Do you know what Princess Mary has in common with a statue from Classical Greece and an Amazonian tribesperson? No? The answer is: excellent posture. Standing tall and proud is a trait we associate with royalty. Imagine how out of place it would look if Prince William slumped over a desk or trudged about at public ceremonies. The reason royals look more powerful than most is because their bodies are aligned to the optimum posture. Their regal bearing has become an outward display of status based on the very real fact their spine and muscles are working with strength and power – that actually prevents back pain in the first place. It was an acupuncturist in the USA, Esther Gokhale, who discovered that a regal posture is ideal for human beings. It is how our ancestors are likely to have stood before the industrial revolution. Gokhule was fed up with the conventional approach of western medicine when she faced her second round of back surgery for herniated discs. She took it upon herself to research cultures where back pain was not a problem. It might be surprising to know that although back pain is at epidemic proportions in developed societies, numerous indigenous tribes across different continents barely experience back pain. Gokhale examined what these people are doing differently – they are standing so that their spine is elongated to resemble a J rather than an S. The ideal curvature of the spine is less pronounced than we have been raised to believe. Anyone who has seen Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries already knows that it only takes a little training to gain the noble stature which our bodies are designed to inhabit. It's simply about relearning posture. Here's four simple tips that will help you stand like a king and improve your posture: 1. Let’s start by lengthening the spine. Simply stand and take a deep breath. See your body fill and rise like a balloon. The trick is not to let your body deflate as you exhale. 2. Do you want to grow even taller in under a minute? If you said yes, your challenge is to stretch the vertebrae in your neck. All you need to do is grab a light, folded cloth and place it atop your crown. Remain standing but push your head up against the cloth to feel your neck elongate, subtly but surely. 3. Now notice the poor posture assumed by your arms. Your shoulders are forward, arms rest in front of the body and your thumbs face inwards. This is typical posture but not ideal. We want your arms to be at the side, and thumbs facing the front. All you must do is roll your shoulders forwards, upwards, around and down until your arms are dangling by your side. Make sure the arms are angled so the thumb is facing to the front naturally (i.e. there should not be any need to twist your wrist). 4. Because this is real life we get that you don’t have all day to stand around like the statue of David. It’s time to get walking like you mean it. Take a few paces to pay attention to the muscle groups in action. Focus on the gluteus maximus (aka the buttocks). This muscle group needs to actively contract with each step. For a little while it will be necessary to put conscious effort into your posture and walk, but before long you will be looking good as any statue by Michelangelo.