Heads up

Here’s an easy way to lose ten pounds. Don’t slouch.

Okay, so it’s not exactly weight loss, but what a difference it makes in how you are perceived.

Did you ever notice that you can often recognize a military person, a cop or a ballet dancer, even when they’re not dressed for the part? How can this be? Is it what they wear? Is it the way they speak? Or is it their posture? Bingo!

On my early morning walks in the mall I see other walkers rounding corners at the far end of dimly lit corridors. As they move toward me I play games with myself: How old are they? Are they here because the doctor is making them do this? Do they walk here often?

At a distance, I realize that the very first thing I notice about my fellow travelers is their posture – walking fast or slow, arms flailing or not, using those walking poles that look like ski poles − all of these clues are far less accurate identifiers than straight shoulders and straight-ahead chins.

Suppose you wanted to portray a very elegant Elizabethan character, a prominent royal personage. Quite possibly the first thing you’d do is sit very straight and walk with the chin up. Think Katherine Hepburn, wearing a huge frilled collar, rising from her throne and striding toward her lackeys. On the other hand, try to imagine portrait artist Gilbert Stuart painting a slouching George Washington.

Recently, in what turned out to be a tactical error, I allowed myself to be seated in the front row of a group picture. I felt confident − hair okay, nice sweater, feet together. When I saw the photo I was shocked. There was something resembling a football tucked beneath my ribs. I had SLOUCHED. Oh, the shame!

Before that group photo, walking in the mall, I sometimes checked my posture when passing a dark store window. I felt I could come to terms with what I saw. After the photo, which was on Facebook, for heaven’s sake, I assessed myself more critically. I saw a humpy shape on my back at the base of the neck. To fix it I had to pull my shoulders far, far back. How could I not have noticed?

There’s an axiom that says “square your shoulders.” That helped, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to add “chin up, chest out, tummy in” – a major renovation.
It’s never too late. I hope.

And it definitely beats turning down dessert.