“You’ll never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul. Why? Because you can’t take it with you.”

~Anonymous

Posture refers to the body’s alignment and positioning with respect to the ever-present force of gravity. Whether we are standing, sitting or lying down gravity exerts a force on our joints, ligaments and muscles. Good posture entails distributing the force of gravity through our body so no one structure is over stressed.

Here are some ways to maintain better posture:

When Sitting: Keep your head straight and not tilted up or down. Try to bring your shoulders back and down. Sit with your knees slightly below the height of your hips. Keep your feet flat on the floor. Keep your pelvis centered. Find balance.

When Standing: Try to keep your shoulders back and down. Use your core to keep your lower back and body aligned. Slightly bend your knees to ease the pressure on  your hips. Keep your pelvis centered. Find balance.

When Walking: Keep your chin parallel to the ground. Walk heel to toe. Keep your pelvis centered. Find balance.

When Running: Keep your head gazing forward. Keep your arms loose and natural. Have a slight forward lean. If jogging, hit the midpoint of your foot on contact with the ground. Keep your pelvis centered. Find balance.

When Sleeping: The best posture during sleep is on your back. If you sleep on your side, it is advised to put a pillow between your legs. Find balance.

Yoga Asanas that help posture: As most of us know, yoga does wonders for your back. It will open up your back profoundly. I have friends who shared stories with me about how yoga helped them grow taller. Yoga will help your posture and also give you much needed back pain relief. Be conscious of these asanas helping and strengthening your back when you practice.

Uttanasana (standing forward bend):

Setu Bandha Saravangasana (bridge pose):

Urdhva Muhka Svanasana (upward facing dog):

Purvottanasana (upward plank pose):

Halasana (plow):

The Guardian ran a article advertising “10 of the World’s Best Yoga Retreats in 2012.”

You can check it out — here.

Blurb on the article: “From a beautiful Georgian house in Sussex to a Goan beach hideaway, we select 10 inspirational, and affordable, yoga retreats, all of which feature leading instructors.”

We haven’t attended any of these, some look very expensive for a yoga experience, but I wanted to document them as a reference.

Why A Change Gonnna Come is one of my favorite songs

Beyonce took time this weekend to give the city of Detroit this powerful tribute.

Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come is an amazing, soulful song. It is incredibly powerful when you listen to it and think of the 60’s Civil Rights Movement.

It is one of my favorite songs for a different reason. I attended and played football in college for four years from 2007-2011. After the 2007 and 2008 football seasons we were the laughingstock of our conference. Upperclassmen on our team did not take the sport seriously. A day after the final game of our sophomore year (2008) a coach came into a position meeting and did nothing but play Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come. He knew that the next season would not be the same.

Exactly two years after that meeting, and two conference championships later, we were on the bus ride home from our final game of our careers. That same coach walked up the bus steps as we got on the bus and said, “What did I tell you?” Over the speakers played A Change is Gonna Come. Tears were flowing while Sam Cooke sang these amazing words because we knew we accomplished what we set out to do.

If you are down in the dumps or lead a group of people that is down in the dumps, listen to this song of hope. It can potentially change your life as it did mine.

~Brian

Honoring those who have taken us to levels unimaginable.