'Good posture' isn't what they say it is

Join the February 3-5 'SIT SMARTER' Challenge

Ever wonder how to “sit correctly”?

According to a leading health website, here’s how:

"Start by sitting at the end of your chair. Roll your shoulders and neck forward into a full slouching position. Then, slowly pull your head and shoulders up into a tall sitting position. Push your lower back forward and accentuate the curves of your spine. This will likely feel forced and uncomfortable, but hold for several seconds. Release this sitting position slightly, and you’re sitting in a good posture position. Scoot yourself back in the chair until your back is against the chair and your hips are in the bend of the chair."

I’ll admit, I’ve seen much worse advice than this.

Still there are several ideas here that are dangerously misleading and could lead to serious misery if you took the website’s suggestion to follow these steps “each time you sit down”:

• You are being asked to carve your body up into separate ‘parts.’

• You are being told that ‘posture’ = a ‘position’

• “This will likely feel forced and uncomfortable, but . . . “ !!

Next week, I'm running a free challenge with short live classes Monday through Wednesday at 12pm EST to teach you how to Sit Smarter!

Sign up here

I’ll be turning the perspective described above upside down. You’ll learn that “good sitting posture” is actually found by:

• Learning to move with your whole self

• Understanding that posture is always dynamic, never static

• Following the path of comfort every step of the way!

The cool thing is, once you understand the basic principles I’ll be sharing, you won’t have to run through a checklist of what to do with each one of your ‘parts’ each time you sit down.

Instead, you’ll know what good posture feels like and how to find it again and again through an organic process that’s based on listening to your body rather than conforming to an arbitrary external standard.

See you there?

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