Posture Talk
When it comes to self care it is amazing how far we as a society have evolved. Look at your phone. There are thousands of apps devoted to helping you eat healthy, exercise, meditate and track your sleep.
The resounding message is that your health is important. It is your obligation to care for yourself first so that you can then care for others.
So what do you do if your posture is less than optimal?
A simple google search reveals pages upon pages of articles on the benefits of sitting up straight and pictures of good posture vs bad posture. You’ll definitely find numerous variations of the “10 Moves You MUST Do to Improve Posture” on repeat.
Telling someone to ‘sit up straight’ can seem like sage advice. You can’t help but remind your kids to sit up straight while stooping over their cell phone (while you are fixated on the screen in front of you…busted). In a vague sense you know that it’s bad to slump for long periods of time—neck pain, headaches, or the uncanny appearance of not giving a you-know-what.
It turns out that it is actually much worse than that. Poor posture is scientifically linked to low markers in behavior, performance, brain physiology, and memory, It can lead to physical ailments such as low lung capacity and digestive complaints. People with poor posture may be perceived as less capable and less confident, and their own self-image reflects these assumptions.
The problem with telling someone “sit up straight” is the assumption they know what it feels like to be “straight”. I am an expert on posture, and I can tell you that not one of my new clients has ever been able to find their own “straight” when asked to do so. It’s something we can conceptualize without necessarily feeling.
The ELDOA
The ELDOA Method calls upright posture your gravity line. When viewed from the side body, the gravity line is the vertical line running down from ear to shoulder to hip to ankle. It is the location where your body most efficiently handles the stress of gravity with the least amount of energy, thus creating optimal function of the whole system.
When you ask someone to stand up straight, they will take the shape of their own faulty adaptation to gravity. Their brain thinks they are straight when in fact they are not. To correct the brain takes some training. Where is my shoulder located in space? My pelvis? My head? My pinky finger?
Correcting postural perceptions often requires additional therapy for scoliosis or for an injury such as whiplash.
You cannot train the body without training the brain. Not for something like posture.
Just sit up straight already.
Telling someone to sit up straight is akin to saying “Hey, concerned about your weight? Just get skinny”. Not only is this unhelpful, it erodes the individual’s self worth. It saddens me when someone feels at fault because they believe they should have stood up straighter years ago, like mom said. I actually hear this all the time!
My job is not to tell people to improve their posture… my job is telling them HOW to do it. I teach specific ELDOA exercises and myofascial stretches to educate the brain and body on good posture. It is amazing how much better you feel when you are “lifted” from a good ELDOA session. You will experience a sense of wellbeing that comes from being aligned, stretched, challenged and changed.
Anyone can try the ELDOA, no experience is needed. Group class happens every Friday at 11:30am Central time.