posture with sleeping & sitting

Hello Dear Aussie Soul Sister, I am very new here but Christine did advise using a pillow between the knees while sleeping on your side. This has helped me enormously and is very good for the hips during sleep time. You might want the pillow to be between knees and thighs. I am considering getting one of those big body pillows for the luxury of it all. Good luck to you!

Soul Sis, I'd like to hear more comments from others regarding the clenching of the butt muscles that you describe. When I'm standing in good WW posture, I can't even clench my butt, because when I do, my belly somewhat tightens up as well, and I'm no longer in good posture. Maybe I'm not as able to isolate different muscle groups as you are. Interesting.......

Hi again dear Aussie Soul Sister, I am glad you had some good results. I LOVE the pillow for side-sleeping. I do know what you mean about the different muscles tightening up without really knowing it...you just catch them with that tension. I think it will just take time and a lot of patience and most likely we have been doing these tensing up things for years and just didn't realize it. Have a good day today!

I wanted to “observe” myself, to figure out what exactly I was doing in the course of household tasks and kitchen work. Bending forward, such as when standing over a stove or sink, does work against good WW posture. It flattens the lumbar curve and puts your body in that obtuse angle that destabilizes the pelvic organs.

I’ve found that in situations where I can’t stand up straight, I’m actually leaning into the task with my entire body, not actually bending. I might have to plant my feet an inch or two further back to do this. But it maintains the lumbar curve and all aspects of posture. It is a very slight difference, something that might not even be noticeable to a casual observer. But I can feel the difference!

I’m not sure if I do this all the time, or if I alternate leaning in with bending a little. But I’m going to start paying more attention. - Surviving

It is interesting to read everyone's comments about clenching ...

One thing I know for sure, and no matter what I do - is that I always catch myself clenching - but mainly my right butt cheek ...

I would call it 'guarding' ... I have had a very unstable pelvis/hip joints and I believe it is a subconscious way of avoiding pain on sudden movement ...

It is very frustrating to catch myself still doing it at times but I see WW posture has assisted a lot with hip tightness being released to a certain degree, if only I could undo the decades of clenching to stabilise everything.

Definitely changing but hasn't gone away ... would like to know more about Christine's book re hips -

what do you think of a sort of warrior posture...one leg forward the other well behind...tummy soft, lumbar curve in place...muscles of the thighs working to take us up and down....a dramatic way to do the kitchen tasks in WWP? or is there some problem here I am not seeing? there is no obtuse angle and it can take us up and down without folding or bending part way.

I used to do zip and tuck for about forty years, and it does take some effort to retrain your body. I think it is because a weak muscle has to clench up to maintain its grip. When your gluteal muscles become stronger I don't think you will find it so much of a problem. The way to strengthen them is to use them. This is one of the reasons why the ballet workout is so good for us, and general squatting and rising in everyday life. Walking and running are very good for glutes too. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMzBmSVlLvs&list=FL4zGoJ7JRLnyMgdCxPgVmqw... , to see how our large, human, gluteus maximus evolved. This blew me away.

I don't go along completely with everything in this video, because there is a lot, like the pelvis and lower spine, which are only mentioned in passing, and the thickening of the spinal cord in the thoracic spine (to do with development of our voice) which is not mentioned at all, but is all good for understanding why we are like we are.

I think one of the problems with kitchens is that we have to bend so far forward at the sink, esp when washing up, and reaching down to the bottom of the bowl. I have had kitchen benches for twenty years that are 37.5in tall, with 6.5in deep wash bowls. I am 5'7'' tall. The kitchen man really didn't want to make them that tall but I insisted, and have never regretted it. We are renovating our kitchen soon, and I notice that the standard bench is now about the same height as mine!

If you have a mismatch between 'bottom of bowl' and your own height I would suggest standing with your feet well apart at the sink so your shoulders are lower, get someone else to wash, or put a plastic wash bowl upside down in the sink, and another one on top of it, so you don't have to reach down so far. Also, take the time to straighten up frequently during washing up. Keep moving. Oh yeah, wear an apron, so you can stand really close up to the sink and not get splashed, and not have to reach so far forward.

They are probably not a bad way of doing it, throwing the other leg out the back for a counter balance. You will need strong muscles around your hip joints. You will get strong muscles around your hips if you exercise properly. Then it will be easier, whichever way you choose. Right, now get that tulle apron on, and go for it!

