posture advice

Thanks for the question and the video.  There are a couple of things I'd like to see you do while you are waiting to have an initial consultation with a teacher.  When standing the feet are really the foundation. I'm not sure if you have tried to kidney bean your feet. It is also really important to get your weight mostly on your heels.  If your weight starts to go forward onto your toes it throws everything off.  Try a bit of an athletic ready stance- and then straighten out of it a bit -weight on the heels (with your feet kidney beaned), some softness in the knees and groin.  I think you would benefit from using the inner corset in your standing, shoulder roll one at a time and use your hands to lift and guide your head- this way it will help your neck lengthen.  I didn't see the length happen in your neck that I would like to.  You can either lift at the back of your skull using the boney shelf behind your ears, grasp some hair at the top of you head and lift gently or imagine a weight on top of your head that you are pushing up against.  Give those a try and let us know how you get on.  Don't be afraid to request a course in your area.  If we know there is interest we do make an effort to come out to underserved areas and it is even better if there is someone local drumming up interest and sleuthing out spots that can accomodate a class.  Good Luck!

Hi Stephen,

I admire your diligence in working with the Method, and I would endorse everything that Sheelagh has suggested - thanks for that speedy response, Sheelagh!

Developing a switched on Inner Corset which supports right through the spine up into the neck takes time - and often teacher guidance and demonstration are very helpful here. In the meanwhile, see if you can visualise and work your inner corset from low in the belly upward in the direction of the crown of your head. In the beginning it is usually quite an effort to wake up a sleepy set of deep spinal muscles, but you are aiming for something that will be happy to work on a 'low' setting for most of the time eventually, rather than alternating between extra effort and then slump - as in the end of your video. 

Regarding your shoulder rolls, add a little external rotation through your arm as you do them, i.e., allowing your thumbs and hand to turn slightly out. (Your elbows will come in a little towards your waist.) Hands hanging with knuckles forward will tend to pull the shoulders forward again.

In your video you position your head back by markedly lifting your chin up first. This is a counter-productive move as it super-contracts the back of the neck and trains you in the opposite action from what you want here. Instead, pause, relax the muscles around your neck as much as you can and, keeping the chin down, slowly reverse the back of your head upward and back - as if parking smoothly into a skull cap. You can use your hands to guide you as Sheelagh suggests.