And the Solution to Them
“Stand Up Straight”
Go find a mirror. Watch your reflection as you command yourself to “stand up straight”. Look at your reflection from the front & sides. What does that make you do?
← Most likely, something like this. Hips tilted forward, lower spine overly curved.
Let’s be so real for a sec: Does this look normal? Does it feel good?
Does anyone walk around like this?
Duh, no. Yet this is the most common reaction to the command “stand up straight”! And music teachers say “stand up straight” all the time!
Tilting your hips forward & arching your lower spine doesn’t help posture at all! Doing so just throws you off balance, causes pain, and can result in lasting medical issues.
So like… Maybe ✨don’t ✨ do that?
“Pull Your Shoulders Back”
Go find a mirror again. Watch your reflection as you command yourself to “pull your shoulders back”. Look at your reflection from the front & sides. What does that make you do?
← Most likely, something like this. Chest pushed out, arms pushed back.
This one’s way less obvious. Because, realistically, this feels good. At least, in the short term.
The problem is, this feels good because this is a STRETCH. It might feel nice for a few seconds… but your body is not meant to be in this position for longer than that. Trying to permanently keep your shoulders “back” in a stretch actually weakens the muscles & causes extra pain and fatigue.
Yet, “pull your shoulders back” is a saying that music teachers say all the time, thinking that it will result in better posture. News flash: ✨it doesn’t ✨
The Solution: “Collarbones Up”
Instead of saying “sit up straight” and “shoulders back”, I say “Collarbones up”. Why? Let's take a look at the shoulder and rib structures to understand.
Few people know, but the Collarbones are the most important bone for arm control. So much so that if you break one of your Collarbones, you cannot move the arm on that side.
The ribs attach to a bone in the middle of our chest. This bone is called the Sternum. Each of our Collarbones connects to the Sternum, forming the first joints of our arms.
It’s important to understand that the Collarbones are not straight lines. They are naturally curved both up and back.
Each Collarbone also connects to one of the Shoulder Blades. The joint between the Collarbone and Shoulder Blade cannot move; this means that the Collarbone and Shoulder Blade act more like a single big bone. They both work together & move together.
Further, there are 3 muscles that connect the Shoulder Blade to the Spine. That means that our Spine, Shoulder Blades, and Collarbones all work & move together.
When we consciously allow the Collarbones to move slightly up and out, our Shoulder Blades AND Spine move, too. The “Collarbones Up” command results in us achieving peak posture with minimal effort… Without even consciously thinking about repositioning our shoulders or spine!
✨the more you know✨
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