How to be elegant instantly
Try an experiment with me.
Right where you're sitting, slump into your worst posture ever. Let your chest sink, shoulders rounded down, neck thrust forward like a chicken.
No, really -- do it with me.
How does it feel? Physically... and also emotionally, energetically.
I'm doing it right now and it feels heavy, collapsed and I feel blah. Kind of down or sad. Choose a word to describe how it is for you.
Ok, now sit up taller without over-efforting. We're going to bring in a word here. We're going to bring in elegance.
Sit with elegance.
Breathe with elegance.
Turn your head and move with elegance.
How does this feel? How does elegance affect your posture, your mannerism, and even your emotional and mental states?
Now, elegance doesn't have to be a goal of yours. You might not even relate to that word. You could choose another word: uplifted, proud, confident, self-assured.
The trick is to find a state or feeling that you want more of and then simply be in that state, bring in that quality.
In class on Sunday we played with being a sassy tree, a confident tree, an elegant tree -- words chosen by people in class.
The theme for April at It's All yoga is Tall, Elegant Posture.
We are absolutely working with stretches and strengtheners that help create that uplifted alignment of the spine, with a special focus on the neck (and the sweet little hump that starts to appear over the decades at the base of the neck).
But the best advice I can give if you want tall, elegant posture is to sit and stand and move in a tall, elegant way.
Don't over-effort. If you get stiff or rigid, let it relax without collapsing.
Even if it feels silly, does it also feel helpful? Useful?
What quality do you want more of today? Be that!
The irony is many of us say we want to feel great, vibrant, energetic... and yet we spend a lot of time slumping. That slumping has an emotional and mental effect.
As a wise student recently said, "You can't change your mental state until you change the way you move."
Let me know what you find out.
With love and warm wishes,
