Posture adjustments
Aug. 3rd, 2010 01:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
muck_a_luckMy posture has always been terrible.
You may recall that I recently - in the last several months - made one posture adjustment. I noticed out of the corner of my eye my reflection in a window as I was walking and I realized that I was holding my shoulders hunched forward. It made me look like I was constantly slumping, and made me look fatter and older than my weight and age deserved. I began consciously pulling my shoulder blades back and down, as one does in yoga postures. It instantly took off years and pounds, though it also made me feel I was *thrusting* my chest at everyone.
That adjustment has come to feel normal now. I still mentally check for having my shoulders back, but usually, I don't have to make any change.
Anyway, in the Foundation Vinyasa and Earth, Shiva Rea guides you toward Uddiyana Bandha. In several iterations, she has you place your hands on your belly and sacrum and feel how they move and tilt as you lift your abdomen and drop your tailbone down. The sensation created is as if my chest and head are being drawn upwards toward the sky - as if I am growing out the top of my head. It reminds me a little of the instruction on my old tai chi tape, to feel as if a string is pulling me upwards.
Now that I have really learned what this alignment feels like, I am trying to bring it into my standing postures. Sitting postures are harder, so haven't worried about them yet. It definitely makes my whole body feel lighter, so I'm pretty sure I'm doing soemthing I *should* be doing, but it also feels weird. Hips, legs, and shoulders don't move the same way. I feel like I'm holding my neck stiffly. Even peripheral vision seems different - off.
It's an interesting experience. I did not expect trying to hold my back straighter to have such an impact on the exerience of walking from point a to point b.
You may recall that I recently - in the last several months - made one posture adjustment. I noticed out of the corner of my eye my reflection in a window as I was walking and I realized that I was holding my shoulders hunched forward. It made me look like I was constantly slumping, and made me look fatter and older than my weight and age deserved. I began consciously pulling my shoulder blades back and down, as one does in yoga postures. It instantly took off years and pounds, though it also made me feel I was *thrusting* my chest at everyone.
That adjustment has come to feel normal now. I still mentally check for having my shoulders back, but usually, I don't have to make any change.
Anyway, in the Foundation Vinyasa and Earth, Shiva Rea guides you toward Uddiyana Bandha. In several iterations, she has you place your hands on your belly and sacrum and feel how they move and tilt as you lift your abdomen and drop your tailbone down. The sensation created is as if my chest and head are being drawn upwards toward the sky - as if I am growing out the top of my head. It reminds me a little of the instruction on my old tai chi tape, to feel as if a string is pulling me upwards.
Now that I have really learned what this alignment feels like, I am trying to bring it into my standing postures. Sitting postures are harder, so haven't worried about them yet. It definitely makes my whole body feel lighter, so I'm pretty sure I'm doing soemthing I *should* be doing, but it also feels weird. Hips, legs, and shoulders don't move the same way. I feel like I'm holding my neck stiffly. Even peripheral vision seems different - off.
It's an interesting experience. I did not expect trying to hold my back straighter to have such an impact on the exerience of walking from point a to point b.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-03 03:59 pm (UTC)