SUBJECT: "Posture."
Aim: To teach the importance of proper posture. INTRODUCTION: The case of a watch made exactly right size and shape to hold working parts or machinery. Each part allowed just enough space for its own movement. All parts thus work together to move hands around dial. If case should become bent or dented, working. space of some wheels would be decreased, so it could not run easily. As result whole machinery put out of order. Watch may run, but not keep good time.
Human body resembles a watch in some ways. Within its frame are many delicate working parts with which to breathe, digest food, and perform other acts necessary to life and health. No matter what size the body, nature provides it with enough room for each organ to do its work properly, when its frame is maintained in proper position. If we allow our bodies to fall into an abnormal position, certain vital parts are crowded. Thus their work is hindered, and the whole body suffers as result.
A. CORRECT POSTURE.
In broadest sense, correct carriage of body in all positions and activities to obtain maximum efficiency.
I. Standing. (Stand tall!)
1. Head up. Push it up high. Pretend you are a puppet and someone is pulling the string.
2. Chin in. Don't be a duck. Don't lead with your chin.
3. Chest high and slightly arched in front.
4. Shoulders erect but not hunched up. Draw shoulder blades in and down, with both on same level.
5. Arms hanging naturally at sides.
6. Spine straight as possible. Pull in hips.
7. Abdomen flat. Pull it in ! Not supposed to be an advance guard; has no bones in front to protect it ! Only support, abdominal muscles—make them firm and flat.
8. Knees straight without strain.
9. Feet pointing straight ahead. Weight on balls of feet. Heels two to four inches apart, thus able to carry body with least fatigue and strain.
10. Remember—man was created upright !
II. Sitting.
a. When sitting back, let chair support curve of back.
b. When sitting forward, incline body from hips, not from waist.
c. Don't slump over ! If sitting long periods, change position and relax muscles by standing and moving about occasionally. Sit like a letter L, not letter C. (Demonstrate correct and incorrect postures.) Nature prepared hips, not spine, to be sat upon.
III. Lying.
3. A straight position in bed promotes better circulation. (Rolling up in a ball won't keep you warm.)
4. It is better to sleep without a pillow. If one is used, it should be a flat one. A -fat" pillow tends to throw head forward, and cramp chest.
IV. Training.
V. In Action.
VI. Test.
1. Vertical line test. (Demonstrate.) Head directly over feet. Plumb line dropped from ear will pass through middle of shoulder, hip, knee, and forward part of foot.
2. Long axis of head, neck, and trunk in a vertical line.
3. Correct posture not stiff or tense, but comfortable.
4. Remember, 2 in's and 1 out
B. WRONG POSTURE.
I. Causes.
1. Malnutrition. Body needs proper food to build strong bones and muscles, and sunlight to activate calcium of blood.
2. Bad eyesight.
3. Weak or flat feet. One so afflicted usually stands in wrong position, with feet pointing out, to lessen pain. Thus knees and hips apt to become relaxed, wrongly influencing tilt of pelvis and curve of spine. Improper shoes usually the primary cause.
4. Ill-fitting garments.
5. Carelessness and neglect.
II. Results.
1. Slumping makes chest narrow, and does not allow room for proper breathing or lung development. Thus ,it predisposes
2. Circulation slowed, and blood not properly purified. Inclining from waist while sitting makes a wrinkle in abdominal wall. This interferes with position and function of the heart and lungs.
3. Indigestion.
4. Skeletal deformities (curvatures).
5. Reduces normal functional efficiency, therefore lowers resistance to disease.
III. Corrective Treatment.
C. VALUES OF GOOD POSTURE.
God made man upright. Desires him to possess not only physical but mental and moral benefits, the grace, dignity, self-possession, courage, and self-reliance which an erect bearing so greatly tends to promote. (Education, p. 198.)
I. Physical.
II. Economic.
1. Anyone seeking business position portrays mental energy and alertness by good posture in standing and walking. Expresses strength of will.
2. The essence of leadership. Can you imagine soldiers enthusiastically following a hollow-chested, duck-footed officer?
3. Erect sitting increases efficiency of sedentary workers. Right posture makes it possible to work day after day without waste of energy.
III. Social.
I. Gives poise and grace. Stimulating effect on others.
1. Recognized as mark of nobility and high birth.
2. Upright carriage essence of beauty. Artists and sculptors do not use "slumpy" figures as models.
3. Conveys idea of vitality and indicates joy of living.
4. Posture expresses personality.
IV. Mental and Spiritual. Ps. 121 :1; Luke 21 :28.
I. Cultivation of good mental hygiene easier if one walks with elastic step, head erect, and abdomen in.
1. One can often modify and control depressed mental states by assuming correct posture, thus giving appearance of joy and cheer and optimism.
2. Remember posture is one means of reflecting your mental attitude, and is a medium of advertising it to others.
3. Erect posture stimulates self-confidence.
4. Spirit uplifted with physical uplift of trunk. Glory of rising sun never seen by one walking with protruding head and abdomen.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bancroft, Jessie H., The Posture of School Children, New York, Macmillan, 1920.
"Don't Stick Your Neck Out," Health, December, 194o; "Practice Good Posture," Health, October, 1940.
Klose, Amy, "Watch Your Posture," Good Health, October, 1938.
"Posture and Pep," Good Health, July, 1938.
Scott, K. Francis, A College Course in Hygiene, New York: Macmillan, /939.
White, Ellen G., Education, p. 198.
Williams, Jesse F., Personal Hygiene Applied, Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1937, pp. 197-202.
