It's just plain wrong and can be harmful. It's not getting to the root of the problem and it's not actually good posture!
This old way of trying to correct posture by holding a position is actually the opposite of what works — but it's so prevalent in culture. It’s what you see online, what family members and friends say. - Just pull your shoulders back, just do this one exercise, just stand up straight.
Most people think they should just be able to stand up straight, but they can’t because no one ever shows them how to really do it.
If you actually want to change your posture for the better, here are a few things you need to know.
1. Good posture is not a fixed position. Stop holding your shoulders back!
2. Your posture moves with you in any position. Posture is the way that your body keeps you upright in gravity but within that there are a lot of different ways that you need to be able to move.
For example if you are holding your shoulders back all the time, then your shoulders can't do all of the natural movements they need to do when you move your hands and arms.
If you’re pushing a door closed, your shoulder should follow your arm and go a little forward. If you open a door, it should follow your arm in the other direction and move back.
If you walk around all day with your shoulders pulled back, it’s like you're holding two doors open at all times and then that's really going to create a lot of stiffness in your body. You'll limit your mobility and likely even create pain.
3. A held position doesn’t look good: When people try to position themselves into what they think is “good posture”, it often looks quite stiff. If you want to feel confident and be able to be present, think on your feet, listen well, and communicate with others, holding yourself up can have the opposite effect It can be distracting to you and others and it take a lot of mental energy to maintain the position — energy that you could be putting into connecting with other people.
4. Holding a position can mess up your breathing: Many of my clients complain of feeling like they are constantly running out of breath when they are speaking. Breathing is part of speaking and if we’re stiff and holding a position, there's less room for you to breathe, leading to the feeling of running out of air.
5. Posture isn't all about the shoulders: When someone develops “poor posture”, it really just means their body is kind of stuck in a certain shape or there are certain parts that are lacking mobility and there are probably certain parts that have too much mobility. And these patterns often develop based on how we move our heads.
6. Posture isn't just physical: All of these habits are connected to our thoughts, our emotions, and how we respond to stimuli all day.
Our “posture” is an accumulation of how we habitually react to the people the emotions the stuff we encounter, the chairs we sit on, the screens that we look at -- all the stuff that you do that you interface and how you respond to people and situations -- the things we deal with all the time every day
-- The physical responses to those things are habits that add up to what your posture is like.
You may imagine your mind as the little controller up in your head, but it's really your mind and body — your whole self living every minute of every day and responding to all those stimuli that come your way.
So how do we improve posture?
Changing your posture is learning to respond to people, things, emotions, and thoughts in a different way. It’s about changing habits that are equally physical, mental, and emotional.
And part of that, which the Alexander Technique really helps with, is developing more accurate body awareness so that you can make nuanced adjustments in real time in everyday life. You can be more aware of your reactions and adjust them. You have a choice. You're not just bound to habit.
Whether you're sitting on a chair, reaching under your sink or you're chopping vegetables, giving a talk in front of a group of people, texting — your body and your mind are both there. They are you and you can learn and reinforce new habits with better body consciousness.
Want to learn how to develop and use this superpower? Check out my FREE TRAINING and learn some valuable tips that you can use right away!