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Posture and Health 03 [GEC subjects]

Rikako Morimoto, 4th year student, School of Education

Professor Usuda (left) and Rikako Morimoto (right)

Are you confident in your posture? I think there are many people who face stiff shoulders and lower back pain from facing computers every day, such as during university classes or internships. I was one of those people, but in the "Posture and Health" class taught by Takuma Usuda (part-time lecturer at Global Education Center), I learned about posture habits to be careful of and how to counter them, and learned a correct and healthy posture.

In addition to this class, Professor Usuda also works as the director of Toranomon Chiropractic Clinic, deepens his research on posture in the doctoral program at Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine (currently second year of doctoral program), and even appears on a variety show as a posture professional... he uses a variety of approaches to communicate the importance of posture to the world. We can feel his passion for posture in every class.

Prints used in each class. It has a write-in format that makes it easy to understand what you have learned.

In this class, you will not only learn specific methodologies, but also step-by-step steps to improve your posture. Many people may think that improving posture simply means changing your posture. Professor Usuda says, "The essence of improving posture is to change your body.'' Improving your posture will change your body, leading to improved concentration and the maintenance of a stable mental state, which in turn will change your daily actions, the way you perceive things, and the impressions you make of those around you. You can systematically learn that improving your posture is closely related to improving the quality of your daily life.

Another feature of this class is that it includes a wealth of "practical learning" that goes beyond desk-based learning. As a practical example, you will learn the ideal posture, "100-point posture,'' the basic posture when sitting on a chair, "sitting up,'' and the "cat stretch,'' a stretch that corrects your hunched back. "100-point posture" is a posture that is symmetrical when viewed from the front. The goal is to be able to maintain an ideal posture in which the line passing through the ear canal and the top of the shoulder is in a straight line when viewed from the side. Your partner points out any distortions in your body, or use an app to figure out where your body is distorted (for example, your right shoulder is raised), and gradually you improve your posture while being aware of your posture habits and you will correct it to a 100-point posture. As someone like me who tends to have bad posture, these practices that can be done easily anywhere have been very helpful in my daily life. In the first class, I gave up on "sitting up the chair'' after a few minutes, but as the final lecture approached, I was able to easily maintain it for 10 or 20 minutes, and I was very surprised at the changes in my body.

Waseda University students suffering from stiff shoulders, lower back pain, hunched back, etc., why not update your posture and future through "Posture and Health"?

Left: "Cat Tretch'' corrects the hunchback. Reset your body, which tends to curl up due to daily desk work and smartphones, and return it to an appropriate posture.
Right: "Chair alignment'' where you sit with your upper body perpendicular to the earth. I work in nursing care and have lower back pain, but when I do this sitting position, my lower back pain is alleviated.

Photography: Shiori Banjo