What happens when two horses meet? They poise. Their heads rise, necks arch and ears point. Their nostrils touch and for moments they share the air they breathe. Young males soon thereafter often are seen on their hind legs, playing and measuring their strength.
What happens when a young or insecure horse meets a higher ranking one? The lower ranking horse drops head and neck, and in a gesture of utter self-abandonment begins to rattle jaw and teeth. It may only be a trick, but the message is loud and clear. The spine is rigid from poll to tail. The whole of the body is one expression of fear and resignation.
The first scenario speak of pleasure, power and poise. The second, ruled by another set of social etiquette, expresses negative emotions. In both cases a definite physical expression is manifested in a particular posture. And, with horses, positive experience produces elevation and a shift of balance towards the hindquarters. Negative emotion causes a balance shift towards the forehand.
Likewise, humans are partial to particular postures. Success, good luck and affirmation make a man grow. His feet appear to escape the force of gravity. Fear, failure and doubt, however, pull him to the ground. Head and neck push forward and freeze. Chest and shoulders drop and his feet - as if of lead - refuse to serve him.
Posture, in other words, speaks clearly. It expresses the sublime as well as horror. It conveys the multitude of states between these extremes. Postural changes are visible to the onlooker. More profoundly they deeply effect the living being. But that is not all. In addition posture plays an active role in every movement. Postural muscles responds to gravity. They negotiate balance. Posture also is a basic factor of well-being and effects the way beings perceive themselves, their status and the stimuli they receive. Posture, in other words, is an aspect of life, which can't be discounted.
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