Human positions refer to the different physical configurations that the
human body
The human body is the structure of a human being. It is composed of many different types of cells that together create tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the viability of the human body.
It comprises a hea ...
can take.
There are several synonyms that refer to human positioning, often used interchangeably, but having specific nuances of meaning.
*''Position'' is a general term for a configuration of the human body.
*''
Posture'' means an intentionally or habitually assumed position.
*''Pose'' implies an artistic, aesthetic, athletic, or spiritual intention of the position.
*''Attitude'' refers to postures assumed for purpose of imitation, intentional or not, as well as in some standard
collocation
In corpus linguistics, a collocation is a series of words or terms that co-occur more often than would be expected by chance. In phraseology, a collocation is a type of compositional phraseme, meaning that it can be understood from the words ...
s in reference to some distinguished types of posture: "
Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
never assumed a
fencer's attitude, yet almost all took him for a swordsman."
*''Bearing'' refers to the manner of the posture, as well as of
gesture
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or ...
s and other aspects of the conduct taking place.
Basic positions
While not moving, a human is usually in one of the following basic positions:
All-fours
This is the static form of
crawling which is instinctive form of locomotion for very young children. It was a commonly used
childbirth position in both Western and non-Western cultures, in which context it is known as
the Gaskin Maneuver.
[G.J. Engelmann (1883). ''Labor Among Primitive Peoples'', St. Louis: J.H. Chambers. pp, 89-93. (Engelmann calls this the ''knee-hand or knee-elbow position'')] This position is sometimes viewed as sexually explicit due to its association with sexual initiation or availability.
Kneeling
Kneeling is a basic human position where one or both knees touch the ground. It is used as a resting position, during childbirth and as an expression of reverence and submission. While kneeling, the angle between the legs can vary from zero to widely splayed out, flexibility permitting. It is common to kneel with one leg and
squat with the other leg.
While kneeling, the thighs and upper body can be at various angles in particular:
* Vertical kneel: where both the thighs and upper body are vertical – also known as "standing on one's knees"
* Sitting kneel: where the thighs are near horizontal and the buttocks
sit back on the heels with the upper body vertical - for example as in
Seiza,
Virasana
Virasana ( sa, वीरासन; IAST: ''vīrāsana'') or Hero Pose is a kneeling asana in modern yoga as exercise. Medieval hatha yoga texts describe a cross-legged meditation asana under the same name. Supta Virasana is the reclining form of ...
, and
Vajrasana (yoga)
Vajrasana (), Thunderbolt Pose, or Diamond Pose, is a kneeling asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise. Ancient texts describe a variety of poses under this name.
Etymology and origins
The name comes from the Sanskrit words ''vajra'' ...
* Taking a knee: where the upper body is vertical, one knee is touching the ground while the foot of the other leg is placed on the ground in front of the body
Lying
When in lying position, the body may assume a great variety of shapes and positions. The following are the basic recognized positions:
*
Supine position: lying on the back with the face up
*
Prone position: lying on the chest with the face down ("lying down" or "going prone")
*Lying on either side, with the body straight or bent/curled forward or backward
*
Fetal position
Fetal position (British English: also foetal) is the positioning of the body of a prenatal fetus as it develops. In this position, the back is curved, the head is bowed, and the limbs are bent and drawn up to the torso. A compact position i ...
: is lying or sitting curled, with limbs close to the torso and the head close to the knees
Sitting
Sitting requires the buttocks resting on a more or less horizontal structure, such as a
chair
A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vari ...
or the ground. Special ways of sitting are with the legs horizontal, and in an inclined seat. While on a chair the shins are usually vertical, on the ground the shins may be crossed in the
lotus position
Lotus position or Padmasana ( sa, पद्मासन, translit=padmāsana) is a cross-legged sitting meditation pose from ancient India, in which each foot is placed on the opposite thigh. It is an ancient asana in yoga, predating hatha ...
or be placed horizontally under the thigh in a
seiza.
