Emotional Posture

This week I was reminded that it’s not just what we do or even how we do it, but also how we feel about what we are doing.

At this point, most of us are aware of the toll poor posture take on our health and wellbeing. Many of us are taking steps to improve our biomechanical hygiene. Standing desk, ergonomic keypads, using a yoga ball in lieu of a chair. All of this is good. It allows our body to be physically less strained. There is also a sense of empowerment that comes to taking responsibility for our health that expands into other aspects of our lives. But I do feel there an incompleteness if we only adjust our physical reality.

There are emotional attachments we can and should make that I believe are every bit as important as the physical shapes we put ourselves into. To explain this let me share a personal example. Last week I ended up with a flat tire on my bike, my primary source of transportation. While in and of itself this is a small problem it did come at an inopportune time. I enjoy basic doing bike maintenance once in a while, but having to do impromptu fixes is just one of those things that makes me stressed. While fixing my flat which I noticed my body using much more energy than was required to perform said task.

It's in these situations when we are overexerting ourselves that we get hurt. There is always a physical price to be paid for by using our bodies in any way. Our attitude can be a heavy determinant in how much of a price we pay. Certain activities will be always be felt afterward, but we do want to be shrewd with how much energy we are exchanging to perform our actions.

I overpaid for changing a tire, which in itself isn’t a big deal. However, when we routinely engage an action we should be aware of our attitudes as much as we are of our body mechanics. What the point of splurging for an ergonomic standing desk if we are just going to be miserable there.

Now as to what we need to do to maintain a healthy attitude throughout our day and days is a complicated question. It is certainly beyond the scope of my practice. But on some level come down to either we have to change what we are doing or change the way we feel about what we are doing. Our circumstances all vary so everyone will have to have their solutions to this dilemma. But it is a question worth pondering now and then.

Anthony Bruni