“What if you could raise your child's self esteem in 10 playful minutes a day?

3 Fun Posture Exercises

“Stand up straight!” How many of us have heard that from our parents. My parents threatened to have a harness made for my sister so she’d have to stand up straight. Why do you suppose our parents wanted good posture of us? You want your child to have good posture too. Why?

Because you know intuitively that straight posture is more attractive. Good posture gives you a positive presence and a positive self-image. An aligned body is healthy and strong – strength that others can see.

If you want to imitate someone who is sad or depressed, you’d alter your posture by sagging, shoulders slumped and face toward the floor. Your child may exhibit some of these qualities in his/her body language and understandably so with the stress and anxiety put upon children in the 21^st Century.

Anxiety begins in the psyche and then takes up residence in body where it causes all sorts of havoc. The body caves in at the breastbone, the shoulders get tight and the neck turtles forward.

Muscular tension that results from anxiety tends to re-align posture to the point where a child actually looks different. A young person can begin to resemble a tired little old lady instead of a vibrant child.

Here are 3 positively proven posture exercises for you and your child to play with.

These are not the easiest exercises so try them with your child. You might both do some pretty funny postures and lots of laughing. What could be better? Well, what’s better is that while you are enjoying each other’s company, you will be learning something about strong body language.

 

As you fool with these exercises give each other feedback about how you look. Can you attach one word to how your child looks? Proud, happy, strong, confident? Have your child give you feedback too. It’s all in fun, so on one needs to be defensive and then everyone is willing to stretch even further. Be playful and have fun!

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart. Stretch the top of your head to the ceiling keeping chin level to the floor and stretch your fingertips toward the floor. Try to use all core muscles – no shoulder raising allowed. Then do the same exercise as you walk.

2. Stand with feet hip-width apart. Arms at your sides. Raise your arms straight out to shoulder height, hands facing the floor. When your arms are shoulder height, turn your palms to the floor and lower the arms straight down. Try to keep the shoulders relaxed, lazy even.

3. This one you can do sitting or standing. First simply be still and notice where your earlobes are in relation to your shoulders. Look in the mirror if you don’t know. Now pull your head to where your ears are over your shoulders. Then increase the space between your shoulders and your earlobes.

Strong posture contributes to strong self-image. Do these exercises once a day or more. Remember that doing them with your child is the most fun for him/her and for you.

For more information on conquering the evils of poor self-esteem, please visit www.SuperheroSelfEsteem.com

Tags: bullying, children’s anxiety, confidence, kids, kids self esteem, parenting, Sally Morgan, School Anxiety, self-assurance, Self-esteem

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.