Simple Things You Can Do To Improve Your Posture
I’m not sure exactly how it’s happened that I got to a point in my life when sleeping a bit awkwardly would leave me with a sore neck for over 6 weeks and require a trip to the physiotherapist. But quite frankly, “cheers again Mother Nature”.
So given that I’m obviously no longer the spring chicken I once was, and my Tik Tok “hot girl walk” is way more of a “hot woman (more likely to be having a flush) walk” these days, I took the opportunity to chat with my physio to ask the best ways to maintain or improve my posture as I get older.
She said it’s about taking a holistic approach, so doing just one thing isn’t going to help you as much as taking a combined approach will:
1. Use a posture brace/support
A good posture support will stop you slouching and encourage correct postural alignment. It should also help you to reduce neck and back strain. The support manually holds your shoulders back into alignment and the idea is you wear it for a few hours at a time.
It serves best as a reminder about the correct position that you should be sitting or standing in rather than something you should become reliant on. If you overuse a posture support you could actually end up weakening your muscles. There are numerous types of support brace so it is probably a good idea to do your own research and/or speak to a physiotherapist who might be able to recommend one to suit you best.
2. Move and Stretch Regularly
Remember to get up and move about regularly throughout the day. There are some specific yoga moves that are really good for maintaining or improving your posture. Anything that helps to improve strength, flexibility and balance is going to help your posture. So moves like downward dog, child’s pose, forward fold, cat cow stretch, side planks and the pigeon pose are all really helpful.
You can’t always manage a full on yoga routine when you’re working, so making sure you do a couple of regular simple stretches throughout the day is essential. You could do some tricep stretches, overhead arm stretches and clasping your arms behind your back to stretch out your shoulders. You can also do some torso twists, some shoulder shrugs and neck twists. Or try a yoga routine like this one from Adriene Mishler:
https://yogawithadriene.com/yoga-for-healthy-posture.
Taking a regular Pilates class is another great option as this will also have a strong focus on building your core muscles.
3. Sit Properly
You do also need to consider how you sit when you are at your desk or in front of your PC or laptop. You can improve your posture by:
- Keeping your feet flat or resting them on the floor or on a footrest
- Uncrossing your legs
- Maintaining a small gap between the back of the knees and the chair
-Knees should be the same height or slightly lower than the hips and facing forwards
- Relaxing the shoulders
- Keeping forearms and knees parallel to the floor
- Holding elbows at the sides creating and L-shape in the arms
- Sitting up straight and looking forward without straining the neck
- Keeping the back against the chair
- Avoid sitting for long periods of time
- Ideally taking a 10 minute break for every hour of sitting
If you have to work for extended periods of time at a computer you need to think about taking extra precautions to make sure you maintain a healthy posture and back. This might include things like standing desks, ergonomic chairs, customising work spaces with footrests, wrist pads etc.
Keeping fit and active in general through a weight based activity such as regular walking or running can help to build bone strength.
This is really important for post-menopausal women who may develop severe postural changes from osteoporosis.
One of the other things you can do is to be careful that you’re not always looking down at handheld electronic devices because this puts additional strain on the back of your neck. So prop your devices up.
Having good posture is also said to boost your confidence and self-esteem, reduce headaches and tension, helps you to concentrate better and gives you more energy and makes you look younger.
So no slouching when I’m sitting down, having better posture alignment when I’m working and channelling my inner wonder woman and yogi is my plan.
I’m on my 365 day journey, #365small changes, what difference are you going to make in your life?
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