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Posture and Ergonomics
Erica McPhee:
There have been several threads regarding proper posture and ergonomics and Jean made a great suggestion of creating a thread to discuss it that would be easily accessible. So please feel free to share any tips you have on proper posture and correct ergonomics to avoid injuries. :)
Elisabeth_M:
1. Sitting on the edge of your chair helps you sit up straight (learned this in band class).
2. Michael Sull said in his seminar at the SF Pen Show that his penmanship teacher (the one who actually studied with Zaner and taught Mr. Sull Spencerian writing) insisted that part of his lessons consist of "shadowboxing" and other exercises to build upper body strength.
ExtrasbyAlaina:
I am so grateful for this thread! I've been taking the advice posted in other threads and this topic is so valuable for longevity and health. One of the biggest things that's been helping my shoulder pain is sitting higher up. I didn't realize how low my chair was until I started sitting atop a booster. Brings back my childhood restaurant days, but this time - no tears!
kmedina:
This might help. It is a video for beginners by Harvest Crittenden of Acorn Arts. She was one of the amazing instructors at IAMPETH this year. Someone recommended it to me some time ago. She goes over a bit about posture and positioning and many other very important basics that are good fundamentals.
Here is the link:
Hope this helps!
Kelly
jeanwilson:
--- Quote from: kmedina on September 09, 2015, 12:21:54 PM ---This might help. It is a video for beginners by Harvest Crittenden of Acorn Arts. She was one of the amazing instructors at IAMPETH this year. Someone recommended it to me some time ago. She goes over a bit about posture and positioning and many other very important basics that are good fundamentals.
Here is the link:
Hope this helps!
Kelly
--- End quote ---
Harvest's demonstration for finding the proper height of the desk is excellent and I agree that it is essential to be sitting at the right height.
If you are short, and you raise yourself to the proper height, then you might find that your feet no longer reach the floor.
It will not work to just leave your feet dangling.
You need to find something to rest your feet on - like a low foot stool or a box.
If you have a pneumatic chair with a 4 or 5 wheel base, you may be able to rest your feet on the base-spokes that hold the wheels.
Harvest also mentions that she loads her broad edge nibs with a brush, rather than dipping, but dips pointed nibs.
I prefer to load pointed nibs as well, so you might want to try that. It may take longer but you don't have to stop and clean your nib as often.
While Harvest stresses the importance of not hunching over, I'd like to hammer that point harder.
She also talks about avoiding the death grip. Again....that is probably one of the most damaging things you can do to your entire body.
She is so gentle in how she explains everything....I'm not sure beginners understand how much damage you can do with a hunched over death grip.
Carpal tunnel, numb knuckles and fingers, tennis elbow, shoulder issues, neck and back issues.
After you do the damage, you can heal, but whichever part you damage will become your weak spot and you will be prone to aches and pains in that area forever.
Please heed her gentle warning....
Take breaks - every 15-20 minutes, get up , walk around, stretch. Look out the window.
Yoga is a great way to work out the knots.
Maybe someone can repost the information about the thing to sit on that someone recommended.
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