It happens all the time–clients come into the studio wanting to improve their posture. Nine out of ten times, we hear something like, “I know I should be standing up straight with my shoulders pulled back.” We’re here to tell you otherwise!
Believe it or not, the cue to "stand-up straight with shoulders back" actually tenses and distorts the natural curves of most spines and requires excessive muscular effort. “Good” posture ought to feel effortless, requiring minimal muscular tension to maintain the integrity of your spinal curves by balancing the masses of your head, ribcage, and pelvis–one on top of the next.
An easy way to understand your posture is to think of your body like a building.
- The foundation of your building is your feet
- Your legs are structural pillars that thrust up to support the balcony of your pelvis
- Your ribcage, shoulders, and head are the upper stories of your building
You’ll most likely never hear a teacher at Pilates in Common cue “stand up straight, shoulders back” when helping a client improve their posture. Instead, we’ll typically start with the feet.
The feet are foundational to improving posture.
Think about it; no matter where you’re injured or poorly aligned, your whole body stands on top of your feet. Many people don’t know about maintaining the health of the arches in their feet, meaning their foundation is vulnerable! What’s on top of the feet? The legs. What’s on top of the legs? The pelvis. What’s on top of the pelvis? The spine! If your arches aren’t strong and supportive, it affects everything above them. If you improve the function of your feet, you’ll improve your overall posture.
Try this!
- Stand up and align your knees under your hip sockets, then your feet under your knees parallel to each other (this is hip width apart!)
- Go ahead, get slumpy and let your shoulders roll forward and your head hang down toward your pelvis. Stay here for a minute and notice how you feel
- Can you sense the weight falling into your feet? Or perhaps you can feel tension in your back
- Without changing the position of your feet: press down into your big toes, then your pinkie toes, and now your heels. As you press into your feet, take an inhale. Do you feel your posture getting lighter?
- As an experiment, stop using your feet and inhale. Do you notice that it’s harder to breathe? Did you just get heavier?
This simple awareness exercise shows that pressing into your feet improves skeletal alignment. Want to incorporate daily foot exercises to improve your posture? Check out Pilates for your Feet for a 10 min routine and other feet tips and tricks.
By: Nicole Lancie
Above image: From Exercise What it is, What it Does by Carola Trier
Building image: Lili Popper
