Stand Tall

This week I want to talk about posture and how it has such an enormous impact on how we feel.

Most of you have heard adults; usually, a parent, say: "Stand up straight, stop slouching, it looks horrible."

But it's not just that slouching looks bad, it has huge adverse effects on our mental and physical health as well.

For example; If you ever pay attention to actors, you will see that they must change their posture and mannerisms to get into character. The confident characters always stand tall and usually shoulders squared off, those characters being bullied or lacking confidence will be depicted slouched, chest sunk in.

Many scientific studies are proving that just holding certain body positions for a short while will produce chemical reactions in our bodies that contribute to feeling more optimistic/confident or depressed/ hopeless amongst many other emotions.

Now you’d probably think, oh ok, I will just stand up straighter.

That's an excellent idea, but what I find most often happens is that people going from habitually slouched to forcing themselves to stand up straight can trigger them on many levels, and they will quickly go back to their comfort zone of slouching.

I’m all about having people make changes gently and easily. I bet you didn’t start slumping overnight and it's a bit crazy to expect or force yourself to have posture like a ballerina overnight.

The reasons people have “bad” posture are many and varied.

Some reasons are because our lives require us to spend lots of time doing activities that cause our chest muscles to fire off, driving, computer work, eating, cell phone use, reading and we do very little pulling motions.

This will cause muscle tightness and imbalance. Years and years of not working individual muscles and others being over active are a huge reason many people’s posture is chronically out of whack.

Here are some things you can easily add to your day to help you achieve better posture:

1.) Gently massage the upper chest muscles, especially the outer area between the shoulder, and underneath the collarbone, this may be tender for you. Take your time and be gentle.

2.)  Strengthen your upper back muscles; You can do this seated, only extend arms out to your side at shoulder level, palms facing forward, now just squeeze your shoulder blades back and down together. You can do this 3x15, or however many you can do comfortably with a good form. Remember to ease your way into all of this :-)

3.) Send love and appreciation to your entire body. Yep, that’s it, so simple and so powerful. Allow yourself to know that all parts of you are loved, safe and appreciated. Do this every day, and you will notice so much more peace and relaxation throughout your body!

I’d like to end with this quote that I thought was so interesting:

”While it’s true that you’re sitting this way because you’re sad, it’s also true that you're sad because you’re sitting this way." -Unknown 

Have a fantastic week becoming more comfortable in your amazing body!!!