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This time of year, as many of us step onto a holiday roller coaster, tension along the tops of our shoulders becomes almost epidemic. Necks ache, shoulders are tender to touch, and the holidays begin to promise more chores then cheer.
Holiday Shoulder Tension
December 22nd, 2009When to Build Good Posture
November 24th, 2009Read the rest of this entry » 
When do you become most aware of your posture? When you’re checking out the fit of some new jeans? When walking into a new situation, uncertain as to how you might be received? You can be dressed to the nines, but if your posture projects shyness or uncertainty it sabotages the impression you want to convey. But by then, it’s too late to develop good posture.
Stiff Eyes and Neck Pain
November 24th, 2009Read the rest of this entry » 
This morning I happened to read an excerpt of a poem that described someone has having eyes that were “stiffened” in horror.* “Stiff eyes”—what a striking description. And it got me thinking about the connection between stiff eye muscles and stiff necks.
Core Questions from Maine
November 24th, 2009
This post answers some questions sent me by a New Rules of Posture study group in Maine. Organized by Pilates Instructor, Annie Elliott, it’s a great idea and exactly what I’d hoped people would do with the book.
Q: We just finished our discussion of Ch. 5, and a couple of questions arose.
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Coughing and Your Core
November 24th, 2009Read the rest of this entry » 
On page 110 my book, The New Rules of Posture, there’s a sidebar about coughing. I’ll quote it here, to save you the trouble of looking it up. “The relationship between your diaphragm, pelvic floor, and core support is graphically demonstrated in the act of coughing (or laughing for that matter). If you cough with your pelvis rolled back, you’ll feel a tendency to puff out your belly and bear down into your pelvic floor.
On Finding Support from Your Sacrum
November 24th, 2009
I’m midway through teaching a month-long training of Rolfers to become Rolf Movement specialists. This means that the graduates will be versed in the same material that forms the foundation for The New Rules of Posture. Meanwhile, I’m still receiving letters from readers with questions about the book. (Thank you all! I appreciate hearing from you.) Today’s blog entry attempts to answer a reader’s question about sitting support while also sharing something from my current class.
On Core Strength
November 24th, 2009As the author of the New Rules of Posture, you might think I’d be a paragon of deep abdominal core strength. Sadly, not true. In fact, shortly after the book was published I was beset by an embarrassing bout of low back pain—a sure sign of low toned abs. And this wasn’t the first such episode—I’d been plagued by a back that “went out” pretty regularly for 15 years.
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The Passenger Seat
November 24th, 2009Read the rest of this entry » 
What’s the rule? A car length for every 10 mph? I don’t always follow that rule, but the friend who’s driving travels way closer to the car ahead than I like. We’re in freeway traffic that is crowded but moving. Several times the brakes are necessary when our lane unexpectedly slows. I sense myself applying brakes of my own, griping my calf and digging my heel into the floorboard.
On Feet
November 24th, 2009Read the rest of this entry » 
It doesn’t take long to lose the joy… Sitting on the subway I sense my toes stiffening as I think about the upcoming hospital visit. My intent to stay open in my body has chased the gripping down into my shoes. But I don’t want to hide; I want to feel. Yes, toes, it’s true: I’m feeling anxious and afraid.
On Walking…
November 24th, 2009Read the rest of this entry » 
The necessary waiting one does at airports is the perfect opportunity for blog writing. This time I’m people-watching at Bob Hope Airport (Burbank, CA), marveling at the many ways in which people can put one foot in front of another.