Watch over thoughts, words and deeds.

In System – Russian Martial Art we have as Fundamentals the following pillars: Breathing, Relaxation, Posture and Movement.

Today we will talk about Posture, its relationship with our daily life and, of course, with our practice.

When we say that the person has lost the axis, we mean that he has lost emotional control or lost the direction of his life (goals). Usually we do not use the term “missed axis” to designate postural changes or inclinations. This demonstrates that in our language the relations between the Posture and the emotional and mental states are also defined.

The characteristic way that we sit, stand and walk is among the strongest of all our habits. Habits like these are deeply rooted in our personality and therefore changing your posture can be as difficult as quitting smoking or dieting.

Posture is shaped by humor and all sorts of social and emotional factors. In a party situation, it is easy to identify who knows the people present and who is there for the first time by the way the person behaves. But emotions can be a double-edged sword, emotions can influence posture just as posture can create and reinforce emotional states.

An example of how emotions can affect posture is depression. A depressed person usually takes a more depressed posture (drooping shoulders, looking at the floor, short breath, curved spine) which may be obvious to everyone around, but not necessarily to the person going through depression. It is not so obvious that a depressed posture can also generate and perpetuate depression by staying in that posture. People without depression who “experience” depressive postures for a certain period, will begin to feel sad and irritated. On the other hand, sad people who adopt more positive attitudes will feel better.

You can watch more of how your posture affects your behavioral here.

Most people have self-limiting behaviors. Self-limiting behavior can be the way the person sits, performing this movement in the same way, unconsciously. These are habits that we do not perceive to possess. In this way a person may not realize that this unconscious repetitive movement can cause an injury. And this is aggravated over time.

Posture can be a self-limiting behavior, something that really keeps you in a negative emotional state.

We hold ourselves in a certain way (Posture) because they reflect our comfort (mental and emotional attitude) in these positions – and our discomfort in other positions, such as “squeeze your shoulders back, or shrug” Just as we use beverages to comfort (Hot chocolate, teas, etc.), we can also adopt a posture that comforts us. Many postures that are comfortable are not necessarily healthy.

When we assume a poor posture, we do not leave our emotional comfort zone, and leaving the comfort zone is necessary for personal growth.

In the Systema we work the adequacy of the Posture for all the actions through exercises of postural correction, strengthening, visualizations to adapt the thoughts and aligns them with the proposed actions. By paying attention to the emotions that emerge during practice we gradually improve our posture as well. The central idea is to correct in both directions: from the inside out, by adjusting the mental and emotional patterns; And from the outside in, correcting body posture in all activities. Students usually say something like: my leg or my shoulder does not do this while they are often distracted and rambling instead of being present in the proposed exercise. In this way we are always disconnected and separating our Being into parts, mind (head). Emotions (heart, liver) and body (legs, arms, etc.)

The misuse of ourselves in everything we do is the result of a deleterious modern life. Fortunately you can change this through the practice of Systema, integrating your Being into one.

In Systema’s regular classes, we usually start with the person lying down and take a physical inventory of their posture relative to the ground, which gives an interesting feedback on how they stand. And after several warm-ups or postural restructurings we always ask them to move around the room, changing their level, walking, squatting, sitting on the floor, moving through it, all to fix the acquired quality. We also instructed them to observe in the various actions the sensation acquired through breathing, relaxation and the pleasant appropriateness of the posture.

An example of exercise:

Observe your emotional state and your posture when walking through a location. Then roll your shoulders inward, bring your shoulders close to your ear, look down, walk more bent and knees bumping and pounding. Walk this way for a few minutes and watch

Observe your emotional state and your posture when walking through a location. Then roll your shoulders inward, bring your shoulders close to your ear, look down, walk more bent and knees bumping and pounding. Walk this way for a few minutes and notice the sensations and emotions it causes.

Now turn your shoulders out, keep your eyes on the horizon, project your chest forward, walk with strong feet on the ground. Notice the feelings and emotions that this posture causes.

Which posture is most pleasing physically and emotionally?

Want to know more? Come and experience a class with us at one of our schools.

We have classes in Body Re-education (Somatic Education), Martial Art and Therapeutic Care. Schedule your visit.