Five Quick Steps to Guarantee a Better Posture

The entire thought of "right posture" can drive us into a turn. Time after time we depend on criticism from others or our appearance in a store window to insist that we are doing OK. Does the preventative murmur from a parent to quit slumping truly work? Or then again is it only a change for a minute in time before we pass once again into our usual range of familiarity when everything is good to go?

When considering the five steps below, don’t be too hard on yourself. Understanding how you live in your body is an ongoing process that requires time and sometimes more than a little help from others. Use this as a starting point in your inquiry and you may find yourself motivated to take your understanding to the next level – seeking out a healthcare professional who focus’ on working with posture.

Before you start:

Stand with your feet slightly apart, arms by your side, and eyes looking forward.

Relax your whole body. Give yourself some slack and take a pause from any ‘doing’ activity. Try to let the images and movement come naturally.

Don’t force any movement. The moment you feel as though you are starting to impose yourself on the activity back off and try again. Allow the movement to occur gently and with as little force as possible.

Allow yourself time to ease into your body. As already mentioned take your time and be more ‘allowing’ of the movement.

Finally, place no judgement on what is right or wrong, there is only how you perform today. With every attempt at doing these steps you will find things a little easier. Your understanding of your body will become clearer, and you will find you become more aware than you could before.

Step One – Feet

Find a point of balance between the balls of the big toe, the ball of the little toe, and middle of heel.

Do you stand evenly and balanced on your feet? When standing we put our load on the bundles of the enormous toe, little toe, and center of the heel. Whether you are too far forward, back, or out to one side, your weight to some degree will fall through these points.

Step Two – Knees

Think of your knees as the headlights of a car, facing forward in the direction of movement.

When standing can your knees aim straight ahead, or do they turn in or out? The knees are affected by what occurs above and below them. Once you find yourself balanced on your feet, focus on where your knees face. Gently, allow your knees to face forward.

Step Three – Hips

Line up your feet and knees with the pelvis above.

Notice when standing do your hips lean across towards the left or the right, or can the pelvis sit comfortably over both your legs?

Find a comfortable position at your pelvis where your lower back is allowed to gently curve forward – naturally.

Does your pelvis tip too far forward exaggerating the curve of your lower back or does it tuck under removing the curve all together.

Step Four – Shoulders and Arms

Allow your shoulders to gently ease down and forward with your arms resting evenly and easily by your side.

Keep your hands soft.

Do your shoulders sit comfortably on your rib cage, or do they feel as though they are lifting to your ears?

You want to feel as if your hands are resting in the front pockets of a pair of trousers.

Step Five – Head

Imagine that a large helium balloon is attached to the crown of your head via a piece of string.

Feel the lift this will give you.

Is your head and neck balanced evenly between your shoulders lifting you tall?

Allow your eyes to face straight ahead. As a rule of thumb, there is a tendency that where the eyes go the head will follow.

A Final Note:

These five steps are not an exhaustive list of how to find the perfect posture, but an introduction into what is possible. To get more posture tips, visit Postureg. Certain possible steps were omitted so as to not confuse the basic goals and directions of movement sought after. If you have any questions or wish to contribute to this inquiry please feel free to add your opinions below.

I am Jessica. I am a journalist, writer, and blogger.