(And Why It Matters.)
Photo Credit: Zachary Kyra-Derkson
At first glance, we instantly notice these three things in the way a person presents themselves:
- The position of the person. (Are they seated or standing?)
- The energy the person carries. (Are they appear to be positive or negative?)
- The confidence the person exudes. (Is this a person you can trust or feel safe around?)
When we connect superficially with another person, we tend to go deep, despite the superficiality. An oxymoron of sorts. Why is this? As a human, we assess a person’s measure of friendliness or safety. This is powerful in settings with strangers as it helps to ascertain the vibration of our encounter. Without even knowing you are doing this, we ask ourselves, “Is this an individual who is going to deplete the energy of those around them, including me?”
In a work setting, we find that these assessments are not so much rooted in safety, rather, they are rooted in professional connectedness. In a professional setting, the way we present ourselves is important. You are communicating in skilled or unskilled ways about how you feel about yourself, your habits, health cues, and also energetic qualities in your body movements.
What does all of this have to do with body alignment?
Body alignment can be the first thing someone else notices about you. Think of this as the power suit that you don’t need to purchase (sans yoga, pilates, and personal training investments, of course). Alignment is the simple result of a mindful connection with your body’s space in time.
To be aware of your personal body alignment enables you to skillfully communicate confidence in a way that may get you invited to the next after-work meet up.
If you aren’t bodily aware, never fear! There is time to become mindful of the muscles in the neck, chest, and shoulders to begin showing the world how dazzling your confidence really is. The bonus part about honing this awareness is: the instant fountain of youth!
That is right, when we have impeccable posture, we look more youthful. This is a power pose that takes nothing more than mindful awareness to begin having better posture. To continue with impeccable posture over time, all you need is diligence. Doing counter-poses to the daily habits of cell phone use, driving, and holding a baby over time will be the youthful “elixir” you may or may not know that you need.
Who needs to work on body alignment?
Well, as long as gravity continues to pull down on our bodies, most everyone needs to continue practicing good posture.
Even the person who has good posture will get something out of these lessons. Stick with me here and learn the simple lessons to hone your alignment so you get noticed for the self-confidence that you have on the inside. Alignment is the first pillar of beautifying from the inside and out. We must first have the awareness to move our body in the ways we need to move them.
Developing awareness of how of how the body works with gravity can help us to develop better habits. In this way, we can leverage gravity to counter the effects of slumping shoulders, neck, and head.
In the videos below, you will learn the counter-poses to help elevate your beautiful head to help you navigate the world with awareness. You’ll become aware of the long term effects of a neck that leans forward. You’ll also learn my favorite way to counter the impact that gravity has on shoulders that fold forward.
What are the long term effects of poor alignment?
The long term effects can result in the appearance of hunching over. Even exacerbated symptoms of osteoporosis, and limited visual scope can bereft an unaware person. Like a home with a poor foundation, the blueprint for good alignment is found in the home’s architecture.
Try this out! If we begin to think of our bodies as our home, you can begin to add a practical sense to the idea of good alignment in your body.
For example, living in San Francisco, I live on a hillside. If our home began slumping over from the top, our home would be strained in the foundation that would allow some bend and even re-shaping of the wood beams to accommodate for an downward tilt. However, the house would probably be headed down the hill eventually. Over time, it wouldn’t be a habitable home with poor alignment in the bones of the architecture.
Think of your body as a home. Now take the home down to the studs: the bones. Do you notice good posture in your bones? Is your neck upright or is it frozen with a hump on your neck or back? Do you see your head leaning forward most of the time? Does your jaw jut forward to compensate for some poor alignment?
The reality is that the body compensates for poor alignment in ways that you may be able to see with an unskilled eye. What you may not notice are how this affects:
- the symmetry of the face and body
- the tilt of the pelvis and legs
- the position of the abdomen
These are just a few factors that can be at play when our head, neck, and shoulders are out of alignment. There are so many factors that can impact your long-term health over time. The subtle body is impacted greatly by poor alignment. Over time, energy blocks can minimize flow of energy throughout the body. This can lead to a myriad of imbalance in our body’s organs.
