I have this urge that is harder and harder to fight where I walk up to people and touch the middle of their upper back, gently touching that point which makes you want to open out your chest and straighten the spine.
I am horrified by bad posture. All around me I see old women hunched over, their weakened bones locked over time into a painful curve. But worse, I see young women slouched at computers or standing round-shouldered…throwing away their health and their perceived confidence.
I actually advised one former employee to take care of her posture because it was so terrible. She had an impressive rack and was always trying to diminish it through hunching. It can be tricky for girls. I’m happy to say she now does pilates.
We all hate being told to sit up straight, and sitting up straight is not enough. It took yoga to understand that it’s the core muscle strength that makes good posture sustainable and pleasurable.
Whenever my life gets too hectic and I skip a few weeks of yoga, I can feel myself sinking down at my desk, my muscles weakening a little more each week. Back pain starts to occur. And then I get back on the mat and my spine springs back into shape. I open my heart chakra and feel great walking around.
It’s easy to do fake good posture and actually be no better off. You don’t want to force your shoulders back or puff the chest too far or stick the butt out or lock the knees. We need to find that middle ground…best expressed through Tadasana or mountain pose.
Yoga, pilates, Alexander technique—all and any are fabulous ways of taking care of back health. And we have to take care of it now…really.
So, just for a minute, as you are sitting at your computer, wiggle around on your butt till you feel your sits bones. Then breathe in and feel that line from your monkey tail to the crown of your head stretch out. Take another breath and shrug your shoulders up to your ears – release and let them slip gently down your back. Breathe in again and feel your side waist lengthen and your ribs lift off your waist. Once again and feel your heart chakra open.
Doesn’t that feel better?
I am horrified by poor dental hygiene, and have an urge to remind people to floss regularly. Julia Roberts said in it best in the movie Pretty Woman- “you shouldn’t neglect your gums.”
I frequently notice my head is too far forward, and pull it back… doesn’t seem to correct the habit though. Robyn Hitchcock has a great line about Alexander Technique being part of a conspiracy to make people taller, in preparation for… well, something awful.
…Hey! quit looking at my teeth, Marleyfan!
I have to agree here. I suffer from Kyphosis, or sway back. Over the past year I began taking pilates in a studio using the reformer and cadillac. The results are significant. I didn’t even realize how much pain I was enduring until it was released. I’m always thinking, “Hips forward, stomach in, knees over toes.”
Also, Nintendo Wii Fit is an excellent way to work on and find your center of balance. I am obsessed.
Man, I have such bad posture. I’m definitely not a part of the tall-people conspiracy.
This thing about tilting the pelvis forward seems to help a bit, though.
Thanks for the reminder, Stella: the Great Whatsit is good for us in so many ways.
I’m definitely not a part of the tall-people conspiracy
One of us! One of us!
I think the worst tall people conspiracy is when they go to gigs and stand in front of small people. we should all be arranged by size. but this may be verging on persecution of a minority.
i am a huge fan of alexander technique…as a drama student in college we got free classes every week – i had no idea how lucky we were until they were over.
scotty – do the stars worry about posture?
Stella, it’s a funny question. After seeing Iron Man with JZ a few weeks ago, and seeing how good the shirtless Robert Downey looked, I realized what a bummer it must be to be a middle-aged movie star. I would be deeply saddened if I had all the money in the world, and I couldn’t just eat and drink whatever, whenever I wanted. To me that’s the whole point of being rich – to live large like Orson Wells…or Henry VIII.
BTW, great title!
I skip a few weeks of yoga, I can feel myself sinking down at my desk, my muscles weakening a little more each week. Back pain starts to occur. And then I get back on the mat and my spine springs back into shape. I open my heart chakra and feel great walking around.
So, just for a minute, as you are sitting at your computer, wiggle around on your butt till you feel your sits bones.
um . . . what if you have excess cushioning that . . . um . . . makes the “sits bones” a little hard to feel? I might need a little stairmaster before the yoga, or at least fewer cookies.
by the way – kisses again stella!!