Better Posture – Sitting Tall Throughout Your Day

Sitting at a desk all day can be the worst thing for our posture, especially if we’ve gotten into bad habits of slouching, or have an uncomfortable work environment. I teach a lot of corporate clients – who spend most of their day at their desk or working over a keyboard. When we’re seated throughout our day in a rounded position, we add tension to our neck, shoulders and low back.

Here are 6 things to think about and be aware of if you’re trying to work on your posture throughout the day.  I call it remaining in Mountain Pose even off your yoga mat.

• Shoulders Over Hips
• Ears Over Collar Bones
• Feet Flat on the Floor
• Shoulders Back and Down
• Jaw Parallel to the Floor (keeping an eye-level gaze)
• Strong Core (drawing your belly towards the spine)

Notice how you’re sitting.  You should sit so that your hips and back are toward the back of your chair, with feet flat on the floor.  Try to place your monitor so that you’re able to look eye-level or slightly downward at the screen, but not upward.

When you find yourself falling into old positions and habits, don’t be discouraged. Just recognize and become of aware of how you’re sitting and come back to these basic guidelines. Over time, these posture-supporting concepts will come naturally to you.

Human Trafficking Awareness Day – Jan 11th

Yesterday I attended an event here in Kansas City about human trafficking, an issue that I have a growing burden and heart for.  Most of us may think that human trafficking only happens in foreign countries or bigger U.S. cities.   Or that all the victims are foreign-born.  Sadly, these assumptions are not true.  Human trafficking incidents have been reported in all fifty states and is an issue that all of us should be aware of so that we can help fight this horrific crime.  Stats estimate that there are 27 million people in slavery today – more than any other time in history. Please take a moment to read, ponder, pray about the information below… We can all do something – even if it’s just becoming more informed and aware of what’s around us.

Here are some resources for you:

Red Flags – Signs of human trafficking:

• Evidence of being controlled
• Evidence of inability to leave job or move
• Excessive work hours
• Fear of speaking for themselves
• Rarely alone or seems to be under constant surveillance
• Insistence of one person providing all information to outsiders
• Isolated or cut off from family or friends
• Lives with co-workers and/or employer
• No passport or other identifying information
• Not able to take time off work
• Not paid well or paid very little
• Persistent fear, depression, anxiety or submissive, stupor-like behavior
• Poor living/working conditions
• Victim has bruises or other injuries
• Works “off books” in low paying jobs or in sex industry

If you believe someone is a victim of human trafficking, contact one or more of these:

National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-3737-888

In Kansas City – Victims Assistance: 816-461-4673

Other resources:

www.sharedhope.org

www.love146.org

www.usdoj.gov

www.notforsalecampaign.org

New Year’s Tweaks?

So – here we are – 2009…and it’s everywhere — new year’s resolutions, ways to look better, feel better, reinvent yourself…? I decided to take a different approach. These are my New Year’s Tweaks…not overhauling and becoming a new person…but tweaks to my way of life that are doable for 2009…have a look…and hopefully some of these will ring true for you too.

1) Spend more time doing the things I love: Notice I didn’t say do the things you like to do or should do…I mean those things that you love, that put a smile on your face that lasts until the next day… For me, that’s committing to my own yoga practice, playing with my adorable dog, spending time with friends & loved ones and really engaging with them, and spending time in stillness building my relationship with God. What about you? What do you love? Are you spending enough time enjoy those things?

2) Say no more often without feeling guilty about it:  I’m learning this more and more – if I’m going to do what I have a talent, burden and passion for and do it well, it means saying no to perfectly good things (and great people) – that just don’t fit me, my vision.  I’m naturally a “pleaser” and this is a tough one…but it’s so important.  What should you be saying “No” to, so that you can “Yes” to something that inspires and energizes you?

3) Embrace life right before me and live in today: I’m a planner and a fairly analytical mind, so I often think about the future and the past…with not enough time in the present…That’s my natural inclination…This may seem like an easy one for a yoga teacher…but it can be difficult to embrace what’s right before us. This is our life. It’s happening and unfolding right now.  We must choose: we can worry or pine about what it’s not, or we can embrace and trust what it is.  Yoga helps us become more aware when we’re not doing that, and can help us move in a better direction.

4) Keep exploring and learning: I remember learning lots of things in school to prepare for tests but thinking I would never use that stuff in real life. Sound familiar? As adults, we have the opportunity to choose the lessons and make them our own.  In 2009, I’m looking forward to learning more in my field, exploring new ways to pair yoga with therapeutic practices.  Personally, I intend to explore beautiful places, embark on things that scare me (a little), and challenge myself.  I intend to have a bit more quiet, still time — turning the exploration inward. What about you? What would you like to explore in 2009?

So…no new resolutions for me…just tweaks on recurring themes. Tweaks seem more attainable, more reasonable…something I’ll likely still be tweaking well into our new year.

Happy 2009!