Measuring Our Progress

We started with these simple movement patterns to help us create a baseline for good posture in our everyday activities. Let’s see how our posture and Range of motion has improved!

  • Good Standing Posture
  • Trunk Rotation: Sitting on Big Ball
  • Controlled Overhead Lift: Sitting on Big Ball
  • Controlled Over the Shoulder Lift: Sitting on Big Ball
  • Getting Up and Down

Good Standing Posture

  • Nine Steps to Setting Your Posture
  • Visualize yourself as a “Puppet on a String”
  • “Hang up” your abdominals
  • Keep shoulders back
  • Lift your chest
  • Head on straight
  • Hold your “Dime” tight
  • Zip your “Zipper”
  • Keep your feet relaxed and flat on the floor, with weight evenly distributed on the bottoms – don’t grab the floor with your toes
  • Position your feet shoulder width apart

Trunk Rotation: Sitting on Big Ball

trunk rotation

Position

  • Start with good “Me” posture and alignment
  • Keep ball at chest height, in front of you

Action

  • Slowly rotate ball to one side only as far as your Range of Motion will allow
  • Repeat movement to the other side

Tips

  • Think and initiate from the center (in between the hip bones)
  • Keep feet relaxed
  • Keep shoulders pinched
  • Watch shoulders, “Dime” and “Zipper”

Controlled Overhead Lift: Sitting on Big Ball

trunk rotation

Position

  • Sit on the ball with good “Me” posture
  • Hold arms chest height or lower
  • Choose the longest distance away from the sternum that still allows you to keep shoulder blades “pinched”
  • Keep feet flat, relaxed and slightly in front of knees

Action

  • Visualize the ball being connected to your center
  • Slowly lift the ball, but only as far as you can maintain posture and alignment
  • Slowly return to starting position, maintaining correct “Me” posture and alignment
  • Repeat

Tips

  • Focus on keeping the chest up when the ball is coming down (we tend to slouch)
  • Always keep the center engaged (mind your “Dime” and “Zipper”)
  • The motion will seem small and restricted: this is normal as we build our posture “memory”

Controlled Over the Shoulder Lift: Sitting on Big Ball

Position

  • Sit on the ball with good “Me” posture
  • Hold arms chest height or lower
  • Keep feet flat, relaxed and slightly in front of knees

Action

  • Visualize the ball being connected to your center
  • Slowly lift the ball as if you were throwing it over one shoulder (only extend as far as your posture and alignment holds)
  • Slowly return to starting position, maintaining correct “Me” posture and alignment
  • Repeat

Tips

  • Focus on keeping the chest up when the ball is coming down (we tend to slouch)
  • Always keep the center engaged while holding your “Dime” and “Zipper”
  • The motion will seem small and restricted: this is normal as we build our posture “memory”

Getting Up and Down

getting up and down sittinggetting up and down

Position

  • Sit On Big Ball Using Good Posture
  • Visualize yourself as a “Puppet on a String”
  • Keep shoulders back
  • Lift your chest
  • Hold your “Dime” tight
  • Zip your “Zipper”
  • Keep your feet on the floor in front of knees
  • Position your feet flat on the floor, with weight evenly
  • distributed on the bottoms

Action

  • Get Up
  • Thinking from the hamstrings and buttocks, try to get up from the seated position
  • If you can’t do this, then bring the feet in a bit closer and try again
  • Repeat until you find a position that lets you maintain posture and still engages the hamstrings when getting up
  • Sit Down
  • Focus on maintaining form while SLOWLY sitting yourself down
  • Repeat Up and Down

Tips

  • Getting up and down is an important function in our aging years
  • Take every opportunity to work on this. You will be amazed!
  • Note: this process will take time as we tend to “roll out” and “fall” into a sitting position