What Is “Good Posture?”
What is “good posture” to us? How do we look like when we have “good posture?” When we make good posture, are we putting lots of intentional effort such as by “standing up straight,” “lifting chest up,” “bringing shoulder blades back and down,” “tightening core,” “tucking chin down” and/or “rolling pelvis back” etc…? When we tried one or few of them, do we feel like our posture become good? If we stand or sit in the way of “correct” position, do we feel like it is natural to us or how long can we maintain the position without a continuous effort?
When I just started to teach ATM lesson, one of participants told me how she was finally able to sense “good posture” without any intentional effort. She struggled to understand and sense “what good posture is” for so many decades while she also tried different kinds of therapies and exercises to correct her posture. This was one of profound experiences to me because I used to ask myself frequently “what is good posture?” until I started my Feldenkrais training.
I recently taught a private Zoom ATM lesson via my Instagram. One of the participants requested a lesson to change her posture while she has had forward head posture for a long time and has done some exercises to strengthen her neck muscles to improve her posture. She said her posture does not affect her athletic performance or functional mobility but she sometimes struggles with her neck pain during sitting. She was wondering what she can do with her habitual posture. At the beginning of this lesson, she gradually moved her legs and by adding a small movement of arms and head, each of her body parts started to connect each other. Toward the end of this lesson, I was able to observe how her head started to move through her legs movement. I just asked her how she sensed and felt her body via the small movement of legs, arms and head during the lesson while she was lying on the mat.
After this lesson, she looked very natural without any intentional effort. She said by moving her body more and more, she also felt her back arch became more flat and her each side of bodies became more even. When she stood on her feet, she noticed how she was more grounded and her upper body moved forward. More importantly, she expressed that she felt more comfortable with her new standing posture.
Now we go back to the question of “what is good posture?” The most important key of “good posture” to us in Feldenkrais terminology is that we are able to stand/sit without any intentional effort and we may be able to notice some “changes” by sensing and feeling our new standing posture. For example, when our feet are more grounded, how will quality of our standing/sitting balance be? Would it be more secured? By obtaining our security, how will our body respond to it? If our upper body position was changed (moved forward or up right), how will our vision be changed? Where do we see more (floor vs. ceiling)? With changes in our vision, how will we be changed internally such as emotion (feel bad/shy or good/refresh/refine etc...)?
People may define “good posture” in a different way but by teaching ATM lessons more and more, I have been fascinated to see how people look different after the lessons. When the new posture makes sense to ourselves, we look happier and being filled with a full excitement because our body and mind may be relieved from “intentional effort” to produce our “good posture.”
Let’s listen to ourselves to establish “our” good posture to live our life better via Feldenkrais Method!
よい姿勢とは？
皆さんにとっての「よい姿勢」とはなんですか？例えば「よい姿勢」の為に、筋肉を使って「まっすぐに立つ」「胸を上げる」「肩甲骨を寄せる、下げる」「体幹に力を入れる」「顎を引く」や「骨盤の位置を変える」などの努力をしていますか？これらに意識を向けた時、姿勢は「よく」なっていますか？この様な「よい姿勢」で立ったり座ったりしているとき、どのくらいの時間この姿勢を努力しないで保つことができますか？
フェルデンクライス・メソッドでは「よい姿勢」という定義を「まっすぐ立つ」ことに重点を置きません。そして、筋肉などを使って「姿勢を正す」という指導もしません。なぜなら、筋肉を使って努力をした一般的な「まっすぐ立つ」よい姿勢というのは時間が立つとたちまちもとの姿勢にもどってしまうからです。
皆さんにも同じような経験はありませんか？皆さんにとって“よい姿勢”とはなんですか？
フェルデンクライス・レッスンを教え始めさせていただいた頃、「姿勢が変わって驚きました！私、何十年も“よい姿勢”の意味が分からなかったんです。でも今日初めてわかりました！」と一人の受講者さんが笑顔で仰ってくださって、とても励みになった思い出があります。
私も実はフェルデンクライス・メソッドの勉強を始める前、ずっとリハビリの現場で運動指導をさせていただきながら“よい姿勢”について疑問を感じていた時期があります。
先日インスタグラムを通して、「おうちで自分ケア」（インスタグラム限定の個人Zoomモニターレッスン）というテーマを開催しました。受講者さんの中に長年首が前に出ていると感じられていた事からどうやったら姿勢がよくなるか、とのご自身の身体の興味から姿勢に関するレッスンを提供させていただきました。このレッスンは両膝・腕そして頭のゆっくりとシンプルな身体の動きを行います。
レッスン後話してくださった事は「グラウンディング＝地に足がつく」したこと、そして上半身が前へ出た感覚を体感された事でした。足の安定感、身体の「ずっしり感」を感じたことで、レッスン後の自分の立っている感覚が「自然で心地いい」と笑顔で仰ってくださいました。
「グラウンディング」をした事で身体のバランスはどのようになっているでしょうか？足から「安定感」を感じるでしょうか？又、胸が前に出たと感じた時、「目」はどこを見ているでしょう？「床」の方ですか？それとも「天井」の方でしょうか？バランス感覚や視界に変化がでた時、立っている姿勢、そして感情はどのようになるでしょうか？
シンプルな身体の動きから新しい身体の感覚を体感し、自分の身体と繋がる。 どのような可能性が自分の身体の動きを通し創り出されるかワクワクしませんか？
まっすぐに立つ「よい姿勢」の概念から解き放たれることで皆さんの新しく心地のよい身体の感覚、そして快適な身体と暮らしの動きへと繋がるかもしれません！