I have been catching myself doing this a lot too!! AND realize my kitchen cupboards are wayyyy to low for me. They were custom built for my MIL, she short and spunky!

You now have the ideal reason to do plies and squats in your kitchen!

Just wanted to add my "cheers" for the body pillow between hips, thighs, AND feet. I used to think that idea was a "NOT". No way could I sleep, without pain, now with out it. Of course, I am short. For you taller gals, do they have long body pillows?

Thanks for the inspiration, girl! Love your Butt Clenching post. Everything that's joyful about the WW work. I too get a little giddy at times, when I think how different my 60's might have been without this wonderful place that I've found. Thanks Soul Sis for helping spread the joy around. - Surviving

Well Soul Sis, as i write this it's dawn in my part of the world, evening in yours. I hope you got the best of things today, and that things didn't get the best of you! Hang in, my friend. - Surviving

Aussie soul sister the lifting of the chest is so important to me. Strengthening of the abdominal wall seems to be so obvious then. I especially feel it in that rounded area around the navel. The back complains at first, but the abdomen muscles do want to be stretched. Once the abdominal muscles are stronger, the back complains less; I guess because it is no longer taking the full weight. Just a speculation here, but perhaps that is why we are so keen to hold our stomach muscles tight, we are seeking that old strong abdominal feeling we just naturally had as a child and somehow lost along the way.

Just got my videos from Christine yesterday and have been through the First Aid for Prolapse. It's been a few years since I've done yoga ... and not the kind specially designed for women ... so I'm somewhat stiff but can get there again with practice. However, I've never been able to sit back with my legs folded behind me. As soon as I press the tops of my feet to the floor, I get terrible foot cramps. I'm only slightly more able to sit cross-legged. This is very uncomfortable for me and I'm unable to sit up straight while cross-legged. This isn't just because I'm 75; this is a life long affliction and I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off. Maybe with time and effort I'll be able to stretch whatever is holding me back. The food cramps ... probably not.

I'm with you and the difficulty of sitting on feet and cross legged and with the liability to cramp with the slightest stretching and the general leg stiffness. I too have always been like that. I'm much better at full body movement and that's why WWposture and walking have been my main concentration. Walking will have your toes and instep and ankles worked out and strengthened. If you can walk around the house bare footed and raise up on your toes from time to time, this is the type of thing Christine recommends.
The WWposture both sitting and walking in raising the chest stretches and strengthens your abdominal and back muscles and it is this process which will pull the prolapsed pelvic organ up and forward over the pubic bone where they belong.
I really found this was enough to get off to a good start and then slowly cherry pick the other exercises: those that you require a little effort to perform, but aren't of course impossible to do, and don't, needless to say, send you off into a cramp.
Christine does have exercises for the elderly, but I can see a 75 year old such as yourself would no more consider themselves elderly now than they will at 80. Still you might like to ring and ask about it?
So Joy persist with the basics, and continue to be kind to your body at the same time.
I find when seated on the edge of a chair in WWposture I can raise my legs up level with the seat and just stretch my toes forward and back and around. Just do it a little and stop before any cramping and just increase slowly that movement each day. As you say you can get there with practice, but expect the occasional set back.
Oh and just on the cramps sometimes in summer you could perhaps just eat a little salt (yes, I'm whispering) and magnesium tablets are also reputed to help with cramps. Just a thought. I am not big on taking anything, but if things get bad, I don't think a short course would hurt all that much.
So put the old mind to it and do what you can, and leave what you can't till tomorrow. There's plenty more of them still. Happy stretching.

Thanks for the good advice. I'll do what I can comfortably and push for a little more as well. My dog and I take a good mile+ walk every morning, a great time to concentrate on the posture. I'm so grateful to have resisted all surgical suggestions. I stopped using the pessary and, frankly, can forget most of the time that there's any problem at all. This is not to suggest my problem is minor. I can live with it but I've had urinary problems in the past because of the prolapse and can't live on antibiotics if I should get to a stage when I'm unable to empty my bladder regularly. Hopefully the posture and exercises will provide enough correction to eliminate that possibility. Thank you all for being here.

Joy, I too have been prone to foot cramps all my life, and find that the WW work has helped that considerably. - Surviving