There is a correlation between posture and serotonin levels. Individuals with higher levels of serotonin have a more upright posture, are happier and more carefree, while individuals with lower serotonin levels may have a hunched posture, grim expression, and this overall atmosphere of "nothing exciting or amazing is going on in my life."
In my opinion, Ashton's posture was superb throughout the whole video and I viewed him as being completely natural. The trick is not to be too rigid; presenting an image or perception of naturality rather than controlled effort, which goes against the Law of Least effort. In addition, a posture, or any characteristic and trait, unlike that of your other contemporaries will set you apart due to its distinctiveness.
I've tested and observed the type of treatment, indirect and direct, that is received when one holds sloppy or normal posture versus that of a more proper, upper class, happier, or "try hard" posture.
Observations and Analysis without proper posture:
1. People do not move out of the way for you on the sidewalk or in a hall
2. Girls don't really pay attention to you, possibly because of blending in with the crowd or instant judgement of being lower value or not having your life together or having befallen some unfortunate turn of events
3. Conversations were the same, possibly due to my clothing and vocabulary
4. People don't really pay attention to you in a room full of people/crowd
Observations with proper posture:
1. People will move out of the way for you in tight spaces, like sidewalks, as if you are some important figure
2. Girls will go out of their way to get you to notice them
3. People will work to qualify themselves to you in conversation
4. An air of "higher" value is credited to you despite full knowledge of who you really are
As Chase mentioned in a post regarding posture:
don't let your thighs touch as you walk. It'll feel a little awkward at first, as though you're pushing your legs out of their sockets in your hips (you're not though), but you'll adapt to it quickly. A week or two of feeling funny while you walk... for a lifetime of looking sexy as hell. I think that's a fair trade.
Give yourself time to let this become a natural thing for you. I remember back in high school when I was working on having confident posture and walk, doing so felt extremely unnatural at first, finding myself switching back and forth between slumped and low shoulders to "keep your back straight, gut in, shoulders rolled back, chest out, and chin parallel to the ground." But here I am now at my age thinking, "anything but great posture just feels unnatural."
So to you I say, stick with developing a habit of keeping great posture. At first it will feel uncomfortable and you may even need to tweak some things as you realize that you may, in fact, behaving in an unnatural manner, but the beauty of trying new things and improving ourselves is that we eventually grow into an evolved version of ourselves and will be able to look back and laugh at how we used to think and be.
The video was great. Ashton really hits the nail on the head when he says one should never show that you're impressed. I'm still growing into this and I have observed, in multiple individuals, how one's treatment changes from when they were initially mysterious and uninvolved with the environment and individuals around them to being slightly more understood and more involved. I've figured that it's best to reveal as little as possible, while receiving maximum returns. It is much more efficient however, one must deal with being much more detached, something that I wasn't dealing well with two to three weeks ago. As a result, my lesson has been learnt and I am glad to have experienced it. Although somewhat irrelevant to the topic, I wanted to provide this here as a forewarning to all of you here and those who may read it in the near future.
Take care,