Posture, Self-Confidence, and Well-Being
I’m Andy Temte and welcome to the Saturday Morning Muse! Start to your weekend with me by exploring topics that span leadership, business management, education, and other musings designed to support your journey of personal and professional continuous improvement.
When I was 10 years old, my parents enrolled me in the La Crosse Boychoir. I come from a musical family, so the opportunity to join this new choir as one of its charter members was a natural fit. Fast forward 50 years and I still think back to valuable lessons I learned that have helped shape me in positive ways.
The director of the choir became one of my most important mentors and we remain in touch to this day. In addition to helping each choir member “find his voice,” we learned about and practiced critical human skills such as teamwork, respect, persistence, discipline, and communication. The director, Dan Johnson-Wilmot, also instilled in us an appreciation for the music of myriad cultures around the world. I owe a debt of gratitude to him.
Although performances were fun, the real magic happened during our practice sessions. Dan had his hands full with a few dozen boys who ranged in age from 9-13. Can you say “rambunctious?” We were all of that and more. Anyway, one of Dan’s primary jobs during practice sessions was to teach us proper vocal technique so we could be at our best and continually improve. Each one of us was a lump of clay that needed to be molded into the best possible version of ourselves so that we could meaningfully contribute to the success of the choir.
If you’ve done any singing, you know that a strong air column is a foundational requirement for making a useful noise. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to establish a strong, sustained air column without good posture. During practice, Dan’s cue to get us to sit up straight was to visually demonstrate good posture from his conductor’s podium. If one of us was slouching, we would sense his powerful gaze drilling a hole in our head and would usually snap to attention after seeing his over exaggerated body language. On occasion, the more recalcitrant in the group would find Dan’s knuckle in the middle of our backs as he wandered about the room, catching our unfocused, preadolescent minds off guard. I was a member of the latter group that received this more vivid, tactile reminder to sit up straight.
A Life Lesson
My voice changed during the spring of the 7th grade. My soaring first soprano voice became a crackly mess almost overnight. I had to say goodbye to my friends in the choir and the wonderful experiences I had as a member. Fortunately, many of the lessons I learned have stayed with me and have resurfaced at opportune times throughout my life. One of those lessons is posture. Not only did good posture aid a strong vocal column, good posture sends many nonverbal signals to the people and teams you interact with on a daily basis. Here’s a few reasons to focus on posture:
Health and well-being: Next time you’re in for a physical exam, ask your doctor about the benefits of good posture. They will tell you that good posture puts less stress on bones and joints, enables easier breathing, promotes spine and neck health, and helps with mood and energy levels. Your body wasn’t designed to slouch, slump, and hunch for extended periods.
Self confidence: Nothing says “you’ve got this,” more than good posture. Many people will tell you that “clothes make the person,” but those clothes have to fit onto a frame—your frame. So before you go out and spend big money on a new wardrobe to boost self confidence, make the time to invest in posture by strengthening both mind and body. Step #1 on the journey to greater self confidence is to be comfortable in your own skin and the support for your skin is your skeletal frame. Forget about unachievable body ideals that are thrust upon us by advertisers and the media. Instead, strive to be the best possible version of yourself in this moment. Focusing on good posture can go a long way toward building self esteem.
Showing up: While it’s true that you shouldn’t get lost in caring too much about what other people think of you, there is a balance to be struck between not caring at all (not recommended) and contorting yourself to someone else’s vision of who you should be and how you should act (also not recommended). In my first book, Balancing Act, I talk about using the “light in your eyes” as a signal to the outside world that your work and contributions will matter—that you’re there to make a difference. Shuffling into a room with your head down dims your “light.” If you want your light to shine brightly for all the world to see, then chest out, chin up, shoulders back! Bring posture into your active, working memory.
I’ve fought with poor posture my whole life. I’ve been that guy slouched in a chair in the corner of the room wondering why I wasn’t getting the attention or promotion I thought I deserved. There was a time when I thought poor posture was “cool.” I’m thankful for the lessons Dan taught me about the importance of posture and I’m thankful for my wife, Linda, who introduced me to the benefits of a yoga practice. If you want to improve your posture, there are three things you can do.
First, begin actively thinking about it. Bring posture into working memory.
Second, add yoga to your exercise routine. Good posture relies on all sorts of small muscles that yoga helps develop and maintain.
Third, good posture is both a physical construct and a mindset—don’t neglect the mental component.
How you carry yourself has a meaningful impact on career, friendships, community, and family. Posture matters.
Have a great weekend…
