The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-01-28
TO Be Graceful, SIT 'uR
Incorrect Posture Common
est Cause Of Unlovely
Figure and Pose.

houette of woman sitting in a chair.
whereby the curve Of her bust is
matched by the outward cul%c of her
| back, due to the fat she has gathered
thereon? asks the New York Even
| ing Sun.
| She is In an incorrect sitting posture.
| Had she not sat all slouchcd down like
| that for so many years it is possible
she might not now haze quite SO many
| pounds of fat padding her shoulder
blades. She is not pretty and perhaps
she does not pretend to be; but II she
] knew how really unlovely she looked
she might do something about it.
Have you ever noticed a young girl
sitting mt typewriter with "A hollow
where her chest ought to he and an
outward bow for back? She is young
and thin. so as yet she has not taken
on the flesh that disfiEurcs her mother.
She does not know she looks like A
cripple. else she would do something
| about 1t.
| Have YOU ever seen girlS--onc does
| not see many~-Mho seem to float In
| stead of walk and abont whom there
is never an angular motion? Their
heads arc UP, their poisc is perfect.
If they are offered n seat in a car they
glide into 1t. Every move thcy make
| as the transition from standing to
sitting-is as smooth as an undula-
| ton.
The Mead Of Sitting up"
They do not double UP like jack
knife and plump themselves into u
chair nor do they flop into 1t with n
wigglc wagglc of the head as though
| the latter were fastened to the neck 80
insecurity 1t threatened to fly Off into
the aisle at any moment. Nor again.
do they siouch into 1t with a grunt IN
they ease their burden of flesh into the
scat proffered to them.
You say; They're naturally grace
full, and they can't do anything awk-
ward. If you're born awkward what
arc YOU Eon' to do about it,"
| There are few women In America
| who have spent more time on tho
| training of muscles to respond to the
demand made of them than Josephine
| De Mott Robinson. Mrs. Robinson's
grandmother, who was of Dutch and
| French parentagc, was one Of the ia
nous authorities on horse handling In
connection with acrobatic work OF her
time. Speaking Of sitting and stand
| ing position, she said not long ago:
| How many girls do YOU see sitting
with their bodies up1"
| up" was the rcjoinder. What do
YOU mean by np?'
| Up she reiterated. Stretched,
Why, II simply means the torso held
| ny; chest up. shoulders flat and down
and the whole weight of the trunk Off
the hips instead OF resting on them
How to Place Your Weight.
"l'he legs. you know. were not In
tended To carry til" weight OF the trunk
Of the body. They were given us to
| walk with! Instead of that. we sit all
lslumped down. thciopmost organs rest
ng on the>stomach, the stoma oh On the
ntestincs and the intestincs all
scrouged down with tho weigh, of tho
whole just because we haven't tho
muscle strength and the spunk to hold
the body up In n posture which would
keep the organs In their places. be in
finitcly more healthy. to say nothing
# being infinitely more effective.
| But YOU tell the average woman to
sit up, and what does she do? Shc
pohes onl her chest and Raises her
shoulders. throwing them back AT tho
same time, u position she cannot hold
without discomfort.
TO get into correct position frat
stand and get the body in limo as If
with an imaginary line from the crown
! If the head to the socs of tho feet and
then stretch the torso--thc shoulders
even, comfortable and nat. the aldo
men in and flat, the chest out. 1t Is
| surprising to see how far one can
stretch keep right on going--up. up.
up. A woman told me the other day
that she tried this. walking for 20
blocks in the city. and to her surprise
It seemed as though she were made
Of elastic. With her body pcrpendicu-
lar, she walked along imagining she
was trying to touch the sky with the
top Of her hat.
AT the end Of the distance she said
|
exhausted her power to keep on
stretching her body upward This same
determination to hold the body up
should be maintained when sitting:
eventually it will become habit. You
never yet saw n woman who appar-
emily floatcd when she walked whose
body was all slumpcd into itself like
an old accordion
Take the Russian dancers, for OK
ample, in those great leaps of theirs.
Have you noticed how lightly they come
down on their feet? If they allowed
themselves sitting positions with their
: organs constantly sagging toward the
abdominal cavity. do you suppose for
: an instant they could achieve that
spring and iishtncss?
IF you have II hat you do not like.
you make it over, do you not Why not
make over nj l,,,,3fss