Day 22 - Observe Your Body Posture - 30 Days Mindfulness Challenge

“Proper posture is a way of blending with gravity. Proper attitude is a way of blending with life.” - Dan Millman, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior

Sloppy posture leads to a bad mood and vice-versa

There are many studies that show the connection between our posture and our state of mind. Did you notice that when you're feeling awesome you have your back straight, shoulders relaxed and slightly backward, head high, gaze straight or upwards?

And that when you have one of those days when everything goes wrong when you feel like curling up in bed, making yourself small and hiding under a blanket your shoulders crunch forward, your back is hunched and you look mostly downwards?

Well, studies show that this connection goes both ways: just as our thinking and emotions influence our body posture, our body posture influences them back.

So, when you feel down, besides assessing the situation mentally and emotionally, try to notice your body posture and consciously change it to be the one you have when you feel good. This subtle change in our body then sends the brain the message that "we're good" and so the brain starts looking for reasons to feel good.

It sounds like a magic trick but it's based on neuroscience and brain chemistry findings.

This leads us to today's practice which is

Day 22 - Observe Your Body Posture

Today notice your body posture. Be mindful as often as you remember about the way you walk, the way you sit at the office, while eating or resting.

To make it easier to practice you can imagine you have a scanner that you use to check out your body from head to toes.

Remember that wicked device dr. Beverly Crusher was using in Star Trek to scan her patients? Here's a short clip to remind of the Tricorder so you can imagine you've got one of your own today. :)

Notice as often as you remember if there is any unnecessary tension in your muscles.

Is there any pain? Observe and modify your posture or do some stretching whenever you feel it is necessary.

I tend to have a sloppy posture so I need to practice this exercise a lot. I've noticed that my posture improves when I am doing some kind of sport on a regular basis, at least 3 times a week. Whether it has been yogilates or tango, both of them help me get that body awareness outside the training gym and translate it into my daily activities. Whenever I don't do enough sport for a while I notice I get back to my sloppy sitting.

So especially during those times, sticking to the 10 minutes of yoga and sitting in silence every morning is of great help for me. It keeps me flexible and aware of my body throughout my day.

Another trick I use is to make an agreement with my friends to help each other have better posture, by tapping each other's back when one notices the other has a bad posture. That's one of my tricks, I am sure you can come up with more creative ideas.

Besides the obvious physical benefits of having a good posture, bringing your awareness to your body throughout your day is an awesome tool to get you out of your mind and back into the present moment.

Have fun with this and enjoy your improved posture! :)

photo credits: myself. It's a photo taken on a street in the center of Bucharest, Romania

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A note on The 30 Days Mindfulness Challenge. I initially published this challenge 2 years ago on my blog Being Raluca and I'm using those articles as a base for this one. I sometimes rewrite 80% of the article, other times I keep more of the original version and rewrite and add less new content.

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I'm a psychologist, intuitive coach, blogger and vlogger. You can find me mainly on my blog at Being Raluca where I write about communication, relationships, listening and sexuality. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @raluca.

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