Understanding Arousal and Posture

Which comes first: your posture or your mood? From a biomechanical perspective, there is an ancestral connection between posture and emotion. You may think of arousal on a ladder that sinks as low as physical shut down (or playing dead) and rises as high as seeing red to kill or reproduce. 

Ask yourself, what does the bottom end of arousal look like when we shut down? Humans and animals alike defer to the “fetal position,” which is a lifeless, flexed spine-position. While all animals (and humans) on red alert erect the spine in what generally looks like the rib cage that is stacked parallel to the pelvis. 

Why is it that with no coaching, jungle cats and humans achieve a rigid spine posture in peak states of arousal? 

It’s because all movement, especially efficient movement by which one’s life depends, emanates from a stable trunk, rigid spine posture. Based on human biomechanics, the essential foundation from which we apply the most force for violence, reproduction, or otherwise will come from an aligned relationship between the bottom of the ribcage and the pelvis in order to create the necessary intra-abdominal pressure to take physical action. This ideal alignment allows for the cylindrical shaped abdominal structure comprising the diaphragm, the pelvic floor, and the 360 degree abdominal wall to make the spine rigid to do work. 

Lead your state of mind with your spine. If you’d like to feel alert, confident, and ready for the moment, “posture up” first. The rest will follow.