Squatting or crouching
Squatting is a posture where the weight of the body is on the
feet (as with
standing) but the
knees and
hips are bent. In contrast,
sitting, involves taking the weight of the body, at least in part, on the buttocks against the ground or a horizontal object such as a
chair seat. The angle between the legs when squatting can vary from zero to widely splayed out, flexibility permitting. Squatting may be either:
* full – known as full squat, deep squat,
grok
''Grok'' is a neologism coined by American writer Robert A. Heinlein for his 1961 science fiction novel '' Stranger in a Strange Land''. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' summarizes the meaning of ''grok'' as "to understand intuitively o ...
squat, Asian squat, third world squat, (sitting) on one's haunches, (sitting) on one's hunkers, or hunkering (down)
* partial – known as partial, standing, half, semi, parallel, shallow, intermediate, incomplete, or monkey squat
Crouching is usually considered to be synonymous with full squatting. It is common to squat with one leg and
kneel
Kneeling is a basic human position where one or both knees touch the ground. Kneeling is defined as “to position the body so that one or both knees rest on the floor,” according to Merriam-Webster. Kneeling when only composed of one knee, and ...
with the other leg.
One or both heels may be up when squatting. Young children often instinctively squat. Among Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Eastern European adults, squatting often takes the place of sitting or standing.
Standing
Although quiet standing appears to be static, modern instrumentation shows it to be a process of rocking from the
ankle in the
sagittal
The sagittal plane (; also known as the longitudinal plane) is an anatomical plane that divides the body into right and left sections. It is perpendicular to the transverse and coronal planes. The plane may be in the center of the body and divi ...
plane. The sway of quiet standing is often likened to the motion of an inverted pendulum. There are many mechanisms in the body that are suggested to control this movement, e.g. a spring action in muscles, higher control from the nervous system or core muscles.
Although the posture is not dangerous in itself, there are pathologies associated with prolonged intervals of unrelieved standing. One short-term condition is
orthostatic hypotension
Orthostatic hypotension, also known as postural hypotension, is a medical condition wherein a person's blood pressure drops when standing up or sitting down. Primary orthostatic hypertension is also often referred to as neurogenic orthostatic hyp ...
, and long-term conditions are sore feet, stiff legs, and low back pain.
Some variations of standing are:
* Standing with arms ''akimbo'', that is with hands on hips, elbows pointing outward
* Standing with
folded arms
* Standing
contrapposto, with most of the weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs in the axial plane
* Standing
at attention, upright with an assertive and correct posture: "chin up, chest out, shoulders back, stomach in", arms at the side, heels together, toes apart
Contexts
Asanas
Certain
asanas
An asana is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and later extended in hatha yoga ...
postures were originally intended primarily to restore and maintain a practitioner's well-being, to improve the body's flexibility and vitality, and to promote the ability to remain in seated meditation for extended periods.
Atypical positions
Atypical positions are common to
break dancing,
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
, and
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
, and may include:
* standing on one leg
*
handstand
__NOTOC__
A handstand is the act of supporting the body in a stable, inverted vertical position by balancing on the hands. In a basic handstand, the body is held straight with arms and legs fully extended, with hands spaced approximately shoulder- ...
*
head stand
*
spreadeagle
*
crab position
The human body can be suspended in various stable positions, where the support is above the
center of gravity
In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force ma ...
. The positioning may be voluntary or involuntary.
Childbirth positions
In addition to the
lithotomy position still commonly used by many
obstetricians, childbirth positions that are successfully used by
midwives
A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery.
The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; c ...
and traditional birth-attendants the world over include
squatting
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
,
standing,
kneeling, and on all fours, often in a sequence.
Dance positions
Dance position is a position of a dancer or a mutual position of a dance couple assumed during a
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...
. Describing and mastering proper dance positions is an important part of dance technique.
Eating positions
Eating positions vary in different regions of the world, as culture strongly influences the way people eat their meals. For example, in most of the Middle Eastern countries, eating while sitting on the floor is most common, and it is believed to be healthier than eating while sitting at a table.
Eating in a reclining position was favored by the
Ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
at a celebration they called a
symposium
In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...
, and this custom was adopted by the
Ancient Romans
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...
.
Ancient Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still ...
also adopted this posture for traditional celebrations of a
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of _The_ ,_to_symbolize_freedom.
_The_biblical_prophet">isan_in_the__Hebrew_...
,_to_symbolize_freedom.