My gift is not tangible, but I think this gift is worth checking out. Here it is!
Go into a private room. Look in the mirror – eyes looking straight ahead – stand up tall – shoulders back – back straight. There you go! You look three years younger. Yes!
Sit up straight. Stand tall. Don’t hunch your shoulders. Loving words from my grandmother’s mouth to my ears. She was the beauty guide for ladies in our family. Slouching was not allowed. Sit up she would say. Look like you have some sense. Good posture makes you look smart.
Education was paramount in our family, but looking smart was my grandmother’s beauty requirement. She practiced good posture well into her 80’s.
The Huffington Post article 9/28/13, by Andrea Atkins, 3 Ways to Improve Your Posture and Why You Should relate to Steven P. Weinger, author of Stand Taller, Live Longer: An Anti-Aging Strategy. He says, we weren’t born with bad posture we trained ourselves. (Atkins prefers weak posture) Rather we trained ourselves that way.He agrees that people with posture problems look older than their upright counterparts.If you spot a former ballet dancer, for example, even in her 80”s she seems to glide as she walks compared with some of her plodding counterparts.
How we stand and walk is related to aging. Unfortunately, women with osteoporosis and other physical conditions have difficulty walking. If you are fortunate to be in good health, then embrace working on good posture.
Author Weininger suggests keeping your body in proper alignment, improving your balance, and maintaining that alignment as you move all parts of what we call “good posture.” Poor posture according to Weiniger can cause breathing problems, joint pain, difficulty walking and may contribute to falls experienced by the elderly. If your posture is misaligned, your joints may become misaligned, and you’ll feel pain in them with every step.
I recently attended a presentation by a well-known author and speaker. He is intelligent and engaging. However, his posture was not congruent with his message. Sitting slouched in his chair with his head leaning back in his chair was a disconnect to his message.
We can improve our posture while getting older as little as a couple of weeks, according to Weiniger, by retraining yourself to proper posture. Once you’ve achieved better balance and alignment, continue to practice these exercises to maintain your new and improved posture (once you get muscles, you don’t stop going to the gym, he points out.) I love it!
We all want to look our best living our next chapter. Of course looking younger is a bonus. Looking smart never hurts either.
Enjoy your younger self.
Blessings,
Dr. Barbara
