1. The poise or position of the body is affected by the corset.
This is the reason why it is necessary far you to understand what
normal poise is. The normal types, 20, 60, 40, and 30 necessarily
stand in normal poise.
NORMAL POISE
2. This illustration represents normal
poise. This is the position of the body in
which its weight is distributed evenly
around its center of gravity; as a result
the body can move in any direction with
the least amount of nervous and muscular
effort. The light line passing through the
center of this diagram indicates the line of
gravity. This line passes through certain
pivotal points upon which the parts of the
body move. Notice that this line falls
through the center of the neck, the center
of the trunk of the body, the center of
the hip and knee joints and ends directly
under the center of the arch of the foot.
A study of the outline of this figure will
assist you to appreciate correct body lines.
The poise here illustrated allows freedom
of movement in any direction with ease.
The illustration also shows a side view of
the pelvic girdle. The slanting line passes
through the pelvic girdle and crosses the
front of the figure where the pelvic arch is
located. This cross line shows the normal
slant of the pelvic girdle. You can readily
see that when the line of gravity falls
through the pivotal paints as in this illus-
tration, the body weight must be evenly
balanced; as a result we have normal poise.
GORILLA POISE
3. There are two conditions of incor-
rect poise which occur frequently. The
illustration of gorilla poise shows an un-
even distribution of the weight of the
body, on either side of the line of gravity.
You can see the line of gravity does not
pass through the pivotal points. When
it reaches the hip and knee joints, it falls
back of them instead of through the cen-
ter and ends back of the center of the
arch of the foot. The shoulder blades
stand out, causing a round-shouldered ap-
pearance. The chest is sunken, the ab-
domen is protruding and the hips are
thrown forward. The weight of the body
rests on the heels. To, keep the balance,
the head drops forward depressing the
chin; the pelvic girdle is incorrectly
slanted as indicated by the cross line.
Compare this illustration of incorrect
poise with that of normal poise and note
the difference.
KANGAROO POISE
4. The illustration of kangaroo poise
shows an uneven distribution of the
weight of the body around the line of
gravity. In this poise, the line of gravity
falls back of the center of the trunk, and
in front of the center of the hip and knee
joints. It falls in front of the arch of
the foot, thus throwing the weight on the
toes. In kangaroo poise the client must
walk with her chin raised too high. This
occurs because the head tries to counter-
balance the uneven distribution of the
body weight. The pelvic girdle is incor-
rectly slanted as indicated by the cross
line. Compare this illustration with that
of normal poise and note the difference.
5. When a corset is applied to the body the location of the
lacing, front or back, gives a positive compression over the back
or front of the body. This compression swings the pelvic girdle
backward or forward and so changes the balance or poise of the
body. The location of the lacing adjustment in the corset can
change abnormal to normal poise.
6. When studying your client's figure, note her poise. If it is
not normal decide where she needs compression and select the
lacing adjustment in the corset over that part of the body. If her
poise is normal, preserve it and bring out her best lines.
