Unusual posture, especially when walking

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I've been told I always have had awkward posture. Especially when I walk, people have said that it looks like I'm really tensed up and I don't move my arms to the "normal" extent. So walking in public, like around campus, is a very uncomfortable thing because I'm constantly self-conscious about how tense and unnatural my body feels and how I should swing my arms more as I walk so as not to look like a robot etc. I always feel off-balance, and that people notice it. Anybody else have this annoyance?

Yeah I do. I wear correctional posture shoes that someone told me are the new fad for women wanting to shape their body. They make me stand up straight and provide comfort to my extremely flat feet and these women are just concerned about shaping their hips.
Normally I have to force myself to stand up straight. Roll the shoulders back and puff out the chest and make sure my heels touch the ground when I walk. Or I just put on the MBT's and they do half the work for me.
I force arm swing too. I'm well aware how odd I look.

I can't arm swing naturally.
I'm splay-footed.
My arms are often bent at the elbows and my fists clenched or fingers held out in an odd position... if I try to put my arms down they almost always go back up like they're attached to balloons.
I often stand like a statue and cover my mouth (I try to stop covering my mouth but I don't know where else to put my hands, so if I have a book to hold/hug it helps things)
I either look at my foot or look up at an odd angle when walking.

I feel like a robot when I walk. If I try to correct it I feel more like an automated robot especially when trying to swing my arms. I try not to let it bother me.

My shoes need to be a size too big because my feet are wide, and i walk on the balls of my feet, which means the empty heels of my shoes fall and slide.. I get accussed of shuffling.

When I try to stand still, I can't - I wobble to a noticable extent... maybe the right word is sway.

Never know which way to move my arms.. usually my elbows are proximal to my body since I don't want to bump anything or anyone as I motor through - oh yeah.. I move fast. Everyone always tells me I'm too fast. When I try to slow down to other peoples' pace, I get all gangly.

I found that moving my arms feels pointless and annoying.

yeah... i spent my teenage years asking my mother "how do i walk? "and having her do it so i can see what i need to work on. it helps a lot. ask someone you trust to do this as accurately as possible, and you'll be able to correct for exemple your centre of gravity ( i used to put my hips forwards, and looked like wind was blowing my upper body to the back , when i tried to look "relaxed"like other people) i still look a little stiff or jumpy but if i'm in a situation where i need to look as normal as possible, i can correct it now. just learn what muscles you need to use and how much strenght to use in each of them by practicing with the person you chose. i swear it helped me a lot.

I walk oddly. I fall down easily. I walk "toe-to-heel" whereas most people walk "heel-to-toe" (don't know how they stay upright . . . ).

My hands are unwelcome passengers in my pedestrian travels. I don't even know where to start.

Yeah, I get it.

I put my hands in my pockets as often as possible. Whats worse is that I raise my shoulders up instead of letting them hang naturally. I'm trying hard to correct that.

I don't move my arms when I am walking and I am doing big steps so I can arrive more quickly.

This thread got me paying attention to the way that I was walking on the way to the bus stop, this morning. I felt a bit tensed up, and I wasn't swinging my arms.

Yeah. When I was younger, other kids used to laugh at my walking. Later they stopped, because they became more mature.

I walk oddly. I can't coordinate my whole body. It's so big (I'm 6'0) and I have to control my legs, my arms, everything. It's really hard to do. I'm programmed for smaller, less complicated body! I've heard I don't use my knees, but I'm not sure what it means exactly.

I was often accused of walking "strangely", wlthough I certainly don't walk half as strangely as you do.

At least my arms swing allright. But I don't "roll" my feet as I'm supposed to. Other people don't just lift their feet from the ground when walking, but lift first the heel and then the toes in a continuous manner... which I can't get myself to do as excessively as I should. And I don't "roll" them onto the ground as well, I just... put my heel on the ground and the rest simply hits the street.
But one of my pairs of shoes helped to correct that a little, since they made a slapping sound everytime I did that. It annoyed me as well as others, so I took care to place my feet more carefully.

If I walk downhill, I walk toe-to-heel, although I noticed that other people do not. Tried to change it, but it feels uncomfortable.
I usually pace, it's a kind of automatic mode.I feel uncomfortable when walking slow.

When I run (and I hardly run, as it is not much faster than my walk), I prefer toe-to-heel. Running with using my feet as I should gives me a headache because of the impact if my feet hit the ground. Walking toe-to-heel makes me more "bouncy". Kinda like on a spring and way more comfortable.

As for my posture... as bad as always. I keep trying to fix that, but my shoulders just seem to raise themselves, and I tend to look to the ground and am all hunched up.

I don't move my arms. If I have pockets, I keep my hands in my pockets, if not, then I play with my badge, or flap my hands. I also always keep my eyes on the ground.

yeah i my arms feel self conscious too. and about the unrolling of the foot dreamwalker mentionned....i never knew i was really supposed to do that ...i slap my feet to the ground....one point is bothering me though, how do NTs not stumble down every stairs if they go down heel to toe? surely they must put their toes first on the next step right? otherwise it's just suicide......

I have to constantly keep telling myself to stand straight when I am walking if I forget I am hunched over which causes me some back discomfort. I also stagger when I walk. It has been so bad I have been pulled over by the police because they think I am on drugs or drunk in public. I walk following the edge of the side walk sort of walking along that line it keeps me walking straighter without so much staggering.