Perhaps one of the best loved cartoon characters is Charlie Brown. His ability to capture our heart lies in his simple honesty, which resonates with our own life experiences and enables us to smile, perhaps because we feel less isolated.

Do you remember Charles Schulz’s famous cartoon below where Charlie Brown demonstrated his “depressed stance”?

I experienced a severe depression in my late twenties. Charlie’s stance felt right, for it reflected the depth of despair within my soul. When a dear missionary friend prayed the bondage of darkness be broken, hope quietly flowed within my heart. Energized, I could stand erect.

A few years later after being in a car accident and required to wear a back brace, I learned most movements triggered sharp pain. To prevent pain, my shoulders hunched forward. Instinctively as my body compensated for that misalignment, my neck and head moved towards my body in a protective stance.

Bear with me, this is important. As I slouched, my lungs were compressed, diminishing oxygen flow and causing a build-up of carbon-dioxide. Decreased oxygen flow to my brain caused diminished clarity of thought. Though initially it felt better, it stressed my body as it starved my organs of oxygen.

I can almost hear you thinking, but slouching feels comfortable and requires less energy. Sadly, studies show poor posture reinforces depression, lack of energy, poor alignment, and pain.

I began to write this article because I’ve learned an amazing truth. If you take what scientists call the turtle posture, with your head bowed forward, your shoulders drooped and hunched forward, and your neck pulled in like a turtle, something happens within your limbic system that causes your emotions to plummet.

I thought, no way!

So I decided to experiment. Uh! It is true. It really did alter my feelings – which plumeted to the floor as my shoulders drooped! I felt like I was bowed under a heavy burden, which created feelings of being sad and depressed.

I think you are with me. Poor posture isn’t advisable. As a preteen, Mom made me walk with a book on my head to improve my posture. Yes, I have to admit it. I carried on the practice with my children, not knowing the scientific reason posture was important – just that good posture looks nice.

Now here is the fascinating part! Science says Charlie’s posture is also the posture of shame! I’m not talking about being ashamed of doing something horrible that hurts others. I am talking about the niggling feelings of not being good enough that causes us to feel there is no hope.

It makes sense Charlie carried both depression and shame, for he often expressed he felt like he was a failure. Maybe that’s why I love Charlie Brown; you see, for decades I also carried the heavy burden of shame.

While I don’t endorse Arrested Development this video is a perfect example of what I’m talking about!

A few years ago it dawned on me, shame is a false identity poisoning one’s life. Shame gains false authority in its attack on us as a byproduct of abusive acts and unkind words. Often abuse occurred during childhood when someone older and trusted, someone with authority over us did something against our will. Perhaps a parent, a teacher, a grandparent, an elder sibling, or even peers who overrode our boundaries and hurt us.

Violating a child’s personhood by overriding healthy boundaries steals his or her dignity and dumps shame onto him that rightfully belonged to the shameful deed done against him or her.

If you were that child, the shame doesn’t belong to you. Nor are you shameful! Shame was displaced onto you, it overrode your will and caused the eradication of your true identity, your true personality, dignity, confidence, and your sense of worth. That heavy burden left you feeling unlovable.

I am sure you will agree with me. That was a lie! One reason we know it was a lie is if Charlie’s shame made him unloveable, we wouldn’t care about him. Instead, we all love Charlie Brown! We don’t see him as being shameful.