Posture

What happens to our bodies when we slouch, is more than just decreased oxygen.  The chain of events that comes from the decrease in oxygen is significant.  Less Oxygen mean Less Energy!!  When we have poor posture we have a mix of strain, pain, muscle fatigue, and drained energy.
Strain:  Our head weighs 10-11 lbs.  When we have forward head posture or the cell phone effect (frequent looking down) that weight pulls on our neck muscles, specifically the Occiputs at the base of the skull.  These lead to headaches, neck weakness and discomfort.
Pain: When our bodies are not aligned the way they are meant to or work in optimal functioning position we feel the response of pain.  It is the natural mechanism to bring attention that something needs to change.  Are we standing on one leg when standing at rest or do we shift from side to side?  I call it the mom sway.   As she sways back and forth to comfort baby or child she is actually bringing more balance and better posture to her body.  So even if you don't have a child in your arms, practice the sway.  Shifting your body weight from one foot to the other.  And yes I can tell which foot you stand on more when massaging your legs.  
Muscle Fatigue:  Hand in hand with pain is muscle fatigue.  I find when working on someone, they ask for attention on their neck or shoulder but their legs are fine.... until I start working on the.  When a muscle is over worked in an unbalanced way muscles start to fatigue and the body will compensate.  The blessing and curse of the body compensating is that we are connected the big toe to the little finger someone through the muscle and fascia train are connected.  This means one muscle fatigues another compensates and so on until we have completely shifted how we walk or bend or move.  When we get regular body work our bodies work!  Imagine that.  We balance how we move and shift and the posture we hold through out the day.
Energy:  What?  Energy of life of vitality is connected to posture.  Yes!  Oxygen is a life force and vital for our cells.  Oxygenated cells are happy cells and making sure we are able to breath fully is important to the whole body on a cellular level.  I'll post more about breathing soon.  When we breath in air we are also breathing in life.  Our life.  The energy of life.  Close your eyes while slouching and focus on how you feel emotionally.  Sit up straight and breath twice in through the nose and out through the mouth slowly, now how do you feel emotionally.   We carry how we feel about ourselves in our bodies.  So straighten up that back and hold the head high because you are worth standing tall and breathing in the life and light that you want to be in the world.  
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