Breaking Body Myths: "Sit up straight"
First of all, I want to state that I am very much a novice when it comes to having an experience of the Alexander Technique. For those who have never heard of this ‘method’ of thinking about the operation of the body, there are several on-line resources that cover this material in detail.
The simple description is that the Alexander Technique provides a framework for giving your body the atention it needs throughout the day to operate properly. This is, of course, the ideal scenario for anyone who takes the creation story seriously – an excellent place to begin living up to your created purpose is using your body according to its physiological design.
We had previous exposure here in the Portland Guitar Circle – hopefully we’ll do this again soon. However it was in the context of the Guitar Craft Intro where I was first able to apply these principles in an organized fashion (the daily ‘sitting’).
A bit of information about me: I weigh in at around 250-260 lbs and I am 6’4”. I am not generally speaking a physically active person. I have been through workout programs in the past, but I don’t follow any sort of aerobic regiment.
The essential basic idea of the program is to do less with more – do as little as you can as often as possible.
Granted, I had always been told to sit up straight and I have persistently reclined in chairs whenever possible. Psychologically I believed this was ‘rest.’
In following two basic principles, I have learned that when I lean into the back of a chair, I shift my upper body weight from being above the bowl of my pelvis (where all of the core muscles put out minimal persistent effort to keep me upright) to my lower back. Using the sit bones to carry my weight, I did find that I had to have a pad with me – but already after the first week my body has adjusted to this process and a pad is no longer necessary.
I decided to apply these principles to two lifestyle scenarios where I spend most of my time: 1) Sitting at my computer desk. 2) Driving cars.
The results have been astounding. Aside from the mental benefits of relaxation, my core muscles are being used persistently throughout the day.
Additionally, I should mention that I suffer from a tight ITB on my right leg. This is the result (and cause) of several patella dislocations I have had. I generally spend a lot of time stretching, only to feel like I am taking two steps forward and three steps back.
While using my sit bones while sitting in the car, I have already noticed that this activity has slowly been drawing out my ITB – to the point that my right hip, which I have not been able to crack for years, finally cracked last week.
Never mind the fact that my back has thanked me.
This is not the first time I have had physical fitness or health professionals talk to me about posture. I was told my gym trainers to pull my abdominal muscles in and up towards my sternum. I was told that as my abdominal muscle strength improved, I would find myself sitting up straight ‘automatically.’
It is not an automatic process – and it doesn’t require intense core strengthening. For me so far, it has required me to adjust my monitor and my mirrors so that I sit above my pelvis and relax the rest… my body is already in the process of reworking my muscle system…
So it is not important to sit up straight – rather, it is important to allow the head to relac at the top of the spine, and allow the spine to sit in the pelvis and distribut the body weight downward into the sit bones.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
© 2008 Jacob Gorny
I too have remarkable changes in the way I did things – starting with sitting for hours on end at work. I found their website very helpful – http://alexandertechnique.com
— Sue Benson 170 days ago #