\nsounds good, doesn’t it? <\/span>It feels
\ngood too. People are obsessed with getting other beings to sit. You see it all
\nthe time with parents and children: “Sit down…Sit there till I tell you to get
\nup…Can you sit on your bottom on the chair please?” Why? Children are naturally
\nmobile. If I had the energy at fifty I had at five, I’d have personally
\ninstigated world peace by now, or at least climbed a few mountains and run
\nseveral marathons. The exertion of parental control with a powerful “Sit down”
\nis, however, ubiquitous.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/span>It’s Aspen (not in the photo), aged and developed arthritis in her hind legs, she could no longer \n <\/span>All \n <\/span>A you remember that, you’ll stand \n <\/span>Do \n <\/span>Once In When you practice \n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" standing up for yourself, taking a stand, red-carpet technique, yoga<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":177,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-solving-problems"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nthe same with dogs: “Sit!” gets Rover a treat and a pat on the head. When my dog,<\/p>\n![\"sitting](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/133\/import\/sitting%20dog.jpg\")
<\/span><\/p>\n
\nperform the universal good-dog act. Then people who had formerly proffered Milk
\nBones with abandon developed a marked reluctance to providing a biscuit to a
\npooch too uncouth to sit properly.<\/p>\n
\nthis sitting has carried over to autonomous adult humans. We know that our
\nhealth and figures suffer from the hours we spend sitting every day—at a <\/span>desk, in the car, in front of the
\nTV—but the greater danger may be metaphorical rather than physical. Sitting
\nthrough our lives keeps us from being the proverbial “stand-up kind of gal.”
\nWhile we need to stand frequently in the literal sense to keep our metabolism
\nrevved, we also need to stand up figuratively–for ourselves and for what we
\nbelieve in.<\/p>\n
\nprocess for bringing this stand-up energy into your daily life is what I call
\nthe red-<\/p>\n![\"red](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/133\/import\/red%20carpet%201.jpg\")
carpet technique. When you walk into an intimidating situation, or
\nsimply when you enter a room, imagine rolled out before you a red carpet on
\nwhich you are to walk in your fabulous gown to receive your award. It doesn’t
\nmatter if you are, in fact, in your rattiest jeans and about to walk from the plumbing department to the check-out at Home Depot: <\/span><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
\nyour mind, you’re on the red carpet. When <\/span>![\"red](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/133\/import\/red%20carpet%202.jpg\")
<\/span><\/p>\n
\ntaller. You’ll walk with more poise and more purpose. People will take note of
\nyou and they’ll treat you with added respect simply because your very bearing
\ncommands it.<\/p>\n
\nnot let yourself fall into the trap of “Oh, but I’m just me, not some movie star.”
\nFor heaven’s sake, movie stars were ordinary people until they learned to stand
\nup and stand out from the crowd. This is how you get to be a star in your own
\nlife.<\/p>\n
\nyou’re carrying yourself with dignity–not just when you’re dressed up for a special
\noccasion, but all the time–it’s easier to translate the stand-up mentality into
\nstanding firm on those issues that matter. Your graceful self can bend and sway
\nto accommodate circumstances, but when something is important to you, you need
\nto stand steadfast: “This is my year for Christmas with the kids…My raise needs
\nto be retroactive to June 1st<\/sup>…I understand what you’re saying,
\nDoctor, and I still want a second opinion.” <\/p>\n![\"mountain](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/133\/import\/mountain%20pose.jpg\")
<\/span><\/p>\n
\nyoga, there is a pose called “the mountain,” performed simply by standing with
\nyour feet shoulder-width apart, arms at your sides. That part is easy enough.
\nHere’s where its power comes from: you’re to imagine your feet rooted into Mother
\nEarth, anchored there like a mountain at its base, and stretching through your
\nlegs and spine to stand tall like that mountain at its peak. <\/p>\n
\nthis daily, even for a minute or two, and think about what you’re doing and
\nwhat it signifies, you imprint yourself kinesthetically with what it feels like
\nto stand on your feet, in this place and time, and do what you came here to do.
\nYou have the time you need to do it, but not enough to waste sitting around.<\/p>\n