Simple Ways To Improve Our Posture
Zoe Warren | Longer Read
Before we move first we should pause and check our posture and alignment. More movement is key but more movement in bad alignment will cause more damage than good.
The rounded shoulder and stooped shape of ageing is not predetermined. There is no need for us to slip into bad postural habits and end up with this shape. We want to stand tall and strong to help us feel better physically and also to help us feel more confident and balanced in our day to day lives too.
We tend to spend a lot of time seated; at our desks, in our cars, on the sofa at the end of the day. If you think of how you sit in these scenarios more often than not you let your spine flex or round and fall into less healthy postural habits. Repeating this all day every day is going to make the bones, muscles and connective tissue take on this shape long term and hence we end up rounded and weak at the back of the body often with pain in our backs, our pelvis or our shoulders.
My favourite word is AWARENESS!
Bring awareness to how you sit and stand, notice any bad habits and try to correct them. The more you catch yourself and correct yourself the easier it will become until healthy good postural habits become your default comfortable position rather than a slumped one! Try and get lots of movement into your daily life to keep the body supple and strong; walk, stretch or dance as much as you can through the day even if you do need to be seated for your job. There is always time to squeeze in a stretch or two, the benefits are WAY greater than the hassle and will make you smile too!
Checklist for improving your seated posture:
A harder chair is always better for maintaining better posture, try to sit upright rather than flop back
A high table or a lower chair helps you to sit up tall rather than lean forward and round
If you are at your desk make sure your computer is directly in front of you so you are not reaching over to one side for it.
Have your two feet flat on the floor
Make sure your bottom is evenly weighted on each side (ie you are not slumping on one side)
Sit up tall and length the spine by imagining a string lifting you up through the crown of the head
Roll the shoulders back
Off you go!
Checklist for improving your sTANDING posture:
Make sure your feet are parallel and the weight is distributed evenly on each foot
Try lifting your toes, feel your inner arches lift and now press down into the four corners of your feet to activate them, let your toes spread out as you lower them down.
Press your feet down and slightly apart to align your feet and your pelvis
Pull your belly in
Lengthen up through your spine by imagining that string lifting you up through the crown of your head
Roll your shoulders back and down the back of the body
Bring your chin parallel to the floor
Line up the back of your head with your tailbone
Off you go!
These simple but hugely beneficial postural checklists may feel different and maybe even uncomfortable to start with but see if you can remind yourself every time you sit at your desk and every time you stand chatting in the kitchen or waiting in a queue until the healthy way to stand and sit feels much more comfortable than the unhealthy way. This is a vital way for our bodies to be happy, healthy and pain free.
Maybe write a list and leave it by your desk or set a reminder on your phone to buzz and you bring yourself back to that vital first step of awareness, how am I standing/ sitting and how can I improve it? Move about a bit and then start again.. Repeat, repeat, repeat!
Really hope this helps to support you.
Love,
Zoe x
get the #cloglow
You might also like
