i shopped alone - well with mary ellen on my cell phone - at the local grocery store this afternoon. i did it - almost alone! i bought what i needed and did NOT bolt from the store. of course i was scared. again, a new experience. and maybe i'll be scared the next time. but one day soon, i won't be scared. i'll just do it and not give it a single thought.

the other day i had an epiphany - i have them quite frequently. this one was about my posture. i'm a sloucher - one who slouches. it's not pretty. and more than that, slouching the way i do has to - it simply must - hinder breathing. so when i was talking to mary ellen and wandering through the store, she asked me if i was breathing. well kinda, but i was so slouched it was hard to take a deep breath. i stood up straight and i'm thinking that just maybe it enhanced my ability to breathe.

anyway, that's been my day. i drove myself to the store, shopped alone, and stood up straight - which i'm reminding myself to do right now.

karma

Great! Keep it up!

i just went to the website you posted and saw "elf help books". i thought your keyboard was missing the "s".

too funny.

it's a great website. can anyone post there?

karma

Karma.........that's AWESOME!!!!! Good for you!! You are doing the right thing......one step at a time!!!

Coco

Karma, Congrats to you for shopping alone and standing straight. I have been a sloucher for years and am currently seeing a chiropractor for it and I think it does affect your breathing because your lungs are squished. Have you tried squeezing your abs to help you stand up straight? I've done that for years and funny, it was hard to stop holding my stomach in when I was pregnant but anyways, it helps me stand up straight. It is good that you could grocery shop alone, I am still having issues with that or just Walmart but I am glad you had a great day!

Karma,
Hi way to go! You are doing so great and I'm so proud of you. What a great feeling to be moving ahead. I too have bad posture and as Kumiko stated I too try to concentrate on holding my abs in and it has made a huge difference and I don't slouch so much. Best of luck to you and keep it up! Take care

believe it or not, i'm actually looking FORWARD to going back to the grocery store. and to driving back and forth to work. this both amazes and intrigues me. i'm actually having some fun thinking about new things.

right now i just asked myself - who IS this person who is looking forward? it's me! wow!

karma

Thank you for that important reminder about posture. This is just one more way to help ourselves. I have always slouched because I am tall and wanted to be shorter. But it's better to stand tall and breath easier than to slouch and be "short" of breath!

Tammy

the funniest thing about slouching is that about 105 years ago, me and a very good friend, terry, were out shopping and she remarked that "our" generation slouched. it had something to do with trying desperately to be hippies and fit in.

now i'm going to have to email terry and find out if she ever straighened up.

karma