Stand Up Straight!

Although my grandmother loved me very much, it didn’t stop her from terrorizing me about my posture. Perhaps concern for me drove her to use fear as a means of encouragement. “Stand up straight!” she’d screech, appearing out of nowhere and smacking me between the shoulder blades. “Be proud you’re tall.” And then she’d suck up straight herself to demonstrate to me how I should do it. Problem was, I wasn’t proud, I was mortified. I was not happy about being about a foot taller than the other kids (and ALL of the boys) and having red hair to boot. I did not want to stand out, and so I slumped. Slumping became a habit, and to this day, I still have to consciously self-correct my posture. And while pride/shame are no longer issues, the fact that I am no longer just tall, but busty as well, has made me paranoid that if I drop my shoulders back and put my chest out, someone might inadvertently lose an eye . . . sigh. So when it comes to my posture, I just do the best I can and call it a day.

I have many clients who are horribly self-critical about their posture. They deride themselves constantly, calling themselves “lazy” and indicating that they are “failures.” I like to point out to them that there are multiple reasons for “poor posture,” some of which are difficult to control (unreleased pecs pulling the body forward, gravity like a huge hand on the back of the head). What most concerns me is that I believe the body listens and absorbs negative self-talk. I would much rather have them say, “Wow, body, you had a terribly stressful day, and yes, you got slumpy, but now let’s take care of you with a massage and a good meal to help you stand up a little straighter.” I would rather have them explore dance, or massage, or chiropractic adjustment to improve their structural health rather than have them slumping further forward in a bad-posture-is-ugly-and-immoral funk.

My grandmother, who has suffered from osteoporosis for many years, is now shrunken and bent. It makes me sad to hear her criticize this “failing” and watch her try to suck herself up into a position she can no longer even remotely achieve. We weren’t born with books balanced on our heads, and we won’t die that way either. So while “good” posture and structural health are important, I tend to lean toward a “do the best you can” view rather than having people give up on their health or having them hate themselves for not matching the illustrations for optimal bodies in anatomy books.