What is the act of getting tall

Getting tall is an action — not just a position you land in. A lot of people think "getting tall" means pulling your head up until you're tall. But when you pull the head up like that, you end up rolling backward, your lower back gets involved, and that's what causes the compensation issues you see.

Here's the difference: if you're standing with your knees straight, that's one thing. But if your knees are bent, that's a completely different position — and it's the one we want.

Getting tall means elongating your torso from the belly button up. We've said this a lot: let your belly hang. Belly button down — let it hang, relax it. Then from the belly button up, expand and stretch out. Once you do that, now you're tall.

So what's the actual difference? Simple. If I stretch up with legs straight — head reaching up, arms stretching out with a paddle in hand — that's my reach in that position. Now if I bend my knees and get down, then stretch tall from there — belly hanging, torso elongating up — that becomes my reach from this position. And you get way more movement out of it.

That's the whole point of getting tall: it makes you more mobile. If you stay locked with straight legs and head-reaching, you lock yourself in — your torso is stuck. But once you bend the knees and get tall from there, things start to open up. You become more mobile, more flexible, more everything.

So remember: belly button down, let it hang. Belly button up, stretch out and elongate — don't bring the belly with you. Leave it sitting down, stretch out, and now you're tall.