Let’s talk about posture…
Posture is important for all of us!
We all adopt habits in our lives.
When it comes to posture most of these habits are not helpful for our spine or self -esteem
We all adopt habits in our lives. Modern living, comfy sofas and chairs all encourage us into “relaxed” slouched postures that don’t support and help look after our spines. There’s a great quote by Joseph Pilates that says “If your spine is stiff at 30, you are old. If it is flexible at 60, you are young.” For many of us we lead sedentary lives, sitting at desks/office jobs for the majority of our day and movement is not happening.
Movement is key to our bodies remaining healthy. Posture is important to allow our vital organs inside room and the ability to function. And yet, the majority of us still slouch.
WHY?
Because of what we do day in, day out.
Have you ever sat still for ages (possibly in a slumped position) and then got up to move and felt a shooting pain down your leg? It’s not the standing up that caused the problem, it was the sitting down in a bad posture for a prolonged length of time.
Naturally, our brain will tell us moving is dangerous as it just causes me pain, when in fact, movement is medicine and static positions and bad postures are dangers.
Learn about…
Why slouching is not good for us
Why it’s important we become more body aware of our postures
The superpower postures that help you gain body confidence
Why posture matters and the link to neck/shoulder pain and your bra
Many youtube videos on how to improve your posture
Desk based sitting top tips video
Remember 30 years of sitting badly is not undone with 30 days of movement.
It’s a gradual habit we all need to work on improving EVERY day.
The interesting thing about posture
POSTURE is an interesting one.
During my time as a physio it always dumbfounded me a bit if I’m completely honest which sounds bizarre as you would think that would be my forte. It wasn’t. But now, with a lot of Pilates training, I am all for postural awareness and encouraging others to devote time to their own posture.
Postural changes can catch a lot of pregnant ladies out and for many may lead to pelvic girdle pain due to altered spine and pelvis positions. Simple strategies to make you aware of your changing body shape and education about what is and isn’t normal can all help ladies remain in control of their expanding waistlines.
Post-baby, your body and posture WILL CHANGE.
Your ribcage has expanded to accommodate your growing baby, your tummy muscles will have lengthened and separated to some degree and once the baby is no longer a bump, you often find yourself in a state of no man’s land wondering what to do.
In today’s modern world everything is fast-paced. We spend more time sitting than doing and more time staring at screens than moving. For our posture, this is BAD NEWS. Regular changes of position and returning to an upright posture is of paramount importance if we want to avoid bad backs, necks or body injuries to peripheries such as wrists.
Posture Matters
Your posture can affect many things. It is powerful and says a lot about you.
It can portray confidence and shyness, it can improve your digestive system function or compromise it, it can prevent body aches and pains or contribute towards them and it can improve your general health and wellbeing as if we stand/sit taller, we breathe better, we feel more energised and are generally more productive and able to focus.
So WHY is it super hard for most of us to have good postural HABITS?
Modern lifestyle.
Your Body Language may shape who you are – Amy Cuddy
There is a fabulous TED talk by Amy Cuddy who is a social psychologist called “Your body language may shape who you are”.
She talks about how your body language affects how people see us but it can also affect how we see ourselves. She explains how “power posing” which is standing in a posture of confidence even when we don’t feel confident, can boost our feelings of confidence which may, in turn, have an impact on our chances of success.
I think we all know that when we slump, we crowd our vital organs, we feel sluggish and it’s not long until aches and pains creep in. Equally, if we look at others who are slumped over it does not portray confidence, it might even portray unease.
The hunchback of Notre Dame springs to mind. Is everyone sitting/standing a little taller now?
When we stand taller, we feel taller and when we breathe deeper, we feel expanded. These postures allow us to lengthen our spine, expand our size and with that comes an air of authority and strength. We breathe more oxygen in and expel more carbon dioxide out. We are more efficient within our bodies. Yet, many of us find these positions hard to maintain.
Posture is a habit. Not many of us practise it well. Exactly the same as our pelvic floor exercises!!
Go take a look and visit my Pelvic Floor page for more support
When was your last bra fitting?
I want to touch a little bit on breast health here.
There are a staggering number of us wearing the wrong bra, 93% in fact! Add in menarche, pregnancy, breastfeeding, post birth into the mix or on repeat over several years, illness/injury perhaps, peri-menopause and then post-menopause we need regular fittings that adapt with us and our life-changing events.
A good bra should support and uplift our breast tissue. An optimal bra fitting combined with postural awareness greatly improves breast position. More importantly, it improves posture, reduces back, neck and shoulder pain, can reduce your dress size by a WHOLE SIZE, improve your self-esteem and allow you to participate in exercise improving your overall quality of life.
Useful videos
Good standing posture tips
Good sitting postural tips
Standing postural stretch
Desk based workers postural tips
Related blog posts to posture…
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Resources
Websites:
Blogs:
Diane Lee – Butt-grippers, back-grippers and chest-grippers
Social media:
@posture.ellie | @posture.fitting | @good.posture.mama
You tube: