Tuesday, March 3, 2009

2 bags of flour

I want you to think about the last time you carried in groceries from your car.  Probably pretty heavy, huh?  Roughly the mass of 2 bags of flour, our head makes up about 8% of our body mass.  The little boy in Jerry Maguire says it weighs 8 pounds.  Researchers from Jefferson Lab claim that an adult human head with brain, bones, muscles, fluid, can weigh between 10-12 pounds.  So balancing all that mass on the thinnest part of our spine is a recipe for disaster if not managed correctly.   

There has got be a strong link between our feelings and our posture.  During my last Michael Miller encounter, he explained  the goal of Pilates is to "survive the gravity jungle".  But what if there is the gravitational field beyond our external experience?  Our inside emotional gravity.  The weight of shame, of depression, fear of failure all tend to make us draw inward, to cast our eyes on the ground.  Thus throwing our head and the rest of our spine and shoulder complex forward.  

How do you wear your head?  Breathe, and stand tall with your head on straight today whether or not you are grocery shopping.