what is leaning in?
Well it is the name and crux of a book by a top international (facebook) businesswoman. It's about being more assertive, more of a leader, and was aimed at women.
Which is one hundred percent fantastic. Love it. Hoorah to that lady for encouraging women.
leaning forward
But that actually is not what I mean on this post. I'm talking about body and posture with Leaning In. You know how when we are tired, burdened, and we lean our head forward, leaning into being "down"? The head goes down and forward. That's what I meant.
It can be a real problem as we go through the years. Male and female. It becomes a habit, then our muscles and bones start to settle into this position, and it leads to that rounded hump upper back thingey. In the Days Of Yore, it was called a Dowagers Hump. As if only women got it. (!)
Sometimes it's from long term posture when the face and chin are thrust forward and a bit up. That dreaded rounded upper back starts to appear as the years go by.
And sometimes it is from leaning in, forwards, from the hips. Which makes our walk a bit strange.
why we are wise to care about it
Why should any one even care? Well, it makes us progressively shorter, and as I am really small, I definitely don't want to be even more little. I have enough problems with everything being made bigger and higher. For example those enormous truck cars are so high for us smaller people to get in and out of. (True confession time here)
When I'm with others, I try to pretend that I don't know that I'm a short-stop. Luckily I have a daughter, adult grand daughter, and a sister, who are my size. For some reason I feel really normal around them.
Some of our spinal discs (which are pads between each vertebrae), get compressed when the spine is rounded un-naturally. Pinched discs are incredibly painful. So even just as a preventative for this, good posture really helps.
And it really is not good for our bone structure to get a stooped upper back. Yep, that's the important one. As our back becomes too rounded, or stooped, our chest naturally contracts a bit. It is good for us to have an "open" chest. It's better for our lungs and therefore our breathing. It's better for our heart and blood circulation. Our chest muscles get tight when our upper back is overstretched.
what can we do about it?
As a yoga teacher I am quite respectful of any anomilies that any students have, and leaning in is part of it. That's why the yoga backward bends are so useful. Start doing them early, keep doing them, and stay upright as a result. If you can't do any, try the two below. These are the easy ones.
What else can we do? Well, I "borrowed" this for myself from a sixty-three eternally young fitness instructor in the USA: every hour (or whenever you remember), stand tall, zip up your tummy, and lower your shoulder blades down your back. This all makes us stand up straight.
The other thing that I do nearly every morning first thing, is to interlace my fingers behind my head (not the neck), elbows out to the sides, and push head and hands against each other for ten seconds or more. This makes my head go into a correct position. My neck naturally goes forwards. I thought that it was from scoliosis (life long) and maybe it is, but I'm pretty sure it's from something else. Something really ridiculous.
moi being silly
Sigh. More true silly confessions. I am rather small breasted, which was the bane of my life when I was younger. I thought that if I brought my shoulders forward and in towards each other, that it might I look as though I had some chesty attributes. Oh gosh am I embarrassed writing this...... Anyway, it rounded my upper back and wrecked the natural position of my neck bones. At quite a young age. When I realised, many, many, years later, of course I started working strongly on my posture. I still do.
Sometimes things just happen to wreck our posture, and the way that we walk. A gym friend fiend was telling me about a gym instructor who was famous for being eternally young, fantastic body, and great at all fitness. Even in her late sixties. But in her seventies, she got the forward lean and difficult gait. My first thought was total surprise. But you know, things happen. Accidents and strange health things happen which cause our posture to go awry. That's totally different from bad postural habits which settle in over time and make us stooped.
The weird thing about a blog is that you end up telling the world, things that you normally wouldn't even mention, like my ridiculous true confessions. But as a yoga teacher, I have always been quietly passionate about people bodies being more full of ease and grace. It honestly makes life easier. And, I do feel that if I'm to mention anything, it would be dishonest not to be upfront about my own experiences about a subject.
Am I the only one with weird confessions?
Well it is the name and crux of a book by a top international (facebook) businesswoman. It's about being more assertive, more of a leader, and was aimed at women.
Which is one hundred percent fantastic. Love it. Hoorah to that lady for encouraging women.
leaning forward
But that actually is not what I mean on this post. I'm talking about body and posture with Leaning In. You know how when we are tired, burdened, and we lean our head forward, leaning into being "down"? The head goes down and forward. That's what I meant.
It can be a real problem as we go through the years. Male and female. It becomes a habit, then our muscles and bones start to settle into this position, and it leads to that rounded hump upper back thingey. In the Days Of Yore, it was called a Dowagers Hump. As if only women got it. (!)
Sometimes it's from long term posture when the face and chin are thrust forward and a bit up. That dreaded rounded upper back starts to appear as the years go by.
And sometimes it is from leaning in, forwards, from the hips. Which makes our walk a bit strange.
why we are wise to care about it
Why should any one even care? Well, it makes us progressively shorter, and as I am really small, I definitely don't want to be even more little. I have enough problems with everything being made bigger and higher. For example those enormous truck cars are so high for us smaller people to get in and out of. (True confession time here)
When I'm with others, I try to pretend that I don't know that I'm a short-stop. Luckily I have a daughter, adult grand daughter, and a sister, who are my size. For some reason I feel really normal around them.
