Having good posture does more than keeping you feeling confident and looking tall. Good posture has a great impact on your health, overall.
According to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), posture is defined as the position in which our bodies are held while we are sitting, standing or lying down. Good posture is the key to correct alignment of all of the body parts, being supported by the correct amount of muscle tension against the work of gravity.
In with the Good (Posture)
People who have good posture often feel better, sleep better and have less pain in the joints, neck, back and head. Proper posture can help you to have better digestion, it can improve your organ function and can even help to make chiropractic treatments be more effective.
According to research, positive body language and correct posture can impact our decision-making abilities and can also influence hormones that are linked to disease resistance as well as leadership abilities. So not only does posture help with our overall health, but it can also possibly contribute to our successes.
Out with the Bad
And while good posture has its benefits for our overall health, poor posture can actually do the opposite. It can cause our energy levels to drop and it can speed up the aging process. Poor posture also has a way of adversely impacting our sleep, breathing and stress levels. These negative effects of poor posture are due to the fact that our tissues are stretched out over time as well as any hormonal changes that can take place within our bodies as a result of being in these poor posture positions.
Poor posture is also linked with many pain-related issues, including neck pain, back pain and headaches. According to the ACA, nearly 80 percent of the population experiences low back pain during some point in their lives, which may be due to poor posture that has been developed after sitting for long periods of time!
Improving Your Posture
It is never too late to work on improving your posture. Below are a few tips that may help you to better your posture so you can reap all of the benefits that come along with it.
1. Practice sitting and standing with proper posture. It is important to learn proper posture for sitting and standing before you work on anything else related to posture.
When sitting, your feet should be flat on the floor and your ankles should be positioned slightly in front of your knees. Your lower back should be supported by a cushion if necessary with your forearms parallel to the ground. Try to avoid sitting in the same position for extended periods of time.
While standing, your shoulders should be aligned with your ears and your hips aligned with your ankles. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart while your knees are slightly bent. Strive to carry your weight mostly on the balls of your feet. Another way to ensure your standing posture is correct is to bring your shoulders all the way back and a little bit inward and to bring your hips forward all of the way, then back just slightly.
2. Wear the right shoes, as this is another way to ensure good posture. There should be a half inch of space between your longest toe and the tip of your shoe. If your feet are curved, straight, narrow or wide, look for shoes that conform to the shape of your foot. Avoid wearing shoes that crowd your feet.
3. Limit time with technology. It is difficult to practice good posture with devices, such as laptops, cell phone screens and tablets. Limit the time you spend on these devices to a number of minutes per day to keep your posture habits heading in a positive direction.
3. See your chiropractor. A chiropractor in Tucker, GA can assess your posture and help you to discover any bad posture habits before they contribute to health issues (or bigger ones if you already have some). By helping you change your posture, a chiropractor can help many of the negative conditions associated with poor posture to stay at bay – or to reverse them if they are already present.