Good Morning, Y’all! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Royal wedding mania for sure, right? The hubs and I attended a beautiful wedding in town on Saturday, and the bride actually wore a dress similar to Princess Kate’s, with exquisite lace arms. Simply stunning, and so classic. She was definitely channeling the royal bride, with her gorgeous dark hair and flawless skin. My sister and sister-in-law were both in the wedding, donning floor length navy dresses with sweetheart necklines. Loved it all, especially the food – shrimp and grits!
Really random, but while watching the royal wedding, I couldn’t help but notice how pulled together the British looked (okay, the ones attending the wedding, not the crazies in the crowd, haha – my friend was one of them).
Aside from the guests’ fabulous hats and lovely dresses, there just seemed to be something different about them. For me, their posture was what struck a cord. I’m sure royal titles for the guests, money, etc. have something to do with their natural etiquette and flawless ways, but I think their posture really stood out.
If interested, here are ways you too can improve your posture.
1. Know what good posture is. Most people think that to “stand up straight” means tensing your back to heave your chest ‘in and up’, and pulling your head back in to your chest. This is not so. The spine has two natural curves that you need to maintain called the ‘double C’ or ‘S’ curves, these are the curves found from the base of your head to your shoulders and the curve from the upper back to the base of the spine. When standing straight up, make sure that your weight is evenly distributed on your feet. You might feel like you are leaning forward, and look stupid, but you don’t.
2. Using a mirror, align your ears, shoulders, and hips. Proper alignment places your ears loosely above your shoulders, above your hips. Again, these points make a straight line, but the spine itself curves in a slight ‘S’. You’ll find that this doesn’t hurt at all. If you do experience pain, look at your side view in a mirror to see if you’re forcing your back into an unnatural position. If so, stop it!
3. Do exercises that strengthen the muscles across your upper back and shoulders. These do not have to be strenuous! Try the following, with or without hand weights:
- Align your ears over your shoulders. Raise both arms straight up, alongside your ears. Remember to keep your ears aligned! Bend forearms toward shoulders to touch your shoulder blades. Do 10 repetitions with both arms, then alternate 10 reps for each arm singularly.
- Align ears with shoulders. Raise both arms out to sides at shoulder height. Hold for a slow count of ten. Slowly lower arms to sides, counting ten as you lower. Slowly raise arms back to shoulder height, counting to ten as you raise arms. Do ten reps, constantly checking your alignment! If ten reps are too many to start, do as many as you can. You should at least feel a slight fatigue in the shoulder muscles.
- Be a penguin. While you wait for a web page to load, bread to toast, popcorn to pop or the microwave to beep, place elbows at your side, and touch your shoulders with your hands. Keeping your hands on your shoulders and your ears aligned, raise both elbows (count one, two) and lower them back to your waist (count one, two). Do as many reps as your wait allows. You’ll be surprised how much exercise fits into 30 seconds.
4. Do stretches. This can greatly help if you find that you have a sore back or neck after a while.
- Tilt (stretch) your head in all four directions over your shoulders (forward, back, left, right), and gently massage your neck. Avoid rolling in a circle, as it may cause further strain.
- On your hands and knees, curl your back upwards, like a cat, and then the opposite. Think about being able to place a bowl in the hollow of your back.
5. Repeat the exercises a few times each day. Doing them in the morning helps your body stretch out the muscle lethargy of sleep, and periodically throughout the day helps raise your energy level without a heavy workout.
6. Take ballet classes. You can take classes through a performing arts school. In this instance you are taking them for recreational purposes.
7. Do yoga. Yoga is also excellent for posture. You can take a class or find a good workout video.
I found these steps on wikihow.com. For more details on posture while sitting, standing, driving, carrying objects, etc. click here.
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Many of you inquired about the pink, monogrammed seersucker pinafore dresses the girls wore Easter afternoon. Even better, they’re reversible! Here are both sides.
My grandmother-in-law got these dresses last summer at a boutique in Statesboro, Georgia called Josephine’s (912.489.9891). They also have a website. If you want more information, click here.
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In case you missed it, I updated my blog sale. Here’s a preview.
i need to improve my posture…swimming since 10 years old has made my shoulders incredibly strong so know they bend forward. Swimmers=worst posture
I need to improve my posture too. Sitting at a computer all day definitely hasn't helped much, but I definitely think taking yoga class has! I hope you had a great weekend otherwise.
Kate looked beautiful, and I think you're friends shirt idea wins the most-inspired crowd participant. How funny!
I used to take ballet when I was little and now take yoga, but I still have to remind myself every now and then about my posture! It's amazing what a difference good posture makes 🙂
Your friend (in the crazy crowd) cracked me up, lol! I love your blog. It is always interesting. Thanks for sharing, it's one of my faves:)
Yes, yes and yes on posture! I've already been working with Lallie. Of course, I am a trained violinist so I almost have an over-corrected posture (sitting too straight that my spine bends backwards!…yes, it is an ouch every once in a while). I too noticed Princess Kate and her impeccable posture.
As for the reversible outfit…adorable!!!
I'm so so sad I missed that beautiful Lilly in your blog sale. Seriously, it's my dream dress. And I'm a size 8, too!!! I would've snatched up those TB shoes, bit I wear a nine! Can't wait until you post more!! 🙂 love your stuff.