As far as I can tell, May was declared Correct Posture Month by The American Chiropractic Association
(“ACA”). Where I practice, at The
Feldenkrais® Institute, although we're not so fond of the term, "posture," we know everybody uses it, so for the month of May we’re offering our own version of Posture Month. (We're leaving off the "correct." For more on that, read on.) Regarding the ACA’s standpoint
on posture, there’s a lot that makes sense, but some of what they advocate is, frankly, a little closer to nonsense. Even to begin the discussion with the idea
that there is such a thing as “correct” posture implies that there’s a stance
or a way of holding oneself that is universally right for every human being. We
who practice the Feldenkrais Method believe that little can be applied universally to all people. We see each of you as an individual and,
while there may be some aspects of posture that apply to several or even many
people, to advocate one set of postural “rules” without taking into account the
huge physical variance to be found throughout humanity cannot be truly "correct."
Here’s a link to what looks like the "official" ACA post on Correct Posture Month. In it, there are a lot
of commonly accepted ideas about posture, both good and bad, and as such, it makes
for a good starting place for some additional thoughts on posture. To fully understand
what I’m talking about below, I urge you to follow the link and read the Correct Posture Month post first. Again, you can access the post by clicking here.
I agree with much of the information in the post. On the other hand, as one who looks at physicality
through the lens of the Feldenkrais Method, I would deem some of what's recommended not particularly useful. For example, let's look at this brief excerpt that seems like commonly accepted postural advice, "...keep your head held up, shoulders back and
stomach tucked in." Like so many instructions that involve "how to
be" physically, this seemingly simple advice is much easier said than
done. I can't argue with the advantages of keeping one's head up. But how much
of your attention are you willing to devote to doing it? What happens when you
stop thinking, “keep my head up”? In other words, good advice is only as good
as the tools provided to put the advice into practice. That’s what the Feldenkrais
Method is all about, providing you with tools.
The rest of those recommendations are questionable on several levels. Shoulders back? How far
back? What else happens when you bring your shoulders back? Do you tense your
neck or clench your jaw or overarch your lower back? And do those actions, or whatever
you do unconsciously in concert with pulling your shoulders back, contribute to
"better" posture or detract from it? There is no single answer that
fits everyone.
Keep your stomach tucked in. Why? Does it help preserve the
natural curves of your spine? That’s doubtful. On the contrary, tucking in your
stomach makes it more difficult to maintain a healthy lumbar curve. So, why the
advice? Is it simply to satisfy the desire to look better and does that imply that
thinner is better? Does tucking one's stomach in make any functional sense when thinking of posture? Depending
on where one begins her individual exploration in search of
"better" posture, reducing the lower back curve a little, which would
result in moving the stomach back (not tucking it in), might
be beneficial. But for some of us, tucking the stomach might bring on increased
strain and even contribute to back pain.
The point is that people are different and so is each
individual's pathway to better posture. This is the crux of the approach we
take through the Feldenkrais Method. Each of you can learn to better sense
yourself to the point where you will become your own coach in search of your
particular version of correct posture. Using Feldenkrais Awareness Through
Movement® exercises, you can learn to not only sense what is great posture for
you, but as your nervous system begins to experience more equilibrium with less
effort, you won't have to think so much about keeping your shoulders back or
your head up or anything else, because your system will seek, not those
external consciously-driven ideals, but rather, the vertical organization that
feels the most effortless and natural for you. And when you do think about those particular aspects of your physicality, you'll be able to ease your shoulders into a more comfortable place, allow your head to move back to find balance over your pelvis and, most importantly, you'll be able to sense just what your own version of "correct" posture feels like and find it quickly and simply.
If you’d like to begin this exploratory process of finding
your own “correct” posture, you might try my upcoming workshop at the
Feldenkrais Institute, The Easy Way to Better Posture. All the details can be
found by clicking here.
Also, the Feldenkrais Institute offers fifteen weekly Awareness
Through Movement classes on a drop-in basis and throughout the month of May all
of us who teach there have been encouraged to put the focus of our class
choices on improving posture. A roster of classes offered at the Feldenkrais Institute can be found on the right side of the page that opens when you click here. So, whether or not you can make my evening
workshop next Thursday, come join us anytime during May (or any other time) and find out how you
can make being upright simpler and more pleasurable while you help yourself to
just plain feel better.
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