RELAX & UNWIND NOVEMBER 2008
POSTURE
I'm reading a great book called the New Rules of Posture: How to Sit, Stand and Move in the Modern world, by Mary Bond. The book is full of simple ideas that I have decided to share as a series that I think you will very much enjoy reading.
Mary Bond describes posture in the book by saying, "I see posture not as how you hold your body when you're still but how you carry it while you're moving....you're posture is generated by your movement - by the way you carry yourself through life." Most people think of posture as standing straight and tall, proper alignment of the head, neck, shoulders, etc. but posture is more than that, it's how we move in the world.
Healthy posture, she continues, "is characterized by an easy grace, with movement flowing effortlessly between limbs and trunk." She adds, "the movement of someone with unhealthy posture looks disconnected and labored." In other words, bad posture makes moving harder with more effort to do what you want. Movement doesn't flow naturally; we are kind of stopped in the middle of it and have to really exert energy to move through it, if at all.
Posture is deeply influenced by our body awareness as well as our inner awareness. In other words, it relates how we interact with the world with our bodies, emotions and minds. How do we react/respond when someone shouts at us? What is our orientation to the world when we wake up in the morning? Etc. Etc. Beginning to notice these things is the first step to better posture and more effortless movement in the world.
So the first step is Awareness, which is also the title of the first chapter of the book. I would recommend reading the book if you have the time. You could probably find a copy on Amazon....I'm not sure which bookstores carry it. Not only is there a lot of information but useful and easy to use pictures of the different exercises and the relevant anatomy.
Until next time, take it easy and begin to notice how different movements feel to you and how you orient yourself to your worlds.
Matt Gleicher, CMT
Matt Gleicher, CMT
Jerusalem Massage
052-636-2000