Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Change your posture, change your world.

There are so many lessons to absorb in yoga teacher school! So many of the things I thought I already knew are being revisited and presented to me in new ways. I love learning the intricacies of yoga, and already – after only two weeks of classes – I’ve had some ah-ha! moments.

I learned something in yoga teacher school on Thursday night that sunk in and made perfect sense to me, and it has to do with posture and how we carry our bodies throughout our days.


Did you know that our posture can not only affect our mood, but it can literally affect our hormone levels? It seemed logical to believe the concept of shifting our mood by sitting up straight – shaking off those woe-is-me slumped shoulders and holding our head high, but actually changing our hormone levels?
Get this – our brain instinctively knows when our shoulders are slumped and our head is hanging low that there’s something going on. Just as our body language would appear to others looking on, our brain knows that the body's posture is a sign of unhappiness – maybe even fear or angst. And because our brain is so smart and great at delivering everything we need to get through our current situation, it goes ahead and makes some extra hormones to maintain us through that danger zone – whether we really need it or not.
But what if we hold ourselves in a poor posture and there's really nothing wrong? What if it’s just another regular ol’ day on planet earth and that’s how we sit or stand comfortably out of habit? Well, our brain doesn’t know that, so it just keeps producing the junk it needs to help maintain us, all slouched over like we have the weight of the world on our shoulders. I can see how this would be a vicious cycle without the knowledge of how to change it.
Change your posture, change your world.
The good news is that we can change that – all by ourselves and it won’t cost us a dime. The simple act of standing tall, head held up with shoulders back and down can be transformational. Our brain will get the message and be like, “Hey! This is a happy day and together we’ve got this!” and then it will magically produce all the right hormones to make that shift.
This could explain how yoga transformed me without me even knowing what was happening. This could explain how yoga helped me to overcome personal obstacles, and how it continues to feed my spirit. Thanks to my yoga practice, I stand tall with my shoulders back and down, facing the world head on and ready for whatever comes my way.
I am my posture, and my posture is me.

8 comments:

Susi said...

Very interesting information here. Love that your sharing some of your studies here. Thank you.

Ruth said...

Food for thought here, as I am guilty of the slouch!

Jo.C said...

Interesting and definitely something to think about as I often slouch. TFS x

Karen said...

Great information! Whenever I see someone hunched over, it reminds me to stand tall, but I never knew it changed hormones. Hopefully, that alone will help me be more consistent!

debs14 said...

Such a simple thing, but so true. I am so guilty of slouching, I will think of you and try to correct myself!

Margaret said...

Yoga teacher school! How did I miss this? I know I have been a neglectful reader and now look I totally missed big news. Congratulations. I think you would be a fantastic yoga teacher. I can't wait to follow your journey.

Audrey said...

Hmmmmm, definitely something to ponder. I will try to be more self aware and lift myself when I'm droopy (which thankfully isn't too often). Hope you have a nice weekend, Deb!

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

That is so interesting and makes perfect sense to me. When I was at Primary school I had a lot of time off with illness. My teachers were quite progressive for the time (mid to late 70s) and they got in a lady to help me learn to breathe better. I had a session with her every Friday afternoon and part of what she taught me was about posture. My health improved greatly as a result. I've been a head up, shoulders back sort of girl ever since. Gosh, I'd forgotten all about that!

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