WW posture and right angles

Submitted by Judith on May 15, 2009 - 7:13am
Body: 

Hi all
Can anyone answer a question about how to stay in posture whilst washing up, standing at kitchen counter? I do Alexander technique and my habit is to use the AT monkey position when doing standing activities eg washing-up, cooking, chopping etc. This entails starting in AT stance, pretty much WW posture, then bending at the knees and from the hips - this means that you avoid compromising the neck-head relationship and also stooping. I just realised that the monkey position, unless it's quite low, and therefore too low for kitchen work, gives rise to an obtuse angle at the hips. Does this matter? Thanks Judith

alemama

May 15, 2009 - 7:48am

second position and plie as deeply as you need
alternate with rising up on your toes and reaching up with your fingers

Judith

May 15, 2009 - 8:05am

That was prompt, thank you very much alemama. Judith

louiseds

May 15, 2009 - 11:24am

I have kitchen benches 95cm high, so this is rarely a problem in our current house, but used to stand with feet well apart, like 3 feet apart!, but it only works in bare feet on a hard floor. Reaching the bottom of the sink used to be a real problem. The kitchen designer we used was horrified that I wanted the benches that high (I am 170mm tall) but I insisted and haven't regretted it once. My late MIL, who was about 250mm shorter than me used to find it a little high, but she managed OK. To tell you the truth, the times I have to work at a lower bench in another kitchen it doesn't seem to bother me. Maybe I just don't lock my knees any more, so have slightly bent knees most of the time anyway?

Cheers

Louise

Judith

May 16, 2009 - 4:33am

Thanks for that Louise. I've often thought that if I ever got the chance to design a kitchen from scratch I'd have everything a few inches higher, sounds great. I also have to be very careful of my back so low sinks etc really don't work for me. Incidentally, has anyone heard of the wave stool. I've had one for desk use for a long time - it's basically a stool on a rocker, recommended by my AT teacher. I'm hoping that it's ok for WW posture too, because cross-legged and kneeling sitting don't work for me because of varicose veins (is there no end to this I sometimes wonder). I'm not sure whether it's ok to sit on a stool with legs at least hip width apart, necessary because of the rocker design. I certainly find it very comfortable for my back and it helps emphasise the lumbar curve. Thanks again, Judith

mumtogirlslondon

May 16, 2009 - 9:03am

hi both
I have a wave stool (got it 2 years ago when I first had neck probs - really good for this) and posted about it in response to tinyshinythings' query a while back. If I recall correctly, Christine said she liked the sound of it though she thought one of its selling points - supporting core strength because it's on rockers so you're self-stabilising - was a red herring. The advantage of it to my mind is in its triangular shape - means you can sit on it with knees straight ahead without catching your ankles on the rockers.
Mumtogirls London

Judith

May 16, 2009 - 11:46am

Thanks mumtogirlslondon and Jacqui. Jacqui, I think that the kneeling stool that you refer to could be the Balans chair, I had one of those once until my AT teacher said that she thought it was jamming my hips, also not great for varicose veins. The wave stool is much more comfortable but I agree about the self-stabilising/rocker thing - it's still possible to slouch out of posture, the stool can't do it for you, it just doesn't get in the way. best wishes Judith