| Good posture makes everybody look 150 percent | | | | many pillows as you need behind your back so |
| better. You look thinner - taller - and your clothes | | | | that you can relax a little and still be held upright. |
| hang better. It is probably the most consistent | | | | A big part of improving ones posture is to |
| connective thread running through every man and | | | | become active. However, most of us need |
| woman of style. | | | | guidance to understand where our alignment is |
| There is a certain magnetism, self-confidence, and | | | | wrong and how to correct it-and finding that |
| to-the-manor-born charisma about a strong, | | | | guidance may take some effort. |
| graceful carriage. It is a body language that works. | | | | Weak muscles tend to get weaker and strong |
| But there is much more to good posture than | | | | muscles tend to get stronger when standard |
| your mother might have told you. It is during a | | | | gymnasium exercises are poorly supervised. It is |
| state of ideal posture that the muscles will work | | | | human nature to enjoy doing the things we are |
| most efficiently. Poor posture not only takes | | | | "good" at and avoid those where we feel clumsy |
| away from aesthetics, it compromises how we | | | | or that hurt. |
| were designed to function, eventually leading to | | | | Simply looking and studying correct posture charts |
| pain and/or injury. | | | | does not help much. It takes a trained observer |
| Old, unconscious habits of misalignment, never | | | | to discover the flaws and problems in how we |
| detected and thus never corrected, directly cause | | | | stand, sit and move. It may include assessment |
| muscle and joint pain, fatigue and general bodily | | | | of our home and work environments. |
| difficulty. Most of us do not realize this crucial | | | | There are a few excellent bodywork methods |
| connection, much less know what to do about it. | | | | that are wonderful for improving alignment and |
| Whenever we get injured, we experience pain. | | | | helping you move with more fluidity. Some have |
| The body will seek avoidance of pain even if it | | | | been popular with dancers and athletes for years. |
| means moving in ways we would consider as | | | | They include yoga, Tai Chi, Chi Gong, Pilates, |
| poor posture. That wrong way of moving may | | | | Alexander technique and Feldenkrais method. |
| well become an unconscious habit by the time | | | | The emphasis is on doing and being. Your mind is |
| healing is completed. | | | | directed toward your body, concentrating on |
| Some therapists seem to believe that the | | | | what is happening as it happens. Learning, growth |
| absence of pain equals recovery...it does not! The | | | | and integration are brought about by the activity |
| body must be retrained to use muscles correctly. | | | | itself. Exercise is more pleasant when your mind is |
| Continued misuse may well lead to serious | | | | totally engaged with your body. |
| problems later in life. | | | | It is well worth experimenting to find the method |
| Extended sitting is one of the primary causes of | | | | that appeals to you. You will come to look |
| poor posture. Not only do people sit most of the | | | | forward to the stimulation it will provide. As time |
| time they are at home, eating or watching TV, | | | | passes you will find that without conscious effort |
| the seated workplace is the most common in the | | | | you are walking and sitting straighter, moving |
| world today. Some people sit almost every | | | | more gracefully. |
| minute of their waking day, aside from walking to | | | | Your muscles will become firmer and sleeker, |
| the bathroom. | | | | better shaped, stronger without being large and |
| The modern environment is not favorable to | | | | bulky. And you will be calmer and more relaxed, |
| good posture. It is practically impossible to sit both | | | | with a new sense of control and inner harmony. |
| correctly and comfortably in a chair. Most chairs | | | | These effects are subtle at first, and it takes |
| are so constructed that maintaining correct | | | | time for them to develop, but they are real. |
| alignment while sitting is out of the question. | | | | Only when your body is in balanced alignment, |
| They are the wrong size, the wrong shape, and | | | | each part working in harmony with every other |
| the wrong degree of firmness. The seats of | | | | part, can you experience the power, lightness and |
| many chairs are too long from front to back for | | | | ease intended by nature. |
| anyone under five foot four inches or so. Place as | | | | |