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immediate area which provides him a shield of certainty and control Take this shield for
yourself wherever you go Feel complete ownership of the space around you Wherever you
are is your territory because you are in it
Walk with Exaggerated Posture
When first went out on long walks exaggerating my posture and standing tall could tell that
other pedestrians questioned my motives looking suspicious or even offended Some people
seemed incensed at seeing me standing vertically and looking upwards My posture looked fake
because was forcing myself to stand straight without the healthy postural tone that should
accompany it Ironically the best way to develop this musculature is to fake it standing
straighter and taller than our body is accustomed Once the postural muscles strengthen
standing erect will look genuine and people will not question it
Walking Exercise Take A Walk with Exaggerated Posture
Take a walk in an area where you can avoid worrying about other people judging you Walk
for two minutes with greatly exaggerated posture Stand tall and straight Use the five tenets
of optimal posture as well as the antilaxity method from Chapter The contractions
involved should start to fatigue after a few minutes Once they do continue to walk but rest
your postural muscles completely for at least a minute Repeat By letting the muscles go
limp you are giving them the break they need to regenerate
Pease dont take it overboard Other pedestrians may be provoked if they can tell that
some of your nonverbals are consistent with overcompensation They may assume that you are
putting on a ruse and feel compelled to put you back in your place You want to avoid this
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
so be measured and conservative around others as you gradually transform your victim walk
into a victor walk This is also why at first chose to walk and stretch in uncrowded outdoor
places either at dusk or after dark Find a safe welllit park or boulevard where you still have
the bit of privacy you need to really swagger Strut creatively channeling the gamut of your
favorite personality types
You can work on the timing of your steps by stepping to music It is as easy as ensuring that
your foot strikes the ground on every beat Try stomping around your block with headphones
on If you let nothing but the drums determine the cadence of your footfall you will learn to
walk unhesitatingly Within two hour of cumulative practice your rhythmic flow will be
masterful You can incorporate a twostep a spin or turn and a crossstep where you are
walking sideways and one foot crosses over the other
Optimal posture only looks natural if it is clear that a person has spent a lot of time there
and has interacted with ordinary loads and forces from that position To get your optimal
posture looking authentic spend time creating these loads and forces using antirigidity
Perform Antirigidity Exercises While Walking
The majority of this books exercises can be performed while walking but the following
exercises are specifically for your walks
Many people rarely lift their arms above their head because they are afraid it will make
others uncomfortable This complete disuse results in muscle dormancy and neglect of entire
sections of the cervical and thoracic spine The first part of Exercise below involves
extending the arms directly above the head with the neck retracted If you do this while
employing the antirigidity method from Chapter for three cumulative hours you will find
that your cervical spine is completely resituated You will also invalidate any fears or
reservations about lifting your arms in public The following exercises offer similar postures that
you can employ antirigidity within You might take light weights eg one to five pounds with
you to accentuate the forces at play
Walking Exercise Neck Antirigidity While Walking
Walk for one minute in each of the following configurations while using the antirigidity
protocol
Raise the hands and arms directly above the head for a few minutes at a time with the
neck retracted You can hold your hands straight up or slightly outward making a V
for victory Search for the achiest configurations and contract your way into them
Hug yourself Try to grab your shoulder blades with your fingertips as you inch you
fingers toward your spine Do so while varying the retraction of your neck and the
position of your shoulders rooting around for anything that will lead to a crack
Arch the chest inward as far as it will go Again this is called thoracic kyphosis in the
medical world and a hollow in the gymnastics world Hugging yourself should give
you an idea of how to do this Next do the opposite and arch the chest outward
Then do it laterally to each side
Clasp the hands together in front of you and form the same inward chest arch or
kyphotic hollow from Extend the arms as far forward as they will go and press
Chapter Use Optimal Posture and Antirigidity While Walking
them together so that you can contract into dormant muscles along the collar bone
and shoulder girdle
Place one hand in the air and the other at your waist Reach as high as you can with
the hand in the air and as low as you can with your hand at your waist Pivot around
in this position hunting for frailty to flex within Switch arms and repeat
Stand straight with the elbows bent As you press them toward the ground make
small circles with the elbows as if you were flapping chicken wings Scour for frailty in
the area between your neck and shoulder blades
Walk with your hands out to the side at degrees making a t with your body Try
to bring different aspects of your shoulder blade muscles to fatigue
Walk with your hands clasped behind your back and play with how this changes the
forces between your shoulder blades
IMlustration Positions for upperbody antirigidity while walking
Refresh Your Muscles While Walking
Walking requires only a very narrow range of spinal motion The tension created by walking
within this limited range can pull a misaligned spine even further out of alignment This is why
the longer you walk the more you tend to ache Simply squatting momentarily holding a static
lunge or reaching over to touch your toes can completely relieve this by pushing major muscles
through their full range This is why highly recommend that you do each of these things after
every halfmile that you cover
When you need a break from walking Stop and crouch down into a low squat
Straighten your back and flex your ankles knees hips and spine Then stand and place your
fists on your lower back with your elbows at degrees pointed behind you You can then
bend backwards in this position pressing your fists into your mid and lower back for five to
seconds to achieve a full back extension
Next use a full back flexion as a counterpose Slowly bend forward to touch your toes To
make this easier you can support your descent by placing your hands on your upper thighs and
sliding your hands over your knees down the shins and toward the feet Stop for a moment in
forward fold and then raise up the way that you went in
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
RATT
Illustration Antirigidity poses to use while taking a break from walking
To make these forward bends harder you can cradle your head in your hands as pictured
below and press it toward the ground to engage your neck extensors This will intensify the
active forces in your neck and lower back For another variation try this with your legs spread
two to three feet apart or try it with one leg two to three feet in front of the other think