3 tips: improving the quality of your standing practice (advanced)

This is part of our series of tips to reduce time sitting after stroke and practice standing. Visit our website for more tips. Before carrying out any of the exercises in our blogs please read the important note below*

1. Create a checklist

Have a checklist in your head about the quality of your standing. The aim is a good posture, which allows a relaxed standing position, with weight evenly distributed on both feet and the back in a neutral position.

Everybody is different and people find individual reminders useful. Some common ones are “feet level, hip width apart, knees soft, bottom tucked in, tummy strong, ribs gently down but breast bone up, shoulders relaxed with soft arms and head up with chin gently tucked in and back of the neck long with crown of head up”.

2. Create and develop sense of your posture

Developing your own personalised checklist (with the help of a neurological physiotherapist ideally) and using a mirror if this helps you. A mirror may help to create and develop your sense of your own posture. Keeping still in your “best” posture and closing your eyes to enhance your appreciation of where your body parts are in relation to each other will help this improved posture to become more familiar and natural to you.

3. Joining posture with movement

Thinking about posture and movement is the next stage and developing strength in the trunk muscles. An easy way to do this is to take something with both hands from a shelf in front of you, or simply touch the wall in front of you or stand in a door frame and touch the frame either side at about shoulder height and then squat down and touch the floor with both hands or put an object on the floor, then pick it up again.

headsup! are a team of specialist neuro physiotherapists covering London and the South East. We are always happy to discuss individual requirements and explore suitability for treatment over the telephone. If you would like to talk to one of the team, just get in touch on 01306 888171.

* Please read before undertaking any exercises listed in this blog:

Neither headsup! neuro-rehab Ltd nor Anna Hamer accept any responsibility for any individual undertaking the activities or exercise suggested in our blogs, except to the extent those individuals are acting upon specific instructions from headsup! neuro-rehab Ltd specialist neurological physiotherapists.

If you are in any doubt please consult a specialist neurological physiotherapist. Please make sure you have suitable help to hand before embarking on any activities