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Your
Shoulders Are Not You Spine
How many times have you heard “Stand up straight!” barked at you by a
well-meaning parent or teacher? And when they said that to you,
did you immediately jam your shoulders back as far as you could and
stick your chest out? Most people do. Go stand in front of
a mirror and do that pose: shoulders jammed back and chest stuck
out as far forward as you can get it. Now really look at
it. It’s goofy! And the best comedy of all is: it’s
most definitely NOT STRAIGHT! There is NOTHING straight about
that posture. That’s not good posture at all, yet most people
immediately think of that as standing up straight. Standing up
straight means vertically aligning and lengthening your spine.
THAT’S IT. Your shoulders really have very little to do with
standing up straight. However, for singing, having your shoulders
in their proper alignment is the key. Hike your shoulders up to
your ears and get really tense. Now drop them down, and roll them
slightly to the back. You will feel when the shoulders relax down
into place. This position is great for singers because it gets
your shoulders out of your way and keeps them from rolling forward
toward your chest. Once you are clear that your shoulders and
your spine are not connected and having nothing to do with each other,
it is much easier to stand straight and be relaxed at the same time.
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