Posture

We've all been told many times that we need to sit up straight and how important good posture is but why? When we sit up straight it eventually becomes uncomfortable and good posture shouldn't be uncomfortable.

In reality good posture can never be a static position, the reason for this is that posture's number one enemy, gravity, is a constant force acting on our bodies, slowly crushing our internal organs and spinal columns with our own weight. If we want to counteract gravity, we need to produce an equal and opposite force that acts upwards and to do that we need to use our own muscles. This may seem easy but the most important part of this upwards motion we need to produce is that it has to be constant, just like gravity, you need to be doing it all the time, especially when playing guitar. This will get easier with time, since after experiencing the comfort and power of good posture, slouching will become less comfortable than sitting up straight.

Ok so we know what needs to be done, but how exactly do we do it? Where does this anti-gravity force come from? Well you don't need to think about every muscle you're using, just imagine your head softly floating upwards, like a balloon, this'll pull your spinal column straight and take a whole load off your shoulders (namely, your head) freeing up your sides, arms and fingers for relaxed control.

There are a few things to watch out for while doing this:

-Overdoing it, always do about 80%-90% of what you think you could be doing, exerting yourself will defeat the point of being relaxed.

-Lift your head from the point where it connects to your spine so you'll be looking more downwards than upwards, tilting your head back will pinch an important group of nerves that runs along the back of your spine through your neck and you'll feel pain. Like slouching, most people are doing this all the time, they're just used to the pain and tension that it brings.

-Avoid becoming stiff, every once in a while shake off any tension along your back, movement is good for relaxation provided it's not too violent.

Look up The Alexander Technique for a fuller description and a whole list of benefits that this simple exercise will bring to your everyday life:
http://www.alexandertechnique.com/