Many of us have poor posture.  One of the biggest problems we have as a modern culture is slumping down and leaning our head in toward our televisions, computers, or work papers on the desk.  This slumped posture eventually becomes a normal position for us, and continues for us even when we are standing.  We end up having too much curve in the low back and too much curve in the neck... and that darn head is sticking forward of the shoulders.  This wouldn't be a problem, except that gravity never stops pulling on us.  The further the head is forward, the more purchase gravity gets on our cranium and pulls it down.  As it pulls it down, we go more and more into the slumped head-forward posture.  Egads!

To help combat this, we can lengthen our bodies upward from our feet.  How do we do this... try the following:

1. Stand comfortably with your feet hip width apart, and located under your hips.
2. Keep your knees slightly bent (not locked back or heavily bent).
3. Try tucking your tailbone under which rotates your pelvis backward/posterior.  Then do the opposite, rotating your pelvis forward/anterior.  Alternate back and forth a few times and explore what feels most comfortable for the position of the pelvis... leaving it in the most comfortable position.
4. Adjust the front to back position of your pelvis (in relationship to your feet) so that your weight is mostly transferring to the floor through your heels.  You should be able to lift your toes and wiggle them easily without lifting your feet off the floor, while keeping full weight through the heels.
5. Lengthen your spine up from the hips by trying to create more space at the front of the body especially through the belly/abdomen.  When I do this, I think of the ribcage moving away from the hips, as the hips are moving away from the ribcage.  Since both parts are moving (neither being stationary, at least in your mind) it is easier to feel the sensation of increasing length through the belly region.
6. Continue to lengthen your spine up from the upper back and shoulders through the neck by trying to create more space at the back of the body especially through the posterior neck up to the skull.  Again, you can think of the shoulders and the back of the skull moving away from each other.

This exercise can be practiced in your car or work chair by starting at step three and working from the pelvis up to the head.

Practiced some every day, and this can have a significant impact on your overall posture.  I hope you find this as helpful as I have.

Cheers,

Mark Pearlscott
Licensed Massage Practitioner
Treatment Massage - Seattle Massage Therapy for Injury Treatment and Pain Relief
4500 9th Ave NE, Suite 300
Seattle, WA 98105