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
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
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
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