Testing our core posture
in Awareness challenges / Exercises / Posture / Uncategorized on Balance, Body awareness, Body awareness challenge, Center of gravity, Core, Pelvic floor, Pelvis, Posture, Sacrum, Spine
How solid is your “good” posture?
Occasionally, it’s a good idea just to check where we stand, literally, in our bodies– how solid is our “good” posture, and how does our body compensate when we throw in strange elements, like high heels?
We might be diligent about maintaining what we think is good posture, only to later find out we weren’t using our bodies efficiently to support that posture. A good test is to see how our core responds when we shift our center of gravity. If it is strong, our posture will not be phased, but if it is weak, our body will compensate by contorting.
Here’s the posture test
I recommend finding a mirror, and standing so you can see yourself sideways.
Find your normal posture, and simply lift your heels off the ground, so you are balancing on the balls of your feet. Pay special attention to your hips. What happens?
If your pelvis tilts forward and your upper torso leans back (image a, anterior rotation), your spine is curving to 
compensate for your new center of gravity. Bend your knees to bring your heels further off the floor, then straighten them. Do your hips tilt more when this happens? It this is the case, it’s likely you are not maintaining your posture with core strength. Try fine-tuning your posture more often, and pay special attention to your sacrum and tailbone, since they are a major keystone in the body, where your pelvic bones and spine meet.
If, however, when you stand on your toes, and your spine and hips stay in the same position (image b, neutral pelvis), but just shift forward slightly, you’re in wonderful shape! You will find that when you bend your knees and straighten them, your torso will remain in a stable position. Whatever you are doing is working, so keep it up!
