Posture is Dumb

And boring. Let's forget about posture, and replace it with embodied awareness- using your senses and mind-body connection to create a dynamic equilibrium for your body. This is not only easier, but generally more effective, albeit somewhat challenging to our needs for control and tension (yes, tension is a psychological need for most of us). And hopefully, jettisoning some of the "I should have better posture" thoughts will help us be more gentle with ourselves, and more in touch with what is really healthy. Because there really seem to be many benefits from a relaxed, supported, balanced body, ranging from respiration and digestion, to psychological states, to how others perceive us.

But let's talk about why posture, or more specifically, the rigid postural code which we have culturally accepted, is not the most intelligent thing we could be adhering to:

1) Holding a rigid position based on a concept of what we should be doing causes tension and stiffness, and creates an inability to respond to the demands of the moment. Just try pushing your shoulders back and sitting up "straight," while feeling what happens to the muscles along your spine.  Try the same thing with your neck, and feel the tension enter in. Could you move very well with this holding pattern in place? Why should we do it when sitting or standing?

2) Usually, sitting or standing up "straight" actually causes us to lean backwards a bit. This is because we tend to have our necks and upper bodies locked pretty far forward, while parts of our lower body are locked backward for counterbalance. Because much of our awareness is in our upper body, we end up feeling like we are upright when we're actually compensating for this complicated positioning. So we're stiff, and off-balance.

3) Holding an ideal posture, whether standing or sitting, can numb us to the messages from our body. If we are listening, we can respond in the moment to what our body's needs are in terms of core stability and balance. Since life is ever-changing, these needs are ever-changing.

4) The part of our mind that uses concepts, such as "I should push my shoulders back," or "I shouldn't slouch," is not the part of the mind that is best suited for mind-body connecting. If we use our pre-verbal, instinctive brain, we can actually engage our body more effectively. This is done through methods such as visualization. You may have heard of the concept of having a rope attached to the top of your head, pulling it toward the sky; this is one way of using the mind-body connection. Many athletes, of course, use visualization to become more effective - and it has been shown in at least one study that such techniques are better than "positive thinking," the domain of the verbal brain (I wish I could find the link for this study!).

5) It's impossible to hold "good posture" anyway. As soon as your attention is distracted, you will lose your posture. If you can tune into your body more directly, then it is possible to be more supported and balanced even when you are focused on another task.

But good posture isn't all bad. Sometimes it can be useful, when combined with awareness. An intelligent approach is one which knows when to apply concepts of posture, and when to let the body do its thing. We'll get more into that in the next posts...