Posture Please

If clothes make the man, then posture makes the person. Both are the obvious outward manifestations of the inward individual. Expressions of the self, so to say. It is the rare person who will not slouch when scolded by a superior or walk walk taller, straighter when he has had a good day at the office. And appearances apart, good posture becomes your body just as bad posture harms it. For the latter goes against the grain of both civilization and chromosomes shaped by centuries of natural evolution.

A glance at man's history should convince us. Like all animals, man too was created to be on his feet. The early man chased and hunted. Later,he combined this activity with agriculture. But the important this is, he remained on his feet. Except when he slept, perhaps after sunset, back and legs straight out.

The Industrial Revolution changed his life. Maybe modernity could have been used more constructively – looking at things with the hindsight of history. But progress and all gadgets man made to make life easer and quicker, seem to have their harmful side-effects. For example, today, instead of employing his leisure hours in renew himself through exercise, most of man kind become lazy.

Just look at the lifestyle of our average Jai – the typical sedentary animal. He gets out of bed only to sit down for breakfast. He tries his damnedest to get a seat commuting to his workplace. Once there, eh works on his butt. His journey home is a rewind of his trip to the office. Once home, he watches his favorite TV show until the calorie chair calls him and sleep nudges him to bed. It is truly backside to the future. In the process, Jai has comprehensively turned his back to good health with his sit-down strike against nature.

Unfortunately, the operative work of Jai's lifestyle is sit – the very opposite of fit. No wonder, the modern Jai finds life a pain in the backside – those are the only muscles passively employed as he taking life sitting down. Naturally, his body rebels sooner rather than later. Backaches, shoulder pains, are the early warning signals of a more serious attack that could be launched anytime: arthritis, heart attacks...

Since life today is full of occupational hazards, it might be worthwhile to turn to occupational therapist Dr. Hima N. Dalal for some solutions. Incidentally, Dr. Dalal specializes in (Wellness and Healthy Living), both in the US and in India. And the International Conference on Rehab Medical Sciences, co-hosted by Dr. Dalal, was in the news recently in Bombay (January 21 and 22 January) and Delhi (January 28).

Similarly, a sedentary hob- hunched over a computer or a typewriter, for example, has much the same ill effects. Sitting hunched over the machine for hours also creates a bad posture: rounded shoulders, the spine curved into a troublesome unnatural question mark.

Unfortunately, posture (sitting, standing, sleeping) and our body work in tandem. And each fuels the other in an egg-and-chicken equation. For example, a flabby person could acquire a bad posture over the years. Or the bad posture could itself induce him to run to fat. It is a vicious circle that we could go into some other time.

Likewise, she advises those who spend long hours on their feet – teachers, chemists/researchers in labs, not to stand in one position for too long. They should move about and alternate their weight on either foot, stand on a cushioned mat, and sit as often as possible.

In addition, the head and shoulders should be comfortably erect, arms hanging loose, abdominal muscles pulled in, buttocks' muscles firm, knees slightly flexed and the feet parallel and about ten inches apart.