Stand Tall

While on the topic of posture, lets talk about standing. Are you a shifty stander?

Imagine you are standing in line waiting to check out at the grocery store. Are you able to stand still for those few minutes or are you shifting from foot to foot or leaning forward onto the cart?

I often see the signs of this in patients who come to see me for back or hip pain. I see this in women especially from carrying children on one hip while doing things with the other hand at the same time. This kind of standing habit can persist long after the kids are grown and walking on their own.

If you think about a car with an alignment issue, if you let go of the steering wheel, the car will drift toward the right or to the left. It takes effort to keep everything going straight and eventually, something will wear - the steering, the tires - but you can’t necessarily predict which it will be or on which side.

The body behaves in a similar fashion with shifty standing habits. A common pattern is that one side gets tighter and stronger and the other side gets weaker. Before long there is a rotation or a pull that can become painful from increased stress or strain.

How to find neutral standing:

• Be even between both feet

• Be sure that you are standing through your heels, not shifted forward on your toes

• Roll your tailbone toward your nose so that the front hip bones line up with the front of your thighs.

• Stack your lower ribs over the crest of your hips.

• Lightly lift your chest

• Draw your shoulder blades down and back.

• Gently tuck your chin and draw your neck back over your torso

• Don’t clench your buttocks.

• Don’t forget to breathe :)