Part II
Holly Wilson is one of our Yoga and Pilates instructors and has been teaching the Miami and Oxford Community for over 15 years. As a physical-mind instructor, she gives us her perspective and insight on posture as she associates it with her two disciplines. Wilson says that you’re going to learn the most about your muscular imbalances, postural habits and the best ways to correct it through Yoga and Pilates. She states that “Yoga and Pilates are about posture because they encompass the strength of the muscles that support the torso and the spine”. Her goal as an instructor is to give people the awareness and techniques to change the way they hold and move themselves in class.
Major problems of bad postural habits Wilson emphasized that head-forward, also known as tech-neck is a big problem. She explained that head-forward or tech-neck causes around 60 pounds of displaced weight to rest in the front of the body. This causes slumping through the shoulders which affects your overall balance. Additionally, this can load hip flexors and often causes you to hinge forward, which results in over-contracting your back and possibly compressing your organs. Another big problem she sees is individuals pushing ribs out and forward which is known as rib thrust, which can cause organ displacement.
Conclusion Good posture involves much more than appearance. It encompasses health benefits and prevents short and long-term consequences including bone development and density, as well as back pain which is the most common one. Holly Wilson says that if you manage to make good posture a habit, it will lock in at the cellular level and thus becoming a part of you. Both professionals accentuated that ultimately you control your postural habits and that you must strive to maintain them.
By Dania Puente
One response to “Posture: Yoga and Pilates”
Holly, see you tomorrow 930am Bart