Horrible Posture

[Aetherous]

In my opinion, everyone should get the book. It's that good.

[Baguakid]

I agree with Pranaman.

 

Two simple exercises.

 

1. Swimming Dragon Qigong. Great for the spine, metabolism, and more.

2. Standing Zhan Zhuang (Wuji Qigong) with the palms at their sides. Standing meditation.

 

Anyway, sitting should be combined with Standing and moving to balance Yin and Yang.

[karen]

There's a chapter of Esther Gokhale's book that can be downloaded free from her website, www.wellstackedback.com. Also there are quite a lot of excerpts from it at google books.

[Lozen]

Does she talk about hyperlordosis?

[karen]

Does she talk about hyperlordosis?

 

Yes, without using clinical terms. I think you'd love the book, especially the gorgeous photos!

[Mal]

1. Swimming Dragon Qigong. Great for the spine, metabolism, and more.

 

I gave my Dad a Swimming Dragon Qigong book an Xmas or 2 ago. I see some people practicing it. Did you learn from a book or were you taught?

 

The swimming dragon was straightforward but I didn't really understand the other bits in the book (A practice to do before and after the dragon IIRC) It does read like a really useful practice. Weightloss and spinal flexibility.

[Mak_Tin_Si]

What you need here in your situation is really a set of warmup gung and a set of traditional kungfu 6 methods of leg stretches. After that, you will straighten your spine and open your hips which allow you to meditate with no problems.

 

If you go the other way, with the religious way of taoism. People gain their posture by doing the attunement meditation. You will be able to feel energy running into your body and through your viens and body, shaking and thundering and moving yourself in the right posture. Soon or later you will achieve a good posture naturally. That is the way we do it in the religion way. Easy and doesn't takes physical hard work, but your mind have to be very strong.

[Baguakid]

I gave my Dad a Swimming Dragon Qigong book an Xmas or 2 ago. I see some people practicing it. Did you learn from a book or were you taught?

 

The swimming dragon was straightforward but I didn't really understand the other bits in the book (A practice to do before and after the dragon IIRC) It does read like a really useful practice. Weightloss and spinal flexibility.

 

 

I learned it from a teacher but as part of a larger set. I only found out later that it was called swimming dragon. Also, I had to figure out myself the benefits of this exercise as my Chinese teacher wouldn't explain anything about the exercise.

 

Chinese Masters love to obfuscate their teachings trying to make them as mysterious as possible.

[sheng zhen]

Im looking into something that looks really good for posture: anatomy trains and KMI. http://www.anatomytrains.com/

 

The DVDs they sell are exceptional! Really good, lots of information and very practical. And the Bodyreading101 should be interesting for anyone doing bodywork of any kind.

 

KMI is developed from Rolfing which is a deep tissue massage for posture corrections, aimed at aligning the body to the gravitational field.

 

Ive had just one treatment with KMI and had a wonderful effect on my Zhan Zhuang and spine. So Im going back in a while to get more.

 

[Goddodin]

just a daily joint mobility warm up, some regular strength training (intelligently applied) and avoiding the couch should lead to some improvement. The simple act of sitting on the floor - cross legged or otherwise - does a body good imo. The couch is often the cause of our postural ills I feel.

 

Most important though is being mindful of how you're standing/sitting throughout the day. The fact you've posted this shows you're some way there. I second the martial arts suggestions though - internal or external, I've rarely encountered an ma practitioner who isn't aware of his or her posture. Ditto for a yoga practitioner come to think of it.

[Lozen]

I have had a LOT of luck with these guys...as in, immediate benefit from exercises given to me...

 

I tried a lot of things (chiropractors, massage, acupuncture, etc.) but this really is working wonders for me, check it out:

 

http://posturalrestoration.com/about/

 

 

Yes, without using clinical terms. I think you'd love the book, especially the gorgeous photos!

 

I bought it and it looks great!

 

I just saw a massage therapist who does Postural Restoration Institute stuff and have to show it to him to see which we could work in to what he's having me do. He is AMAZING. As in, like, immediate benefit.

 

He pinpointed my lordosis to be related to my anterior neck and did some deep tissue massage, but he said it was also tied to my ribcage. So he had me do these crazy exercises, one where I had to hold one hand over my head with my knees against the wall and a ball between my knees, and in the other hand I held a balloon. We are working on me being able to use my diaphragm better, so I had to breath through the balloon and then breath through my nose and use the diaphragm to stop the air from leaking out. it was really hard but I have gotten it to work. The stretches that he gave me -- a couple sternal positional stretches--have immediate benefit. It is different than anything I've tried before. I am pretty much sold... and I've tried everything with very little effect... well, not everything just acupuncture, massage, shiatsu, chiropracty and other exercises... this stuff rocks!

 

http://posturalrestoration.com/