Blog
Subversive Postures
My bare feet go flap-flap-flap on the kitchen floor before breakfast. The sound of it rests along the back wall of my attention as I flick my mind over the tasks ahead for this day. And muse about how much nicer it would be to laze on the couch with a book instead. It’s been triple digit weather in Los Angeles for way too long, and such heat wears a body down!
Grounding Practice
If we can really let our bodies accept support from the ground and simultaneously widen our perspective to include our surroundings, then that balanced perceptual field automatically optimizes posture—as well as doing a lot of nice things for our mental outlook…
Posture As A Practice
If you read between the lines, you probably sense that under the banner of “The New Rules of Posture,” I’m actually sharing a somatic practice–a physical path to self-knowledge. Here’s what I wrote in The New Rules: to improve your posture you need to 1) “create new sense memories for what feels balanced and stable…” and 2) view “your posture as an ongoing perceptual process by which you orient yourself to gravity and to your relationship with the people, objects and events in your world.” Not something you do once and forget about. It’s a practice…
Posture, Perception and People
To “heal your posture” I always invite you to practice perceptions rather than positions. I don’t advise you about the set of your shoulders or the placement of your head, but rather try to help you discover an internal sense of balance, and presence with a capital P…
Dancing Fascia
The idea for this post came to me while I was dancing. It also grew out of a conversation I’d had a few hours earlier with one of my spiritual mentors, Dunya, about a workshop given by Robert Schleip that I had recently attended. Robert is one of the foremost researchers on the nature of fascia…
Holiday Posture and the Habit of Stress
Here are two great suggestions for your holiday shopping: first, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. This clear and interesting read applies the insights of neuroscience to the mundane matter of changing our habits. Our brains are plastic—bodies too!—so why not use that plasticity to our advantage? Duhigg says a habit is composed of a cue, a routine, and a reward. It only takes a little self-examination and some perseverance to unpack these parts and make a change. The other suggestion, of course, is my DVD, Heal Your Posture, and my New Rules book, which tell and show you how to change your brain’s postural mapping of your body…
Posture and The Gift of Pain
This week I read an article about a young woman who does not experience pain. The article contains messages of human generosity and connection woven through the story of a genetic anomaly. It got me thinking about pain as a gift, as something to be thankful for in this season of giving thanks. Pain can signal danger and the need for protection—we can’t ignore that kind of pain. But I’m thinking more about the mundane, ignorable pain of getting up from the computer after sitting there too long, or of having to roll too gingerly out of bed in the morning…
Posture and Politics
What are you doing with your body when you find yourself at an edge? Are there places in your life where your body defaults to a curl or twist? Concealed at those same edges may be opportunities for changing habits, postural or otherwise….
Sleep, Presence and Posture
People often tell me they “slept wrong”, waking up to a painful neck or shoulder. Others, wanting my opinion about pillows, mattress firmness and sleeping positions ask, “how should I sleep?” In general, my response to questions about sleep is this: how we sleep depends on how we live—what we’re doing with our bodies and minds while we’re awake. Recently I read several articles that confirm me in this view…
Spatial Support for Your Posture
Sandra Blakeslee’s book, The Body Has A Mind of Its Own, explains the neuroscience of brain mapping—the way your brain is organized to run your body. Brain maps for sensation and movement, interwoven like figures in an intricate mandala, make is possible for you to scratch your nose when it itches instead of poking yourself in the eye…
Relaxation: What IS it?
Most of us rely on something outside of ourselves to achieve a state of relaxation: a long walk, a hard workout, a massage, a substance, a person, a meditative practice, a TV show. But, by understanding what that state consists of, we empower ourselves to achieve it without a crutch, and to incorporate it into our daily living.
Living in 3D
It is in the 70’s here this morning. It’s the best time of year in Los Angeles because the sun makes a southerly arc that creates contrast and shadow and a sense of dimension to the world. In summer, when the sun’s arc is overhead, places and things—buildings, trees, cars, even people–appear flatter. But today, walking my familiar streets, I had a strong hit of the substance and texture of tree trunks, of the space between the lemons on a tree, and of my own physical presence passing through the leafy corridor of my favorite street. It was easy to stay present in my body, in my movement, easy to be friendly to strangers…