Evening star., 1942-03-23
Majority of People Are Chiefly Concerned About the Opinion of Other
Good Posture
Must Be
Attained
Queenly Carriage,
Graceful Walk
Attractive Assets
By Josephine LoUman

By Josephine LoWman
You can't cover up poor posture
with grease paint" Donald Sawyer,
widely known dancing teacher. said
to me!
This certainly struck q responsive
chord In my own mind. Good
posture pervades the entire ensemble
Of personality and physical attrac-
tiveness. Youth, expensive clothes
and cosmetics lose their effect
when the person to whom they be-
long shuffles along. with head stuck
forward, shoulders rounded, abdo-
men protruding and hips riding out
in the back as though nature had
flung one last bit of clay at the
woman in question and it had
landed in the wrong spot.
When we meet a woman who has
queenly carriage or even one
who moves with grace, the charm
of it fingers in our consciousness
like q haunting refrain. A woman
with good posture can wear simple,
inexpensive clothes with verve while
the best cut gowns lose their style
on a woman who has dropping
posture.
Since this is one attribute which
all women can have and since 1t
is an attractive asset which it is
possible to take down the years, 1T
seems unfortunate that so few
women give it serious thought.
Twas interested to learn that men
and women who come to Mr.. Sawyer
for dancing lessons are instructed
in posture and balance before they
learn actual dancing steps. This
is done by practice of a series OF
simple exercises.
For instance-pupils are told to
stand fiat against the wall with as
much of their back. heels, shoulders
and heads as possible touching the
wall. Keep the feet where they
are. then pull away from the wall
until the chest is on a line with
the feet. If you will do this, and
at the same time reach for the
ceiling with the top of your head
mot with your Chin, you will be IN
the correct standing position.
This is another exercise which is
given to would-be dancers and I
might add, should be given to
would-be graceful walkers. Keep
the weight on the left foot as you
swing the right leg forward, back
ward, lift 1t SidewiSe, then swing 1t
backward and bring it down. Have
the feet pointing slightly outward
and do not touch the floor between
swings. The knee is kept straight.
Keep weight on the right foot as
you swing the left leg forward,
backward, sidewise, backward, and
down to place. This exercise devel-
ops grace and poise and Is also fine
for the legs and thighs.
Future dancers are told that they
must step out from the hips instead
of from the knee In dancing. This
should also be true of . person who
strives for an attractive walk.
"Youthing through good posture"
is what this New York dance teacher
calls it. That's an apt phrase.
Splendid posture not only bestows a
lasting appearance of youth but it
youthifies by avoiding fatigue.
Good posture is restful. Bad pos
ture Is firing.
The following so-called isolation"
exercises are fine for posture. Try
these for round shoulders as well
as for relaxation. Stand tall. Hold
the left shoulder still while you
rotate the right shoulder. Let the
arms hang loosely at the sides.
Circle backward q while, and then
forward. Do the same thing with
the left shoulder, keeping the right
shoulder quiet.
Now circle forward with the right
shoulder and at the same time cir
Gle backward with the left. This
will seem . little like trying to pat
the head and rub the tummy at the
same time but q little practice will
make it easy.
have found these exercises to
be extremely effective at the end of
q hard day. Arms and shoulders
should be relaxed and the circles
made by the shoulder should be as
large as possible. Tension in the
neck and upper back will disappear.
If you wish to have my rou-
tine which tell you how to get
rid of tension at the back of the
neck send . Scent stamped, self
addressed envelope with your re-
quest for the leaflet "Your Stiff
Neck Address Joseph Lowman,
in care The Evening Star.