Some of our spinal discs (which are pads between each vertebrae), get compressed when the spine is rounded un-naturally. Pinched discs are incredibly painful. So even just as a preventative for this, good posture really helps.
And it really is not good for our bone structure to get a stooped upper back. Yep, that's the important one. As our back becomes too rounded, or stooped, our chest naturally contracts a bit. It is good for us to have an "open" chest. It's better for our lungs and therefore our breathing. It's better for our heart and blood circulation. Our chest muscles get tight when our upper back is overstretched.
what can we do about it?
As a yoga teacher I am quite respectful of any anomilies that any students have, and leaning in is part of it. That's why the yoga backward bends are so useful. Start doing them early, keep doing them, and stay upright as a result. If you can't do any, try the two below. These are the easy ones.
camel pose
simple fish pose. legs are straight, they can even be relaxed.
In both poses, chest is forward, shoulderblades down, even pulled in towards each other.
The other thing that I do nearly every morning first thing, is to interlace my fingers behind my head (not the neck), elbows out to the sides, and push head and hands against each other for ten seconds or more. This makes my head go into a correct position. My neck naturally goes forwards. I thought that it was from scoliosis (life long) and maybe it is, but I'm pretty sure it's from something else. Something really ridiculous.
moi being silly
Sigh. More true silly confessions. I am rather small breasted, which was the bane of my life when I was younger. I thought that if I brought my shoulders forward and in towards each other, that it might I look as though I had some chesty attributes. Oh gosh am I embarrassed writing this...... Anyway, it rounded my upper back and wrecked the natural position of my neck bones. At quite a young age. When I realised, many, many, years later, of course I started working strongly on my posture. I still do.
Sometimes things just happen to wreck our posture, and the way that we walk. A gym friend fiend was telling me about a gym instructor who was famous for being eternally young, fantastic body, and great at all fitness. Even in her late sixties. But in her seventies, she got the forward lean and difficult gait. My first thought was total surprise. But you know, things happen. Accidents and strange health things happen which cause our posture to go awry. That's totally different from bad postural habits which settle in over time and make us stooped.
The weird thing about a blog is that you end up telling the world, things that you normally wouldn't even mention, like my ridiculous true confessions. But as a yoga teacher, I have always been quietly passionate about people bodies being more full of ease and grace. It honestly makes life easier. And, I do feel that if I'm to mention anything, it would be dishonest not to be upfront about my own experiences about a subject.
Am I the only one with weird confessions?
True confessions aside, I have poor posture. Added to that, I have osteoporosis. So, I thank you for the yoga positions and tips to improve posture. :)
ReplyDeleteThey have really helped me Bess, so I'm glad to heave shared them xxx
DeleteBoth of my grandmothers used to emphasize the need to "stand tall" - posture was very important to them and often forgotten about today. My mother could sit for hours without her back touching the chair and was always growling at me for "lolloping" in my chair :)
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother had beautiful posture too. I do think that good posture makes us feel better, so I do have to remind myself, often, to do it.
DeleteThat was an interesting read. I shall try your tip with the hands interlaced behind my head.
ReplyDeleteI'm very aware of my posture, having compensated for having been born with a hip defect and standing awkwardly for 39 years before it was detected. I used to stick my bum out when I stood still to stay stable and it's a hard habit to break even 14 years after surgery! xxx
Getting a few exercises from an osteopath really helps, Vix, even though they can be expensive. And it's really interesting how the hip thing absolutely does not show in your photos
DeleteGreat post, Ratnamurti! And you are definitely not the only one who makes strange confessions in blogland! Haha. I do it all the time. Posture is so very important and I really appreciate all of these wonderful tips. I need to practice some of this more. It is funny because I always measured shorter than I actually am when I would go to the doctor because my posture was so bad from being super insecure. I was always trying to disappear by slouching away. Then in my mid-30s when I began gaining self confidence, I stood straighter and taller and somehow "grew" an entire inch! Thanks for sharing and linking up.
ReplyDeleteShelbee
www.shelbeeontheedge.com
I love your "strange" confessions, Shelbee xxxxxxx
DeleteHow interesting, my fledgling start in yoga has been an eye opener for me - yes there is posture (I am a natural slumper, I can slump against anything), breathing, stretching but also the self-care/acceptance. I think with the self-care/acceptance I am slumping less - maybe I am owning my space I dont know. But yeah yoga really helps with awareness and acceptance of your body - wish Id had this years ago as I have probably so many weird confessions due to body hang ups... for years I couldnt eat in public spaces (fat person issue), couldnt try on clothing in a shop before buying it (fat person issue), couldnt make eye contact with other people (fat person issue), essentially a walking bag of issues, spent much of my early adult years hiding behind hair and tying my arms in knots in front of me especially as a fat girl my mother repeatedly drew attention to my "buxomness" (apparently a self-grown crime), interesting that other peoples issues get foisted on us alongside our own :)
ReplyDeleteI am so glad for you that yoga is being so good for you. Yes it is so great for self acceptance. It will help with your glands, organs, nerves, too. When I started in my early twenties, I had lost muscle tone with a big baby and diifcult birth (my baby was worth all that!!!) and the yoga made a difference from the first class.
Delete