Standing in Comfort

Does your back hurt when you stand? Consider standing to be an activity, not a position. The more willing you are to appreciate and allow slight movements to happen in your standing, the more comfortable you will be. Experiment with the following movement variations to experience more ease in standing.

• Notice the state of your knees while standing. Are they bent, straight, or locked straight? Try each of these and notice what happens in your low back as you change the state of your knees. If you lock your knees, you lock your back. Throughout the day, notice your knees, and if they are locked, allow them to bend slightly.
• Notice where you breathe. Does your breath move into your belly, your chest, your upper or lower back? If your back is uncomfortable in standing, bend your knees slightly and then invite your inhale to expand into your lower back. Put your hands on your waist in the back and let your inhale expand into your hands.
• Notice where your feet are placed. Are they together, wide apart, one forward of the other? Explore putting your feet in different places to change how your back feels. Some people find relief standing with one foot a half step ahead of other. Try many different places for your feet. When your back begins to feel uncomfortable, change your feet placement -- notice how this effects your back.
• While standing, explore walking in place. Leave your feet on the floor, and alternately shift your weight from one foot to the other while lifting the heel and bending the knee of the unweighted foot. Feel how this "walking" translates through your hip joints, pelvis, and back. Are you more comfortable now?

Explore any or all of these variations anytime you stand for a while: in line at the grocery store, at a cocktail party, at the airport, washing dishes, cooking. I'll bet you know just the time and place to give them a try! Notice what happens, and make the variations that help part of your standing repertoire.