Britta's Letters from her life divided between city-life in German's capital Berlin and life in a Bavarian village

Wednesday 13 March 2024

Posture - or: How To Look Slim, Energetic, Powerful and Younger in a second


Posture.              Well, well, well...   "Stand tall!"  "Sit upright!"  mother reminded us. 

I have to confess that my posture never was Very Good - I am a tall woman, 1,78m, and though I found out that this has many advantages (I could work as a model and now silver model, was not overlooked when I entered a room - very important for a committee or as teacher) - it has also some drawbacks. 

When you are 15 years old you want to be as everybody else - so in my peer group I curved my shoulders. 

A tall girl seldom wants a lover who is shorter than her (though there are exceptions: beautiful Carla Bruni and Monsieur Sarkozy). And though I know that this is very shallow, and found out that in bed the flaw disappears, I wanted to wear kitten heels or High Heels and "look up" (silly again).    

"You" - a dressmaker said to me, " will get problems with your hip if you stand like that!" 

I looked at her and thought "Prattle on!" (I was 15) - and protruded my right hip in the typical model angle - très chic. Today I think: she had a point. No big problems with my hip, thank God, but sometimes I can feel it. 

Walking with the then tiny triplets made my not very good posture even worse. 

So now it is really, really time for action. I read some enlightening books , go to the fitness club, do exercises from Youtube - and try to recall it when I stand up from an armchair WITHOUT using my hands (at least I do not say "Phew!", as some friends of mine have started - "phew" when they sit down and "phew" when they try to get up...) 

"Keeping up appearances" - a dress looks so much nicer when you hold your head up tight (young people nowadays slouch over their cellphone - and their posture is as bad as mine...) 

Your waistline looks so much slimmer when you stand tall. 

And you look younger. Definitely. 

But it takes some effort now.  (Phew!) 





16 comments:

  1. My mother was a small woman, but walked very upright and people thought she was tall, until they got up close! Impressive.

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    1. Dear Boud, I envy small women for their often wonderful posture - they "architecture" of their spine keeps better, is my impression. A lot of actors are small (especially in theatre). The best posture I see in dancers.

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  2. Think of all the things our mothers used to say:
    1.Never drink alcohol
    2.Always be home at a decent time
    3.Always stand up in the tram for elderly passengers
    4.Save your money
    5.Drive slowly and carefully
    6.Study hard etc..

    Standing properly was probably not the only advice we all ignored :)

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    1. ......and Hels, "always clean knickers in case you have to go to the hospital!!!!!"

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    2. Dear Helen, I had to laugh when I read your list! Maybe you should write the antidote to the book by Lucia van der Post, "Things I wish my mother had told me. A Guide to Living with Impeccable Grace and Style". :-)

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    3. To Mary: As a child I always wondered if paramedics had not more important things to do in case of an accident than wonder if I had my best underwear on or not.

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  3. "in bed the flaw disappears"
    I heard it (the computer reads ito be these days) as "in bed the floor disappears".

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    1. Hahaha, dear Tasker, I love those moments when AI serves out "Freudian slips". Though sometimes my eyes do that too, when I read something quickly

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  4. I know you are a beautiful lady dear Britta and can imagine you as an amazing model still!
    Aging is not easy that's a certainty for most of us. Fortunately, like you, I can still get up off a chair.........kneeling down is harder.
    Love this post, you made me smile. Today with more workmen in my house, things going so slowly, and the dust is so bad, I could scream!
    Hugs, Mary

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  5. Dear Mary, thank you! By now I am more a Grandma and thus hopefully more a role model for the triplets than a model -(though when I am on a modest stage I can walk very upright).
    I might not have looked like the incarnation of flexibility getting up from the very low rim of a sandbox, and picking up sand moulds also is no treat (but a good exercise).
    I'm glad that for a moment I could make you smile - having workmen in the house can be oh so "tarsome" as Georgie might say. Though, come to think of it: Not getting those workmen is even worse. Hope they improve your surroundings soon! Hugs, Britta

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  6. Dearest Britta, yes, let’s all stand tall! I, too, did the rolled shoulders from adolescence - I was desperate to be “average” height and not stand out amongst my loathsome female peers at school. I’ve just discovered this year that I’d kept them rolled all this time, despite having quite good posture, as I’m now resetting them into their rightful position, owing to all the dance I’m doing. My posture is now even better! I’m dancing with ladies who are 80 and you cannot tell their age because they move smoothly and fluidly with the posture of youth! It’s so inspiring! Love your pic :) Pipistrello x

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    1. Dear Pip, so we are in the same situation: getting now even better posture, you by dancing, I trying by going into the fitness studio, AND doing Feldenkrais with a CD at home (my very, very best discovery in terms of body-consciousness!) - being very happy to have found a CD-teacher with an adorable soothing female voice.)
      I found a friend here in Fürth who is doing a lot of dance - I joined in the open dance meeting, but still have to be coaxed to join her in tango (I like that very much -- but honestly I fear the not-so tall men living here in the South of Germany, and you can't say "no" when they as for a dance :-)
      Riding to your ballet class: wonderful!
      The triplets just had a lesson (two of them, the "twins" are so keen on it, the third can't see a ball without pushing it - she plays football like a boy).
      Rounded shoulders: I manage most of time - well: often - to keep them better - but during sleep I can't and roll on my side into a sort of ball...

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  7. I’m trying to comment from my phone on the bus to a ballet class and it - Google or my phone - doesn’t play nicely! Px

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  8. Living as I now do in the thick of elderly people, eighty, ninety, yes, one hundred, I am astounded at the tall, straight backs on the majority.

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    1. That are good news, Joanne - I always admire older people who manage to walk tall! That's what I meant with "energetic, powerful and young" - it sends a message in two directions: one to the observer and one to oneself, feeling instantly better.

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  9. What a helpful and inspiring post Britta. When we read such posts they put us in second thoughts, but also in self-improvement processes! Have a nice week!

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