Stand Up Tall

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Has anyone ever taken your picture while you are not aware? For me, it has happened many times but almost all of them were while I was turned to the camera.  Couple weeks ago, I saw a picture of me from the side as I was standing with the kids, looking into a pond.  What I saw was a moment of awakening… NO… it was NOT my belly.  I am well aware of THAT… It was my very poor stance.

Prior to the kids, I was known for my good stance.  After the kids, things changed a little - and I knew it.  I just never realized how bad it had gotten - at least for my standards. I relied on my Baby K-tan for almost 3 years with each kid- total of about 5.5 years… It is absolutely the most wonderful feeling to have your baby right on your chest at all times.  I would not change anything about that.  However, one thing that I should have paid attention to was my stance when I was NOT carrying them in front of me.  My shoulders stayed rolled forward and my back was hunched at the top, as if I was trying to hide my chest.  Over the years, that became the comfortable form and it felt right.  Until I saw my picture….

Since then I am standing tall - shoulders pulled back, chest opened up and my back is straight. I actually feel refreshed.  As soon as I find/feel myself hunched, I stand tall, tuck my butt and stomach in and feel good about myself.

So what do we need to stand up tall? Do you remember how your doctor measures your height? You put your heels against the wall, suck your stomach slightly in so that you can get an addition 1/8 of an inch, you bring your upper back against the wall and you look straight ahead, as if your head is a table top.  There you have it… you stand up tall!  Clearly, you can’t be in that position every single minute but what you can do is that you can start with your shoulders and see if you are hunching them forward or keeping them lifted up.  For those of you, who have been with me in my classes, you know that we carry our daily stress in our shoulders.  The moment we relax them we let go of some of that stress. So now it is the same first step with standing up tall.  Here is a quick routine to get them moving:

  1. SHOULDER ROLLS BACK: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, arms right next to you body, dangling down. Squeeze your butt and tuck your belly button towards your spine. Roll your shoulders back. With each roll, open your chest and bring your shoulder blades together. (x10)

  2. SHOULDER SHRUGS: Keep your stance from #1. Bring your shoulders up closer to your ears and then push them down as far away as possible from your years. (x10)

  3. BACK PRESS w/ FRONTAL HOLD: Keep your stance from #1. Bring your arms parallel to the ground, and arms in front of the body. While keeping the arms parallel to the ground bring your shoulder blades together. [arms will move slightly to the sides as you push your shoulder blades together] (x10)

  4. WALL SQUAT HOLD: Put your back against a wall and come down to a squat. Make sure that your shoulder blades and your lower back touch the wall. Put your arms next to your body with the palms touching the wall while the arms are straight. As you hold the squat, lift the arms forward to make them parallel to the ground and to your quads. Move the arms back to the starting position. (x10)

Repeat all for 3 full rounds

I would highly recommend to do these moves watching yourself on a mirror so you see what your shoulders are doing.  Don’t look stressed, looked relaxed! ;)

Let’s Stand Up Tall…

THANKS to this pond at Jones gulch, for the wake-up call!

kids already have that natural, good stance. (this picture was for the hair do) :)

I stood up Tall during my very first night time out with friends over the last 8 years. (thanks to 4-inch heels)