How do we stand?
We humans are unique among animals in standing upright on two legs. Standing has something to do with being tall, with placing our eyes high to be able to see a wide horizon. Standing also has to do with our contact with the ground and the way we take support from it - the foundation which makes it possible to organise ourself to stand tall. The act of standing involves positioning all parts of ourself to be upright with minimum effort and maximum agility, so that we can direct our attention where we want and are able to move in any direction from our standing position.
And the concept of standing goes beyond the purely physical. The way we stand, the place we stand, and the direction we give our attention are all an integral part of standing. These are not so much biomechanical as emotional, social and intellectual aspects. The phrase 'standing firm', denoting a stance that is resistant, is mostly used of how someone sticks to a viewpoint, not necessarily a physical position. But 'standing firm' also implies 'not open to change their mind'. A change of mind, a change of viewpoint, requires standing in a different position in relation to our surroundings.
Being able to stand comfortably for long periods of time is essential for certain kinds of work, and yet we rarely pay attention to how we stand or experiment with finding other ways that may be more efficient. The more developed our mental picture of the exact position of our body parts, of the different joints in our skeleton, the better able we are to adapt to find comfort in standing. Body-mind learning techniques such as the Feldenkrais Method are powerful tools to help develop that mental picture and be fully aware of our self.
An effect often reported by people after a Feldenkrais lesson is a feeling of being 'grounded'. This means we are getting a lot of sensory feedback from the ground (through our feet) and from other parts of ourself (the feeling of gravity acting on each part, pulling it towards the ground), and are able to organise our skeleton and muscles harmoniously to respond. When we are grounded we are hard to push over. This is not a matter of being tense to resist attack, but a consequence of efficient self-organisation. Letting our own weight flow into the ground through our skeleton, without unnecessary muscle tension, makes us both hard to push over and at the same time responsive to anything we see or hear, or anything that touches us.
Whatever situation we are in, the qualities we look for in standing are:
eyes able to look to the horizon
open, responsive attitude to our surroundings
minimum physical effort
grounded
ready for action in any direction
Achieving and maintaining these qualities all at the same time requires fine understanding and control of our self. Standing is not totally static - balancing on two feet requires constant tiny adjustments in our joints and muscle tone. All parts of our self - bones, joints, muscle tone in different places, emotional state, curiosity, intensity of attention - play a role in how and where we choose to stand.
And standing is not the same action all the time. Here's a thought experiment:
Imagine you are at a large gathering of people. How do you choose to stand if your intention is to observe the proceedings? Where do you stand? With what kind of posture?
Imagine you are at the same gathering, but now your intention is to influence proceedings. How do you choose to stand now?
What changed in your choice of where to stand, how to stand, where to direct attention?
We are all creatures of habit, and that includes habits of how and where we stand. Which of the above two situations is closer to your usual habit of standing? How did it make you feel to imagine taking the other position?
Do you stand a lot? What do you enjoy about standing? What do you find challenging? Please leave a comment.