When I worked in a cubicle hunched over a computer screen, one day a beautiful famous actress came into our office. She was stunning. She was famous. She was nearly perfect. She was nice, she greeted me, smiled, and then... she insulted me.
"You know, you should really try Pilates. It does wonders for your posture. You should try it," she said.
She smiled, bounced into the office with her perfect breasts sending greetings into the air, leaving me sitting there stunned and hunched over my computer screen.
My hunched back. Dang. Out of her entire day, she noticed my poor posture and my hunched back. I had two sons, a wandering husband, and a full-time job at a computer screen. I thought I couldn't afford pilates. It upset me. It upset me for a long time. Time heals all wounds, but time did not heal my posture.
Why didn't I listen to her in the late 1990s? Ugh... silly, stubborn pride.
I thought... Why would I take advice from a millionaire actress who dazzles the screen and uses private trainers?
Better question: why wouldn't I take her advice?
I was receiving incredible advice from someone who knew how to have the best posture. Her job depended on her looks and her posture.
As it turned out, I didn't need a bunch of money for private Pilates trainers. I didn't investigate Pilates. I didn't even know there were Pilates videos that were affordable back then.
It took me years to realize it, but this stunning woman was trying to help me. I didn't ask her for advice, but clearly she saw that I needed her advice. While she was wearing earrings as an accessory, I was wearing a pained, twisted back as an accessory and she noticed. I looked like I had osteoporosis... in my 30s. It didn't make sense. Clearly, my poor posture resulted from sitting in front of a computer screen at a bad angle for five days a week for years.
Only recently, I have started working very hard on improving my posture. I work on certain exercises, I use a foam roller for my back, and I have a corset that I wear sometimes. I believe the exercises and corset have helped to reshape and improve my posture, improving my confidence.
There are a bunch of Pilates moves that you can do with a foam roller. All you have to do is search on YouTube.com and you can find a bunch of free Pilates workouts.
I don't know that all of the damage done can be undone, but maybe your posture could improve over time with exercises. Being aware helps tremendously because you think about moving and standing up tall. Here are two articles that seem worth a read: 7 Simple Exercises That Undo the Damage of Sitting and Better Posture: 6 Ways to Straighten Up.
Body posture and body language says a lot about a person. There's a very entertaining TED Talk explaining how Your body language shapes who you are. In fact, 19 million+ people have watched that TED Talk - so learn what they already know about the importance of body language.
So, here's my advice - LISTEN TO ADVICE! When a famous actress gives you a piece of advice on how to improve, don't waste the next decade ignoring that advice. Listen to her. She's a success for a reason and she knows what she's talking about.
Every once in a while a woman actually tries to help a woman... so I'm paying it forward and sharing her advice with you.
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