Good posture plays a key role in our overall wellbeing!
Researchers all over the world are posting new findings daily, concluding that our posture is one of the leading causes for all issues that lay at the base for lower back pain, neck pain, and even severe headaches or migraines!
Your body is the only vehicle you’ll own during your entire life. Treat it with some extra care. Every cell in your body is controlled by your central nervous system, and if your spine is at the heart of it. It's an amazing part of the human body. But bad posture can cause some problems over time.
The principle that prevention is better than cure has proven to be especially true when related to your body and posture. The abdominal and back muscles maintain the spine's natural curves. Good posture involves training your body to stand, walk, sit, and lie so that the least amount of strain is placed on the spine during movement or weight-bearing activities.
Discomfort and even pain in the Lumbar spine (yellow) region that gets worse after prolonged sitting or standing. Stinging or burning sensation from the lower back to the back of the thighs or the lower legs. Difficulty standing up straight, especially while sitting to stand up.
Fixing bad posture is the key to feeling best.
Like exercise, when we don't do it for a prolonged period, it only gets worse. That' s why everyone should care about there posture from time to time.
These are the most common problems coming from bad posture
• It can damage your neck, back and/or shoulders
• You can get chronic headaches or migraines attacks
• It can lead to impacting your sex life in a negative way
• Slouching makes you look older (and somewhat silly)
• It can cause an array of problems like a misaligned spine or
curvature problems, poor circulation of our fluid systems,
bad digestion, impaired lung functions, constricted nerves
at specific places in our bodies, and the list goes on...
WHAT IS BAD POSTURE AND HOW DOES IT AFFECTS OUR LIFE?
Do you ever feel a sharp pain in your back or neck? Or you feel like you slouch too much and your body is always tired? If the answer is yes to one or more of these questions, then there is a big chance that there something is wrong with your posture.
Bad posture can make your life miserable as it not only takes the charm away from your personality, it can also result in some serious health problems, including permanent damage to your back and neck.
To many people, fixing body posture seems like an impossible task especially with the hectic lives people are living these days. According to a study, an average person spends around 3 hours looking down on a screen. From scrolling through your Facebook feed to reading eBooks on Kindle, people spend alot of time sitting and staring at their screens.
However, bad posture can also come from an injury or due to your genetics.
HOW TO ACHIEVE GOOD POSTURE?
A big issue people have with achieving a neutral spine is getting the shoulders to line up where they should be. Most folks with bad posture have shoulders that round forward, giving them that Quasimodo look.
Your overall goal with posture is to have a “neutral spine.” A neutral spine retains three natural curves: a small hollow at the neck’s base, a small roundness at the middle back, and a small hollow in the lower back.
To achieve correct posture while standing, the ears, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles should align in one straight line. To give you a mental image of what good posture looks like, imagine a plumb line running from your earlobe. If you have the correct posture, the line would hang straight to the middle of your anklebone.
A GOOD POSTURE CORRECTOR CAN BRING THE BEST RESULTS
But the good news is that a lot of mentioned problems can be solved using a good posture corrector!
A good posture corrector follows the principle of tissue adaptation, which refers to the fact that whenever you do something for an extended period, your body adapts to it. Therefore, when you wear a good posture corrector, your body is held in a better position for a longer time.
The brace pulls your muscles to the natural position, and you are restrained to keep it in that position. It restricts your body from slouching or hunching down your shoulders. It can be a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, but once you start wearing it every day, you will start to see the results for yourself.
The benefits of good posture are simply overwhelming!
THE BENEFITS OF GOOD POSTURE:
Here are the most important benefits of good posture:
• It can eliminate neck and back pain completely
• It boosts your self-esteem in a gradual way
• It improves your memory and learning capabilities
• It makes you happier and in an overall better mood
• It increases testosterone
• It boosts your energy levels, thus your productivity goes up
• It makes you taller and slimmer, and look more powerful in a way
• It makes you recover from your workouts faster
• It improves your breathing and makes you feel freer in your body overall
A FEW TIPS FOR A BETTER POSTURE THAT ARE COMPLETELY FREE
It's all about making the right choices from moment to moment, our habits. If you can incorporate 1 or more of these habits you will improve upon your posture :
Stand up tall. Pretend you’re standing against a wall to measure your height. Hold your head straight and tuck in your chin. Your ears should be over the middle of your shoulders. Stand with your shoulders back, knees straight, and belly tucked in. Don't let your booty or hips stick out. Straighten up so you feel like your head stretches toward the sky.
Stretch. Simple stretches can relieve muscle tension and help you realign your posture. Try the shoulder roll: Sit or stand comfortably. As you inhale, raise your shoulders to your ears. As you exhale, pull your shoulder blades down and together. Do this five or 10 times in a row, a few times a day.
Don't sit still for too long at a time. Sitting for long periods almost always leads to stiffness and slouching, Deon says, so she recommends getting up to move around every 20 to 30 minutes. If you need reminding, several smartphone apps will nudge you to take periodic breaks.
Keep your chin up, even when looking at your phone. Texting is the modern enemy of good posture, Deon says. "You never want to spend long periods with your head pushed forward — that's a really good way to develop a long-term neck problem." Tilting the head forward 30 degrees more than triples the amount of stress placed on your neck, which can result in muscle strain, pinched nerves or herniated disks. To avoid "text neck," practice looking down at your phone with your eyes alone, not bending your neck.
THE TWO MYTHS OF GOOD POSTURE
So having good posture comes with big benefits.
But what does good posture look like? When most people think of good posture, they’re usually thinking of it in terms of two myths we should get out of the way before we go any further:
Posture Myth nr. 1:
"Good posture should feel rigid and take a lot of work."
When most people hear “good posture,” they imagine a soldier standing at attention. But this is bad posture (and despite our perceptions, isn’t the way actual soldiers are taught to stand either). This imaginary soldier stance causes your muscles and tendons to work hard to maintain an unnatural position. If you’ve felt sore after a day of focusing on good posture, chances are it’s because you spent your time trying to pull yourself into this pose.
Good posture should feel relaxed and easy. When you have good posture, your bones, not your muscles, keep your body upright and balanced. Even though you’re sitting and standing straighter than you usually do, you shouldn’t feel tense or strained.
Now, if you’ve done a lot of sitting and slumping in your life, getting into a good posture position isn’t going to feel effortless at first. You shouldn’t feel strained, but you may feel tight. To ease this tightness, read and implement the tips in the last section of this article.
On to Posture Myth nr. 2:
"There’s one ideal posture everyone should be aiming for."
Contrary to popular belief, there’s no one exact standard for what constitutes good posture. Everyone’s body is different, so good posture for one man won’t necessarily look the same for another. With that said, there are a few cues we can all use to find our ideal posture, whether sitting or standing.
SO ARE YOU READY TO WORK ON YOUR POSTURE?
By now it should be clear how important good posture is for a healthy body.
Improve your posture and live a healthier, happier and more fulfilled life!
Extra resources used:
5 Really Great Reasons Why Good Posture Is Super Important
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/5-really-great-reasons-why-good-posture-is-super-important_n_581282f8e4b0390e69cf3d90?guccounter=1
The Ultimate Guide to Posture
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/the-ultimate-guide-to-posture/
Anatomy of the Spine
https://mayfieldclinic.com/pe-anatspine.htm