Somatic Approaches to Posture: Finding Your Foundation with Flow, Ease, and Mind-Body Awareness
How many times have you heard yourself say “I have terrible posture”? How many times have you search for ways to improve your posture? How often do you look at someone and admire their “perfect posture”?
Here’s the thing…perfect posture doesn’t exist.
Each and every one of us is unique in our body structure and what feels good in our bodies.
What feels good for me may not feel great for you and visa versa.
When you realize this, the mental load of trying to find and hold a “perfect posture” melts away and you can be present for what matters most to you.
You might be thinking, “But, Bre, I can’t just give up on my posture…it still needs help!"
Don’t worry, you don’t have to give up completely on improving your posture…but, you can approach it from a different lens.
What I love to think about is working toward finding a foundational posture, your best posture. A posture that’s uniquely YOURS. A posture in which you feel rooted, grounded, steady, and a sense of ease.
When you find your best posture, you'll be able to move in and out of it and be in flow with your body knowing that you have your foundation to return to throughout your day.
If you’d love help with this, I’ve got you! I created a free guided meditation that’s designed to do exactly this. You’ll get to practice tuning in to your body, increasing your mind-body awareness and postural alignment, and grounding into your foundational posture.
You might be wondering why this is important to move in and out of your foundational posture and be in flow with your body or why it matters.
There’s a saying, “your best posture is your next posture,” and I wholeheartedly subscribe to this idea.
Take a moment and think of a time you were sitting or standing for a long period of time. With that prolonged position, you might have started to notice some discomfort, some aches or pains creeping in. When you’re one position for a period of time, your body - muscles, ligaments, tendons, joint capsules, nerves - get a little stagnant. These tissue feel so much better when they have fresh, oxygen rich blood brought to them and the perfect catalyst for that is movement!
This doesn’t mean you need to do some big movement practice, though you can do that if it feels good for you, but I encourage you to keep it simple and easy to implement.
You might find that the seemingly smallest forms of movement are enough.
Tips for mindful movement and flow
Shifting your weight in your chair
Moving from sitting back in your chair to perching on the edge of your chair
Moving from sitting to standing at your desk
Moving from static standing to rocking your weight side-to-side
The options really are endless.
If you do have time and a space to move around for 5-10 minutes every 30-60 minutes, that’s an added bonus! You might walk around, do some bodyweight exercises - squats, lunges, step-ups, push-ups, etc - jump around, dance...find something feels fun for you!
Somatic Awareness
The most important thing to remember to do throughout your day is to check in with your body and stay curious about what’s present.
Somatic check-in
Are there any areas of tension? Pain? Resistance?
What happens if you shift your posture? If you invite softness or a breath in?
How is your emotional state? Are you feeling stressed? Overwhelmed? Excited? Joyful?
When you can pause and connect to what you’re feeling in your body, it strengthens your mind-body awareness and helps you create a deeper understanding of what works best for YOU and YOUR body.
Here are a few questions that might help as you practice being in flow with your foundational posture…
What postures feel good?
What postures are uncomfortable?
What are all the options to switch up your sitting and standing postures? (I encourage you to get really curious here and explore!)
What can you do to switch up your posture more often during the day? What cues or reminders might you need to help you check in and remember to move your body in some way?
Tips for improved posture
I intentionally held these tactical suggestions for the last part of this post because I think the more important things for you to have when it comes to posture are:
Mind-body awareness of and connection to your body and how it feels in space
Cultivating a mindset of curiosity around your posture
Shifting from “all or nothing” and “perfect posture” thinking to “what if?” and “could I try…”
Mindful movement through finding flow and ways to switch up your posture throughout the day
So, here are some general, broad strokes tips for improving your posture in standing and sitting.
Please Note: These are not meant to be prescriptive or medical advice. Your body is unique, so take what works for you and leave the rest. If you are having pain or would like individualized support, please be sure to consult your physician or physical therapist.
Tips to Improve Standing Posture
Ground your feet under you around hip-width distance apart (try out a more narrow stance, a wider stance, and one somewhere in the middle and see what feels best for you and your body)
Shift your weight around your feet until you settle with weight distributed equally across both feet from heels to toes
Soften your knees just enough to give them a wiggle
Center your pelvis - think of it as a bowl full of water and try to find the position where your the bowl of your pelvis is balanced so the water is being held within it
Gently lift your breastbone and the crown of your head to the sky - you might think about a string gently pulling up to help you stand tall
Roll your shoulders up toward your ears, bring them back just a little and set them down without forcing anything
Check in with what you feel and make any adjustments to create your unique standing posture
Ways to Switch Up Your Standing Posture
Normal stance
Narrow stance (feet together)
Wide stance (feet wider than hip width distance apart)
Step-stance
“Captain Morgan’s” position
Standing on a foam pad, pillow, or rock mat
Half kneeling
Walking on a treadmill
Tips for Improving Sitting Posture
Find yourself in a chair in a position that allows you to ground your feet on the floor
Check in with your pelvis and look for 3 points of contact - your sit-bones (right and left) and the front of your pelvis (your pubis). If you need to, you can rock your pelvis forward and backward until you feel weight spread equally across those 3 points of contact on the chair.
Gently lift your breastbone and the crown of your head to the sky - you might think about a string gently pulling up to help you stand tall
Roll your shoulders up toward your ears, bring them back just a little and set them down without forcing anything
If you’re able to sit all the way back in your chair and your chair has a back, you can experiment with adding a towel roll behind your lower back to take up the space between your lower back and the back of the chair
Check in with what you feel and make any adjustments to create your unique sitting posture
Ways to Switch Up Your Sitting Posture
Sitting all the way back in the chair with back supported
Perching on edge of chair
Sitting on an exercise Ball
Sitting criss-cross applesauce on your chair or on the floor
Hips-to-heels kneeling (with a bolster or yoga block for support and comfort)
These postures, ideally, feel both grounded and easeful. If you’re noticing a lot of effort, get curious.
What might you be able to shift or change to bring in more ease?
And, remember that your best posture is your next posture so stay open to fidgeting, moving around, shifting your weight, changing your position, etc.
Be sure to send me a message to let me know how I can support you in finding your foundational posture.
Until next time,
Bre
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