Body Awareness: The key to good posture and confident communication

Have you ever made an observation about your posture, breathing, voice, or how you move? Or maybe someone else has shared something they observed about you. If so, did you try to fix it?

Have you ever noticed something about yourself in certain social situations or having to speak in front of a group or in Zoom meetings that you'd like to change, but you're not sure how?

I first took an Alexander Technique class when studying acting in college and it revolutionized my ability to observe myself and make changes to my posture, movement, and vocal habits...but prior to that I'd suffered two long years of instructions, feedback, and constructive critizism and I had no clear sense as to how to put any of it into effect. Here are some examples...

What I was told: Your voice is too high. You need to speak from your belly.
How I tried to fix it: I pushed into my belly and lowered my voice with a lot of effort and tension, speaking in a forced lower tone. I practiced vocal exercises meant to free my voice, but only felt hoarse and exausted after doing them.

What I was told: You're holding your shoulders up all the time.
How I tried to fix it: I pressed my shoulders down and held them there for several days, trying to be a good student. It was painful, brought be to tears, and wasn't something I could maintain.

What I was told: You're not in the moment.
How I tried to fix it: By focusing really hard. The narrow focusing took me more out of the moment. I had moments of "being in the moment", but the concept was elusive and mysterious and I couldn't figure it out for myself.

Instead of trying harder, I eventually realized that I had to try differently.

When I started taking Alexander Technique classes, I discovered that the solution to changing my posture, voice, habits, and solving the mystery of "being in the moment" had to do with body awareness. As my body awareness improved, I could feel what I needed to do to change things so that I could try better not just harder. For example, I started practicing vocal exercises again and they were helpful this time because I was able to sense how to do them correctly without causing additional strain.

Clear body awareness is key when trying to change a habit or learn something new. Trying to change physical habits without it is a bit like trying to color coordinate your outfit with your eyes closed.

I think most people can relate to my experience attempting to "fix" myself in acting school. On the stage of life, one of the most common reasons that people tend to want to fix their posture is to improve how they come across to others. They'd like to feel and appear more confident, relaxed, centered, and also assertive, but without seeming pushy.

One of the most common "posture fixes" I see is pulling the shoulders back, which usually makes the person stiff and tense with shallow breathing...resulting in coming across as ackward, or trying to hard.

What people tend to find challenging is that once they start talking or listening, they lose all sense of what their body is doing. Sensing your body as you do things (like have a conversation) doesn't have to feel like some kind of impossible multitask. It just takes guidance and practice.

Here's how you can start working on it right now. Next time you speak with someone (online or in person), see if you can notice the sensation of your feet on the floor at the same time. If you're lounging on your couch, then notice the feeling of your back or your bottom on the couch. You might find that your mind toggles between the feeling of your body and your attention on the other person. That's to be expected, but by simply being more mindful and practicing being aware of your body during an activity, you're laying the foundation for changing habits.