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Stand like a King or Queen.

April 20, 2020 by Vicki Aldridge, GOsC Registered Osteopath

In our other blogs previously we talked about how important posture is, and, how we can use these principles for sitting.  Now I’d like to talk about how to stand. Ideally tall and proud.... regally, like a king or queen.

The late Queen, particularly in her younger years, was known for standing at ceremonies for long periods of time without fidgeting. She was balanced, upright, stable and yet still soft and elegant, definitely not rigid. My understanding is it is the military at ease position. For anyone who has done Pilates, Thai chi, Yoga standing is often one of the first things we learn.  How to find a balanced standing position.

Here are my guidelines for standing;

  • Have your feet hip width apart; so your right foot is supporting your right shoulder and your left foot is supporting your left shoulder.
  • Soften, not bend, your knee; this activates your legs
  • Toes facing straight ahead ideally so your knees are pointing to your second toe, as long as It doesn’t cause pain, if it does ease the position until its more comfortable but ideally no more than 30 degree external rotation
  • Keep your weight even and in your buttocks. Ultimately, we are aiming to be centred with a low centre of gravity, therefore most of your weight should be behind your hip and in your buttocks/ glutei, like a webble wobble - our two strongest senses we have are vision and touch. You can have a look at ourselves in a mirror and/ or you can always put your hands on yourself, front to back, and left to right.  Start to get a feel of where your balance or weight is. This is usually where you feel heaviest
  • Then take a deep breath in to lift your chest, and relax your shoulders with the out breath.
  • If you are balanced and comfortable you should be able to continue to breath easily.

If you are a visual learner this might help too: https://youtu.be/Tv0Tkc87Em4

If you are unsure about the standing position you are in, ask yourself how stable are you ? And, if someone was to push/tackle you would you be able to manage it?

If you feel you have your standing balance is fairly well sorted you can challenge yourself by standing on an uneven surface like a soft yoga block, wobble cushion and/ or BOSU. Then you challenge your balance by lifting and moving your arms, adding weights and even try unpredictable balance games like someone throwing you a ball. It all helps your balance which helps your overall physical fitness and posture, and it will make standing still much easier because your body just knows.

Of course, the standing technique isn’t just useful for standing still, it is also useful when we change position, especially getting up from sitting/lying. It is a good idea to reset your standing balance before you move. Once you are standing balanced and stable then take a deep breath, lift your energy, engage your body/core and then move. The extreme version of this is how an athlete, dancer or marshal art person would do!

As good as it is this position it isn't easy and can be quite hard work to maintain for any length of time, particularly because we aren’t used to it. Of course, good practice makes perfect so the more you practice it the easier it gets!  

If you have to stand for a while and you feel like you are/will get tired, then I would suggest you move.  If you can’t actively move, you should at least be able to rock, ideally forward and backward.  (I don’t like the side to side rocking as can easily become imbalanced.).  Here is a link to another blog on rocking;  https://www.stortfordosteophysio.co.uk/blog/rocking-for-relaxation.html

Remember just pick a level of movement and exercise that suits you, maybe on the edge of your comfort zone but not outside it. The aim is to feel good if not a little challenged, but not out of your depth/ too unstable. Be creative and have fun!

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