How posture affects your looks by Malti Bhojwani Life Coach As Featured in The Times Of India

How posture affects your looks

When you have good posture, you walk with more ease and grace. Think of all the beautiful divas you see on the red carpet and the silver screen, boasting long lean necklines, head held straight, shoulders square, not shrugging up or slumped down.

Tummy tucked in, back slightly arched, this automatically gives you a tummy tuck, boob-job and leaner waist. Instantly you will feel and project an air of confidence and of being alert.

Just by standing or sitting up straight, you change your physiology to one of instant confidence. It is impossible to feel low or sad, when you are upright and smiling. Try it now. How did you feel? You can do this in front of a mirror for added value. You will portray confidence and enthusiasm that is very very attractive. Slouch, slump and frown and see how you look – disheartened, bored, tired, old and fat. Try this, breathe, hold your head up straight, tuck your tummy in and smile. Notice the difference? When you stretch and lengthen your back this way, you instantly look leaner as well.

Bad posture is just a bad habit

Some women have bad posture because they are shy about the size of their breasts, in this day and age when women are flying halfway across the world and spending thousands of dollars to go under the knife to get breast enhancements or at least buying the most maximiser push up bras they can find, it is time for you to stand tall and proud.

Most people who think they have a fat tummy are just not standing or sitting right. Commit to having a good posture by visualizing yourself standing tall, shoulder blades back, tummy tucked in and head up straight. I am a short woman at barely 5’1″ and improving my posture with my mum’s help when I was younger and Pilates now, I feel taller than I am.

Bad posture is just a bad habit and in life coaching, I say that you cannot break a habit, you have to replace it. So pick an exercise that you will be willing to commit to. It could be Pilates or even the Alexander Technique, a famous regime that can help strengthen core muscles and re-align the spine. Commit an hour a day to exercise. Practice. Constantly remind yourself to to stand up tall and pull your tummy into your spine and actually visualize it. See yourself always standing or sitting in good posture. It is not something you turn on and off when you know someone is watching; you have to practice it all the time.

Looking good is not just about your face

Your body carries your head. A beautiful body is not just about weight, it is about how you hold it and how it holds your head up. Your posture shows the world how you are feeling and your abilities.

Research was done years ago at the University of Louisville, where 60 people were asked to rate the appearance of two women in a series of pictures – in some they were slumping, in others they were standing up straight…. Consistently, viewers rated the women who were standing up straight to be younger and more attractive,” Some heavier ones were also perceived to be thinner just from the way they were standing in the pictures.

It is simple physics and optical illusions, when you scrunch, you make yourself look shorter and wider, and when you are straight and erect, you automatically look taller and thinner. A good posture helps you to radiate a sense of confidence.