A few months ago, my back decided to explode with pain because I stepped out of the shower. I’ve been thinking about that, and the way our body sends us signals.

I think my future self decided to push my current - now past - self (are you keeping up with this?) toward change.

One of the things I remember about my great aunt - aside from our bus adventures, her mad landscape painting skills, and her world travels - was the way her back hunched. I didn’t know her as a young woman, obviously, and she was well into her elder years when I was cognizant enough to pay attention. I believe they called it a dowager’s hump. It’s something that I’m noticing in other women in my family as they age - and, to be honest, it’s something I don’t want but am likely susceptible to, given genetics and current physical ailments.

Apparently, when your shoulders are prone to hunching it can impede both breath and lymph movement, two things I’ve been wrestling with the past few years.

One of the consequences of my back exploding twice in several weeks was a doctor’s visit. In this doctor’s visit, I got an earful about core strength and proper posture.

Did you know that proper posture involves pinching your shoulder blades together? I didn’t. I knew about the Pretend To Be A Puppet trick, where you imagine a string through the top of your head pulling you up to the sky, but I was unaware of the shoulder blades thing.

Now, being as aware of my posture as I am, I’m wondering if this will have a positive effect on my future back, if I can keep it up. I believe it might. And as we all know, our beliefs inform our reality.

So I’ve decided that Back Explosion = Swift Kick to the Rear to Get My Posture In Order Before It’s Too Late = becoming one of those athletic elderly ladies with perfect posture who dance on TikTok.

That said, if I’m trying to make TikTok reels in forty years, just go ahead and shoot me now.