Straight Shoulders: Getting Better Posture for You and Your Kids

Our parents always told us to sit/stand up straight, right? And we didn't? And then we get older and start jobs and a lot of them are jobs where you sit all day, hunched over a desk or your computer. Then you come home and hunch over another computer, answering emails and playing games and jumping around on social media.

Then your back starts curving, and you lose height, and if you could see yourself standing up you'd run out of the room, screaming.

If you go to a gym to work out and work with a trainer, they spend a lot of time on your form, how you stand and hold yourself before you lift weights; how you place your knees on the ground before doing push ups. It's really about being present in your body when you move, or walk, or sit, stand, eat, lie down.

But what if you're not good at that?

I spent most of my life being what people tend to call a "dreamer." Most of the time I'm thinking about play or book ideas or writing them or doing writing work for people who hire me. I don't feel myself when I'm hunched over, writing. I feel what I'm writing about.

Unfortunately, that hasn't been great for me. Sitting is the new smoking, and if you don't want your bones to get brittle and be terrified of falling at the first sign of snow, well. You know you have to stand up straight and walk more. I try to leave my desk and walk outside or jump on the treadmill for 10 or 15 minutes daily, 30 or 40 minutes if I have the time (or an hour if I can.) My doctor says I can watch whatever trash TV I want as long as I'm on my stationery bike, which is extremely motivating.

But the truth is I don't do enough exercise, and my body is suffering because of it.

I don't usually (or ever) watch models walking down the runway anywhere, but when I've glanced at them in a magazine or TV, they are walking in such wonderful ways! They have a real intentionality about walking that makes me wish I could be that way.

I don't mean I want to be a model; but I DO think it's a matter of carriage. How you carry yourself through the world can have a lot of influence over people's perceptions of you. Even if they're not true, you can look confident and comfortable with yourself.

Whether I am or not, I want to look that way. And I'm hoping that by looking that way, I can feel that way too (eventually).

I'm thinking out loud here, as I often do in these blogs. But yes, posture, form, standing up straight, all that stuff our parents told us that we ignored. Should we be listening to them? And what should we tell our own kids? How do we get them to be mindful of their bodies?

YES, I say, standing as tall as I possibly can without slumping. I'm so sorry, mom, for tuning you out on that. The exercise experts I know say it's never too late to start and you really can build up strength and balance.

I just have to spend more time away from the computer, right?

And how, exactly, am I supposed to do that?

(Sigh).

Ideas:

9 Tips for Better Posture

How to Teach Your Child Good Posture Habits

Workplace Ergonomics: How to Improve Your Posture at Work


Clasping Hands Photo: liz west