The Bespoke Postural Training Service
Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 10:00AM
It is said that Adler, the famous psychologist, believed that he only had to look at the body to understand the person; before him, Freud believed that body movements told stories when words did not. Our gestures and the way we carry ourselves can be seen as a reflection of our internal state of mind.
The body is an ever-present conduit of expression, and a person’s posture subconsciously discloses the way that a person feels, it is a form of unconscious ‘body language’. As mind and body are so closely linked, so our body language reflects our psychological state. Deportment and the way we hold ourselves reflect who we are. “Presence” explores this through recent trends in self examination of our holistic ‘self’, our wish to be healthy, inside and out.
I have set out to show how people are concerned with their body language and how that affects their mental state. The two are interdependent, when people undergo mental stress so do their bodies, bad deportment is often a signal for stress. Conversely when someone is in pain, say chronic backache from sitting at the computer too long, this causes mental stress. This vicious cycle is all too common in the workplace to-day.
“Presence” postural training is also a social comment on the value and importance we place on bodily perfection. These values are evident when we see the plethora of self-enhancing devices or placebo type products that are on the market, money-making antidotes to soothe our anxieties and social insecurities. With an escalating obsession for the pursuit of holistic perfection, the market is rapidly expanding to fulfill this thirst. 
“Presence” serves as a critique of those industries that feed off people’s insecurities by offering quick fit solutions to problems caused by people’s ongoing bad habits, they seek to treat the symptoms rather than address the root causes. There are those companies that offer us miracle cures, which exploit our fears of our own mortality. Our faces and our bodies begin to let us down, we are seduced by promises made to hold back the march of time, cosmetically or otherwise, and rid ourselves of sagging flesh. We fight that demon villain “Old Age”.
But deportment and the way we carry ourselves can have provide a far more affective way of influencing people convincing others we ARE powerful, we ARE sexy, we ARE youthful. Presence offers postural aids, which may or may not help their clients but ultimately so much of cure has to with faith, the determination and perseverance of the individual person.
The “Presence” service offers personalised aids from back and neck braces to pulsating necklaces, which send electrical impulses as reminders to the wearer. Although the objects serve as corrective devices to re-align bad posture the wearers of the devices not only to change the way they hold themselves, but also the way they ‘feel’ about themselves. By curing them of their bad habits these aids will ultimately transform the patient’s physical and psychic being.
We see Richard in the video practice using his brace at home before wearing it out in public, in the same way that people practice for a job interviews to make a good impression. Richard believes that when he needs high levels of concentration or intellectual activity his posture lets him down so his aid is designed to sit over chairs to encourage him to sit straighter so that he may increase his levels of concentration. For him the brace is an object of intrigue, it leaves people wondering when they see him wearing it, if it is for medical reasons or only self-preservation?
For Johanna we see her use her brace as part of her morning rituals. It becomes a device that instills self-confidence as she uses it in the same way that one might go to the gym for a workout. Johanna believes the way she carries herself acts as a mirror to the concept of who she thinks she is or more significantly want to be. She seeks to change her posture so that she may consciously or unconsciously, use her body language to influence others.
The users of the devices are not only motivated by their struggle for success or acceptance, they are also aware of how their lifestyles are changing their bodies compromising their bodies which leads to more severe problems of not now later.
Saraha’s device seems the most extreme in reaching this goal. Her necklace has a particular function to be a constant reminder as she seems so unable to correct her own posture in a more profound and holistic way. When triggered it sends electrical impulses to the neck, giving her a slight tingle around the base of the necklace. The pulses last for a few seconds to a minute long enough to give her the physical reminder to sit or stand taller.
Each postural aid demonstrates the fragility and complexity of human nature in the search for bodily perfection. Though they appear as products of self-enhancement they also act as motifs of humility. The individuals wear them hidden or displayed that show in someway they feel inadequate with who or what they are. As if this acrylic brace will pay penance for their lack of confidence and self-belief. Each of the users in the video illustrates their own unique insecurities as they seek to create a potent image of themselves.
Society as always evaluated the human body. These evaluations have shifted through a myriad of different tastes and judgments in regard to what we think as of ugly or beautiful, perfect or imperfect. But poor posture is not only about a superficial influence on who we are, or how we want to be perceived but importantly it can lead to a loss of quality of life both physically and mentally.
In fact the obsession our society has with superficial beauty could end up in fact having some positive impact on our general well being. Wouldn’t it be a good thing if we become more aware of our posture and the impact of negative stress on the spine and the affect this has on our quality of life?
Watch video of the Posture Service
Reader Comments (7)
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