Hunchback...

Perhaps you share this unflattering posture as well.  If I look at myself sideways, I can see it slightly.  But more than seeing it, I feel it.  Always.  That slump and closing in of the front part of my chest. Like a caveman that hasn't achieved verticality yet.   Shoulders rolled forward from nursing two babies for a total of 32 months, reading books with little ones in my lap, and my new internet addiction.  Lately it feels as if it's getting worse.  There are some things we're doing in rehearsal that force my shoulders to open (well, not really, but it feels that way) and when I do, I feel searing pain.  The kind that says "Woman!  Do your physical therapy!" 

I know that I didn't have the best posture when nursing Mr. B.  He was a preemie, and when I brought this little baby home from the hospital, he weighed all of four pounds.  With ZERO neck strength.  So I did that thing most Lactation Consultants cringe at, I leaned forward and brought my chest down to this feather of a baby that lay on this gigantic Boppy.  It got better, I got better, etc,.  When I delievered Miss P, I was determined not to head down the same road, and felt so proud of myself when the LC praised me for my good posture upon nursing for the first time in the hospital.  Yay me!

Fast foward two years later and I'm a hunched over mess.  I've been really trying to remember to keep my chest open.  Doing that yoga thing of rolling my shoulders up, back then down (and feeling/hearing the Snap, Crackle and Pop that provides a nice soundtrack).   Then trying not to worry if that chesty chest sticks out a little.  It might feel that way after years of concaveness.

Funny how just something so simple can provide insight to deeper things if I let my mind go that far.  Why am I so closed off in general?  Why can I not remember to be open and present?

But I digress...

If you, too, suffer from Mommy Hunchback Syndrome, try doing some shoulder rolls in both directions first thing in the morning.  Another good stretch is the one that involves clasping your hands behind your back and pulling down and out.  Man, that one is a doozie! 

When I can think about it, I try to sneak some arm circles in during my day when I'm down on the floor playing with the kids.  It's simple:  Lay on the floor on one side, kind of curled in, with your arms stretched out palm-to-palm in front of you.  Keeping your top arm straight, move the arm in a circle along the floor above your head, behind your back, over your hip and back to the starting position. 

Then reverse.  Then switch sides.  I don't think you can do this enough if you're like me.  And it cracks Miss P up.  She chases it like a cat chasing a feather.  Not really conducive to relaxation, but it surely provides some much needed humor in my day.