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- A common but incorrect way to position your head
This is the first in my series of posts on posture based upon what I have learned from Esther Gokhale. The head is the key to posture. One of the first good posture tips I learned was to pretend like your body is being hung by a string on top of your head. It turns out this is not entirely correct. The string needs to be attached to the back of the top of your head for proper posture. You can read my first post about Esther here.
A common but incorrect way to position your head
In the first picture, I show a conventional way to correct your posture by raising the top of your head. This does get most of your body lined up correctly–although as I have found out the chest is carried too high. What it does incorrectly is point the head pointing upwards and curves the neck. I am only slightly familiar with the conventional view of posture, but I know that people often say to “keep your head up,” so maybe people want their heads pointed into the air like this. I don’t think that this posture is efficient. When people are not getting enough oxygen they will tilt their heads back like this to try and get more air. You are better off keeping your chin down.
The correct way to position your head for proper posture
The proper way to position your head is to think of a rope or hand pulling up at the back of your head. This points your head pointed straight ahead or sightly down with the chin a little bit downward. I feel more serious and respectable holding my head like this. My neck feels a lot more comfortable like and it prevents an end of the day pain in the neck from working at a computer too much.
One of my best track coaches told me to hold my head the way Esther Gokhale suggests while running. Afterward I always tried to do this at the end of races, but it is very difficult. When runners get tired, it is common for them to throw their heads backward. This is one of Eric Liddel’s many running form flaws.
Filed under: Physical Training, Posture | Tagged: culture, Esther Gokhale, human beauty, joint mobility, Posture
[...] This is the second in a series of posts on posture based upon what I have learned from Esther Gokhale. To see a talk given by Esther see the introductory post. To read about head positioning see the first post. [...]