Where are your shoulders?

If you were to imitate Grace Kelly, the late actress and former princess of Monaco, one of the first things you’d do is bring your shoulder back and down.  No one would tell you to bring your shoulders back and down, you’d just take on that alignment quality because it’s a cornerstone of great posture and connotes regality. Grace Kelly was queen of shoulders back and down and famous for her outstanding posture and alignment.

“Shoulder back and down” elongates the neck. It does not sink the chest. It moves the head back. It uprights the spine. With one simple adjustment, you change the way you look, and you change the way your energy flows.

How many times have you heard me say, “Shoulders back and down?” The answer is A LOT (like a broken record!). That’s because it is imperative during our workouts. Proper alignment  makes for a much safer and more effective workout. 

But now…what about keeping those lovely shoulders of yours back and down outside of exercise class?

In case you didn’t notice, our shoulders love to creep forward and up when we’re sitting at a desk or driving in a car. Our shoulders creep forward and up when we are cold, feeling insecure, experiencing fatigue, or are stressed out. Sure, having shoulder mobility is awesome and we want to be able to move our shoulder every which way, but do we want to spend the bulk of our day misaligned and cut off from optimal energy flow? That’s a hard no! 

So, shoulder back and down all day long! Let’s get extra conscious of shoulder placement during all waking hours, like right now: where are your shoulders? 

One adjustment can change your life, seriously, so Let’s Move! and let’s take a page out of Grace Kelly’s book and keep our shoulders back and down.