A word on posture when you\'re at it...
- Thread starter hubbabubba
- Start date
I\'ve recently started to use a painting rig and it has made a big impact. I used to sit over a desk like you did with my hands on the table, but now with the rig, I can sit without a desk and paint if I like.
Now, I tend to sit with a desk and rest my elbows, so i\'m not arching my back too much.
Now, I tend to sit with a desk and rest my elbows, so i\'m not arching my back too much.
Not silly at all, visualisation is quite a good technique for many things. For example, athletes have found that visualising success increases the chances of that success.
People who work at computers all day have similar problems, and almost all shoulder-related. Shoulders will affect the neck and the arms. Here\'s what I do, when I feel my shoulders tensing up;
- Stand straight up, feet together, spine straight, hands resting in front, with the fingers meshed. Relax.
- Slowly raise the hands above the head, and lift them as high as possible, but without using the shoulders. The shoulders must not lift, and must remain as relaxed as possible. You can raise your hands by \'squeezing\' your elbows together.
- Feel the tension in the shoulders, and work it out. It\'s useful to use visualisation to \'remove\' the tension.
- Slowly drop the hands, rolling them in front of you till they reach your chest.
- Now include the shoulders in the rolling motion until you\'re touching your toes. The idea is to relax the shoulder, so stretch down and then relax... just relax and hang down.
- The tricky bit is rolling the spine. Hehehe. Lift yourself up again, one vertabra at a time, starting from the base of the spine. The movement starts at the bottom, and straightens the spine out, vertebra by vertebra till your back is straight and you\'re erect. Keep the shoulders relaxed and let the arms hang.
Well, that\'s what works for me, with a little bit of Qigong massage. Wonderful stuff.
I used to have back problems, but don\'t much anymore, even when I paint for long stretches. The first solution was like Anders, I got a desk which was the right height for me, so I could rest against it comfortably without having to bend over much. Also started painting by those 15w full spectrum bulbs which don\'t get hot...so no fear of burning the forehead! Also got a very comfortable chair, which is fully adjustable with darn good support. They might be expensive for real good ones, but worth it!
Second and probably more importantly, I\'ve started taking care of myself more in general. Regularly going the the gym or biking, or stretching. Due to regularly strengthening and stretching all the muscles in my back and shoulders, I very rarely have any troubles any more. And it keeps me generally healthy and fit! Can\'t complain about that side effect lol
Second and probably more importantly, I\'ve started taking care of myself more in general. Regularly going the the gym or biking, or stretching. Due to regularly strengthening and stretching all the muscles in my back and shoulders, I very rarely have any troubles any more. And it keeps me generally healthy and fit! Can\'t complain about that side effect lol