With a skilled eye, health and fitness practitioners can see the energy blocks and understand the relationship to body symmetry, position of the lower body, and help you correct poor alignment with focused ease. Working with a yoga teacher, pilates instructor, or other health and fitness pro, you will see results faster than you can on your own. This helps with sustaining results too!
The Spiritual Nature of Alignment.
As the subtle body carries energy through the body and is influenced by the body’s shape, so too, is the spiritual nature of alignment. To be aligned in our bodies with mindfulness, can be a beginning to mindfulness practices aligned in our values and actions. This spiritual notation is important for the holistic connection of body awareness and personal worth.
Embodied values that are aligned with our personal worth will be apparent in our body language. Seeing a confident person holding themselves accountable with good posture is inspiring. The nonverbal sharing of information that this person has good self esteem, is body aware and is also practicing good posture. This shares a bit about the person’s character. We can know by seeing them that they take themselves seriously and are projecting their inner light through confidence.
This alignment of shining the solar plexus forward, shares a spiritual signature through the body’s shape. We find this visual to express a spiritual nature of mindfulness and celebration of the human form. The spirit is in flow with aligned subtle body chakras which fosters continuation of aligned value expression.
How to Counter Daily Habits with Neck Alignment.
In this video, you will find simple reminders about what happens when our head is poorly aligned. Discover ways to become mindful of head placement. In this video, please notice the shape my head and body make when the head is slumping forward. Do you notice yourself doing this sometimes?
How to Correct Neck Alignment and Why It Matters.
In this video, you will notice the impact the neck has on the head and shoulders. With lack of awareness of the delicate nature of the neck, we may find the neck to being overly strengthened or even too weak to effectively hold good alignment.
The neck houses the radiant throat chakra. In Ayurveda, the thought of this part of the body houses the path of synthesizing information of the body’s senses with the intelligence of the brain. The neck is the part of the body that in the best of times is clear with blood flowing and the ability to talk, sing, and chant.
With a poorly aligned neck, we find that all functional flowing and abilities are compromised. This constriction of energy is unhelpful to the prime nature of our body. The ability to communicate and facilitate blood flow to the head is essential to the body, especially as we get older.
In this video, learn the range of correction with neck alignment. Correcting a neck falling forward can also help minimize turkey neck and a double chin. Additionally, with counter-poses to poor alignment, we find that the jaw and forehead is less tense as a result of these areas ceasing to compensate for the poor alignment. The influence of interrelated components of our body to that of poor alignment is powerful.
Key Ways to Align Shoulders to Improve Alignment.
Shoulders are the most profound bit of study in this above-the-chest alignment series. The shoulders lift from the back and stabilize the neck and head with a directional “pull” that steers the alignment. Even more than the head directs our mobility, the shoulders act as a gravitational counter for the neck and head.
In yoga, this gravitational counter is known as udana vayu, उदान वायु, literally means “upwards” “wind”. Udana vayu relates to upward movement, personal growth, higher states of consciousness, and the area between the heart and head. With this in mind, with the rolling up, down and back of the shoulders, we are able to direct the neck and head upward. Udana vayu is a unique capacity of the body to have the ability to reverse gravity.
In this video, we explore counters to the activities of reading our phones, working on the computer, and other rolling-forward activities. If you don’t have a pilates roller (that is called for in the last part of this video), you can create a way to lie on a rolled yoga mat, rolled blankets, or even pillows can offer an elevation to the spine that is powerful to correcting your alignment.
It is a pleasure to be able to share these videos with you! If you like this kind of content, please subscribe to my health & beauty newsletter or Youtube Channel! Share this with a friend who may benefit from learning about alignment.
Leave a comment and let me know what I missed here. These videos are designed to be simple and to the point. I hope you find these reminders to be helpful!
With gratitude,
Angela
