“Stand up straight.” You’ve probably heard this sentence countless times throughout your life. So why are people so obsessed with “good” posture? “We are the way we stand, ideally,” says Sander Gilman, whose book, Illness and Image: Case Studies in the Medical Humanities, explores how important posture is.
Gilman, director of the program in psychoanalysis and the health sciences humanities initiative at Emory University in Atlanta, shows further evidence of the phenomenon: In the 1950s, Miss Correct Posture competitions proliferated in the U.S., sponsored, somewhat no doubt, by chiropractors. Eighteen-year-old Lois Conway won the crown in 1956, posing beside an X-ray of her nearly perfect spinal structure, along with the two runners-up.
“Right now we’re having a huge problem, specifically with kids and millennials who are starting to develop kyphosis, or curvature of the thoracic spine,” says Amir Mahajer, D.O., a dual-certified physiatrist and the head of interventional spine care at Mount Sinai West’s new Spine Center in New York. Sitting for prolonged periods of time in a “shrimp position” while looking over cell phones and computers puts a lot of pressure on the spine and can lead to disc herniation and early onset osteoarthritis, Mahajer continues. He explained the impact of “nerd neck,” the latest attempt by the medical establishment to form this modern-day disorder. Mahajer often prescribes physician-guided exercise programs for his patients designed to find what he describes as “the primary source of instability,” often recommending core-strengthening workouts such as yoga and Pilates as well.
The instability may not all be physical, though. “There is good, level-A scientific evidence that if you’re present and mindful, you can improve your pain, and you can improve your function,” says Mahajer. He explained that even cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) could potentially help correct posture issues. Transitioning mentally, he mentions, is often the first step in any physical transformation.
“The way you carry yourself is really a manifestation of how you deal with things mentally,” confirms Claire de Obaldia, a Paris-based therapist. “When you overreact to stimuli – to your own thoughts, feelings, to the things that you have to achieve that day – you tend to contract, to tighten, to pull down, to narrow,” she explains. “Observe your mental and physical habits – they are interdependent – and give yourself a choice: are you breathing properly? Could you perhaps do this differently?”
So, now the question remains: would you rather be stuck in “shrimp position” or be present, mindful, and have good posture?
