Frijolito, our cat, knows how to stay warm. Notice that his body is at ease even though he is coming off of the radiator. Dropping off unnecessary tension is a skill that you can learn.
Staying warm when it's cold outside can help you enjoy good posture and freedom of movement.
Here are a couple of unnecessary habits that tend to kick in when we’re feeling cold:
Hunching the shoulders
You might find yourself hunching your shoulders towards your ears. It seems natural to try to keep warm by moving the shoulders up, toward the neck.
Tucking the chin
Another thing you might do is tuck your chin against your throat, in an effort to shield it from the cold. It’s common to pair this habit with looking at the ground, and even to add a slumping back to the mix.
These habits are in an effort to try to keep your throat and your body warm. Neither habit is horrible especially if we are moving freely in and out of tucking and hunching. But many people stay semi-hunched and tucked throughout the day even if they mean to stop doing that once out of the cold.
A warm scarf and ear muffs in addition to the appropriate coat can help keep you from unnecessarily tensing your neck and shoulder muscles.
It's also prudent to stay warm while you're working out. If you are exercising to lose weight, then it may be particularly beneficial to stay warm as this article on the Well blog points out.
How do you stay warm when there's snow? Enjoy this slideshow I made for you of snowy NYC in Fort Tryon Park.
