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You: Wingspan
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How much of your work day takes place in front of a computer?
Over that time, how active is your posture?
Yeah, me too. Even those with disciplined seated posture get into trouble either by creating too rigid a system, or not creating one at all.
This is why we are discussing wingspan today. Specifically, the scapula. Your scapula (shoulder blades) are pretty amazing. They are an integral part of your posture, anchor the free movement of your arms, and stabilize the back so that your ribs can expand fully. All of which really helps you to breathe efficiently as well as giving you physical markers of confidence.
Our relationship with our scapula can be summed with two extremes. Those who don't think about them at all and those that are constantly holding them together and down in order to keep an ideal posture.
Here's the thing, there is no such thing as an ideal posture. The body is designed to move, not pose.
The best maintenance of this area is to move more often and make sure they are both strong and flexible. Here is my favorite sequence for this:
- Curve your back as you hug yourself. Allowing the front of you to be concave side to side and top to bottom.
- Then, stretch the opposite. Extend your arms out to your sides and rotate them until you can comfortably arch your back, let your headache backwards as well.
- Standing - place your arms at your sides and slowly bring them up and down in a standing "snow angel." If you rotate your arms from the shoulder so that the hands alternate facing forward and back, you will get a better contract/release.
Try this sequence once a day and your posture will become more dynamic in a short time. As always, respect the body you are in and adapt the exercises to serve you. Happy to help with that if you get stuck.
Have an embodied week!
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