Want to look thin, but don’t want to work out much? Want to drop a couple of kilos without going on a diet? Want to come across as a more positive and confident person and make a killer first impression on people? Well, we have the perfect magic fix for you! It’s posture. The way you carry your self has a major bearing on how people perceive you. This is how you learn to carry yourself with poise and grace.
Figure Out What You Do
First and foremost, do a check. Do you hunch your shoulders? Are you walking wrong? Do you slouch when you’re sitting down? You need to be aware of where you’re going wrong before you can figure out how to fix the problem! Observe yourself very carefully through the day.
Stand Tall
Do this exercise in front of the mirror. Stand with your feet slightly apart, and hands relaxed by your side. Take a deep breath in through your mouth and exhale slowly. Now look at the position of your shoulders. Are they bunched towards your ears? Slowly release them. Are they curved inwards? Straighten them out. Now look at where your stomach is positioned. Turn to your side, Are you standing with your tummy popping out. Many of us do so without thinking. Draw in your tummy muscles and straighten your pelvis. In a perfect world, you would stand like this all the time – your weight distributed evenly on both the heels.
Sit Straight
A lot of us spend most of our lives hunched in front of a computer. Do yourself a favour – get a proper, ergonomic chair. Then make sure that the armrests are line with the tabletop so that your wrist is relaxed while typing. The chair should provide good support to your back and it’s height should be adjustable so that you can comfortably place both feet on the floor. When you sit, make it a habit to consciously pull your shoulders down and relax them. Slouching is often our default posture, which is not a good thing. Use your stomach muscles to keep your back straight. Make sure you stand up and stretch every 30 minutes.
Walk With Confidence
When nuns in boarding schools across India would make their pupils walk with books balanced on their heads, it was actually not a pointless exercise. It helps in keeping your neck in a more stable position. Our obsession with staring at our gadget screens is promoting bad posture and messing up with our health! The most important thing is to be aware of your body position while walking, and once in a while actually walk with a book on your head in front of a mirror. Avoid jutting your head out while walking and keep your stomach pulled in to ensure you are walking straight.
Exercise
Bad habits picked up over a lifetime take some time to unlearn. The right training helps. Search online for beginners’ Pilates videos – they are a good way to get your body back into alignment. Yoga also helps. Work on the back and shoulder muscles for strength and the stomach muscles for tone.
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