Whenever I do Tai Chi, I am recalibrating my own senses and relieving any congestion in my body.  This all starts from standing straight and straightening the spine.

When I say "straighten your spine" in class, everyone becomes taller and their energy becomes focused.  This is a great start.  Once you start to get present with yourself standing straight in silence, you will notice there are so many things going on in your body and your mind.  There is so much to this simple expression "straighten your spine".  Let's take a look at it so you can get the maximum benefit from just standing around!

My top 3 reasons why this is important:

1)  Nerve communications are done by spine.  To think clearly, it's essentials that the channels are open.

2) Prevent curvature and congestion and so we can stay young 

3) By realigning your own spine, you can realign your sense of what "straight" is in your body. We can take this even further by saying, if our sense of "straight" is off in our body, how we see the world can be slightly off.   This can help you see your world from a clear eyes and perception as well. 

We will take a close look at step by step on how to straighten your spine.   .  

 Step by Step

1) Let's start from standing position.  You can have both feet together or slightly apart.  Both feet are flat on the floor supporting you.

2) So now, tell your body to straighten your spine.

Notice what your body respond to this.  Notice where you are most focused on and where you are least focused on.  There are 33 vertebras in your spine.  If you are like me, you notice the existence of certain vertebra than others.  How do you feel?  See if you can calm your mind and breath deep to relax your body.

3)  Now imagine there is a string attached to the top of your head.  There is a point in acupuncture called DU-20 (Bai Hui).  This is a place that is soft when you were first born.  Some people may call this crown chakra. Bring your attention to this area and breath.  Take a moment and wait until you feel this.  In the beginning, you may not feel right away- then you can bring your hand to this area and touch to bring attention.

4) Then, imagine someone is putting you up from this point. Imagine yourself like a rag doll or puppet pulled from above.  As the head pulled from above, imagine your spine being pulled by the string as well.  By being pulled up and if you feel the gravity, your chin will be slightly tucked in.  Often, people need to be reminded of this, because first thing I notice after I say "straighten your spine" is student’s chin sticking out and neck tilted up.  If you have this tendency, go back to how you would naturally be if there is string attached to the top of your head and pulling you up.  Notice where you are holding tension (without being aware of) that is causing you to bring up your chin.  Relax your jaw.

Other way to feel this:

You can image someone is holding you from your jaw-- and your head is floating. Everything under this is floating down.

You can also imagine as if your head is touching the ceiling.

5) Relax your chest and drop your shoulder.  Some people stand like soldiers; straight, but too tense and holding breath.  Let yourself feel the gravity holding you safely as you are lifted up from the top. Make sure your rib cage is not tilted up.  Imagine each vertebra is like a pearl on the string. Elongate each spine.  As you go down one vertebra at a time, release tension and expand the space between spines.  Let go of your hip and lower back.  Feel all the way to your tail bone.   You can relax your knee and have it slightly bent to relieve any tension in the lower back area as you do this.  To feel the nice pull from the top and bottom, you can imagine your tail bone being very heavy.  Keep on letting go any tension that creep back into you and breathe.   Remember it's straight, but not rigid.  Keep imagining your spine to be soft and supple. Watch out for any feeling in your body as if you are "holding on" to something.  You can do this by standing in front of the wall to give yourself a reference.  

There is a natural curve in a human spine and doing the exercise above, you can restore the natural curves of the spine and rebalance the muscles.