The hunchback of Rockefeller Plaza...

We are all aware of it, I speak to clients every week about it, yet society is increasingly geared towards making it worse.

Whether its sitting at your desk, looking down at your phone, driving your car, spending hours on a plane, cutting hair, pulling teeth, the list is endless, all of these are prolonged periods of time when our posture can be negatively impacted (if you are not consciously trying to correct it). "Taking control of your body language is not just about posing in a powerful way. It’s also about the fact that we pose in a powerless way much more often than we think—and we need to change that."

Amy Cuddy Author Presence I departed finance with rounded shoulders, a forward lean and complaints of a pinched nerve in my neck. Since trading my Bloomberg keyboard for the gym and focus mitts I have spoken to numerous clients who are also concerned about their posture. Unfortunately there is no quick fix. In a world where we want instant gratification, trust me there is no magic operation or chiropractor who can pop things back. Our posture has deteriorated over time and the only thing that will help is time spent working on bringing it back! In most cases the muscles in the back and neck have become over stretched and weakened, whilst the chest muscles have tightened through the hours spent rounding over. I am not a physical therapist but I spent hours working with one, plus many acupuncture sessions, one visit to the chiropractor and I lived in fear of a doctor suggesting an expensive operation. Too often the go to these days is to be wooed into a simple operation to fix the issue but you will still need to do the work with a PT afterwards and may still need acupuncture - so lets do all we can take the operation off the table. Go and buy yourself a basic resistance band and do back flies with it a few times a day, use that same band to stretch your chest. Also regularly perform the ridiculous looking move known as a chin tuck. Then buy a small stress ball and sit it between your shoulder blades when sitting for long periods (desk, car, plane, etc.). All of these are small steps to reverse the hours of damage done but they will require you to do them regularly. But why worry about it? Well the first is obvious, if we don't treat a problem and keep shoveling fuel on the fire it will get worse. What that means in medical terms I do not know but I have seen some challenging postures out there. As mentioned in my note about longevity, if we plan to exercise until we are 100, poor posture today will impact that dream. Look at your posture today and take a second to imagine how it will look in 5, 10, 15, 20 years time, if you do not take action to correct it. The unfortunate truth is that the longer you leave it the more damage you will do. Now lets think about Superman or Wonder Woman, when they change from their day to day personas and transform to save the world - they do not have rounded shoulders or a forward lean with complaints about a pinched nerve! They are boldly standing tall and ready to save the world!

Whilst I am not suggesting you need to become a part time superhero I do suggest how you hold yourself can directly impact your confidence. The rounded shoulders, forward lean posture, is akin to animal being threatened - far from a power pose. If you are embarking on a challenge then know that body language is visible to others and visible to ourselves. Imagine having an interview or giving a presentation and you are rounded up like a frightened puppy. Worse still, imagine your wedding day or another momentous occasion and looking back at the photos. How we hold ourselves matters. Our mind pays attention to body language cues. "Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over circumstances."

Maya Angelou American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist I speak to numerous clients who are "trying to find someone" on their quest for companionship. My response is often the same, lets work on lifting you up and that person will find you. This usually goes deeper than simply standing tall but posture is an important piece. Imagine walking into a bar and looking around for potential suitors, who is going to stand out? The person rounded up like a banana or the superhero? If you want to go deeper on it, then is the rounded banana staring at their phone too much, rarely working out to improve their posture, glued to the desk all hours, unaware of the poor habits they have?

My final point here is about breathing and is arguably the most important! There are endless studies on the importance of optimal breathing, citing breathwork to boost performance or well being. If you are impacting your daily breathing habits subconsciously then perhaps right now is your wake up call? “Keeping your back straight when sitting, standing or walking, as well as during other daily activities, is a prerequisite for an optimal breathing habit. A slumped posture means that your diaphragm is compressed and its ability to move downward on inhalation decreases, making your breathing shallow and high up in your chest. Most of the work related to your breathing is then performed by the accessory muscles in your chest and neck, resulting in inefficient breathing that requires more of your body’s resources than necessary. …"

Anders Olsson Author The Power of Your Breath

Worried about becoming a corporate shrimp? Already concerned about the damage done? Keen to make positive changes in your life? Then do not hesitate to contact me. Former corporate shrimp/rounded banana. Next time you are on a crowded subway platform, rather than reach for your phone, look around at the number of people on their phones rounded up... after which you can then decide to join them or stand up straight, breathe efficiently and be present in that moment.