How to Improve Posture » Correct Posture

6 Simple Back Stretches to Alleviate Pain and Improve Posture

Eric — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:18:32 +0000

There are many different stretches that you can do for your back. Stretching your back can help you to alleviate pain and gain better posture. This article will discuss different back stretches and how they are preformed.

We’ll start with a simple seated lower back stretch. You will want to begin this stretch by sitting in a chair with a straight back. Relax your shoulders and place your arms at your sides. Tuck your tummy in and bend straight down Reach your arms toward the floor and allow your head to rest on your knees. Hold the stretch as long as you are comfortable for up to 30 seconds. Then slowly roll back up into a seated position.

Another back stretch that you can perform is a spinal twist. Stay seated in your chair and rest your feet on a foot stool. Now cross your arms over your chest and turn to your right. Hold in that position as long as you are comfortable and then return back to the center. Take a couple of big deep breaths and then twist in the opposite direction.

The reach and stretch exercise is also great for you back. To perform this exercise you will need to stand with you feet apart (shoulder with is preferred). Next bend your knees slightly and bring your arms above your head. Clasp your hands together and stretch to one side while looking up at your hands. Hold the stretch for up to 30 seconds then release and relax. Repeat the exercise this time stretching to the opposite side.

One of the best stretches that you can do for your back is the elongated side stretch. This stretch is relatively simple to perform. Start by standing with your leg just slightly more than shoulder width apart. Do not lock your knees, but try to keep your legs straight. Begin by raising your left arm over your head. Allow your right arm to fall down to your right leg. Bend as far as you can and hold. Once you release the stretch do it again on the other side.

You can also do the crossed leg stretch to help stretch your back. This stretch is done in a laying position. Align your body and take a deep breath in. As you breathe out bring your right arm over your body and stretch toward your left side. Next bring your right knee over your body and hold it there for up to 30 seconds. Once you release the stretch realign your body and do it again on the opposite side.

Trunk rotations can also be great for stretching the back and improving posture. Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder width apart. Place your hands on your hips and rotate to your left as far as you can. Hold the stretch for 10-30 seconds and release. Now does the same thing once more, only this time rotate to the right.

Back stretches are a fantastic way to improve your posture and alleviate pain. It is important that you discuss any exercise program with your doctor. This is especially important if you are in poor health or if you have had a recent back surgery. Make sure your doctor is aware of what stretches you are performing so that he or she can help to insure you will not be injured.

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Good Posture Exercises

Eric — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:11:09 +0000

Just imagine that you are in a social gathering. Somebody walks in and everybody turns to look at him make an appearance. If you are a male, you may be envious of seeing another Alpha plus male walking in your territory, and if you are a female, there is a chance that you might be wondering, “who is that guy?” A subconscious first impression is everlasting, especially a person knows how to use his body language to show that he is successful, self — confident, respects the workings of his body and knows how to use his posture to the best effect.

Romantic writers have a tendency to describe the hero as walking like a panther. What they want to express is that the hero knows exactly which muscle needs to be employed, optimally, and properly in fluid movements. Not only is the hero into regular exercising, but also he knows how to keep his body fit, with exercises that include all the muscles for improving his posture. These exercises are going to include the muscles of the shoulders, neck, back and legs. An improved posture means every single part of the body is exercised and all the muscles are utilized. The muscles have to fit with each other like, the cogs in a well-oiled machine, to make you “move like a panther.” Those big cats know what they are about!

Many people have the tendency to go in for rigorous exercising, because they think that it is going to improve their posture as well as their health, dramatically. Slow and steady wins the race here. It also does not mean that you spend one hour in the morning, jogging, swimming, and exercising and spend the rest of the day as wrung out as a wet sponge. Exercises have to be done in moderation, whatever the time limit is.

It is necessary that the posture exercises which you choose for improving your posture include all the muscles of the neck, shoulders, hips, and every single portion of your back. Changing the way you carry yourself in just one area is going to settle the muscles in all the other areas automatically, but this is going to be a gradual process. Just take one example. Slump your shoulders down, to make your chest touch your tummy. You are going to see that your whole chest region as well as your stomach region has scrunched up, so that you do not get enough of oxygen in your lungs. Now, slowly raise your chest to expand itself, raise your neck, straighten your shoulders, and look at the drastic improvement in the state of your stomach and back. This should show you that an improved posture affects every single part of your body.

If the exercise seems to strain any of your muscles, it is definitely not going to be an exercise which you would enjoy doing day in, day out. So, to make sure that you do not find any excuses of getting out of your posture exercise routine, search for fun exercises instead.

Make sure that these exercises relax, strengthen and stretch your body properly. Do see that they do not take up too much of your time, so that exercising does not turn out to be a tiresome chore!

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Correct Sitting Posture – Secret to Eliminating Back Pain

Eric — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:35:30 +0000

While we all know how beneficial yoga can be to our health and well being, performing the correct sitting posture to obtain the maximum health benefits can be quite difficult, especially if you are at all unsure of what you are doing. With our lives becoming more stressful, more people are seeking out low impact, yet safe, methods that can help them de-stress while improving their health. The problem with this is that most jump into their new routine feet first without knowing a thing about the proper form that is required to achieve maximum results. This usually results in many complaining that they have not been able to experience the true inner piece that yoga is supposed to deliver. Here are some facts behind the proper sitting position and how this position can help you experience all the positive effects that yoga has to offer.

First, your sitting posture should be firm yet relaxed. This may sound like a contradiction, but in order to achieve results your posture should be poised and free of discomfort. If you have ever experienced pains in your lower back, these pains most commonly occur due to bad posture habits. Whether you slouch all the time or you have spinal problems due to scoliosis, proper yoga sitting posture can help realign the body by consistently practicing healthy habits. Just remember if the position you are sitting in hurts, then you need to re-adjust until you are feeling pain free.

Second, a proper sitting posture can help improve your body in many ways. Learning the correct sitting posture in yoga is a must before you attempt to perform more complex moves. Once you master the basics, consistent use of yoga can help improve muscle flexibility and provide better concentration while improving the function of your respiratory system. This can help the practitioner improve their overall well being by mastering a new way to handle the negative effects in their life.

Lastly, practicing a proper sitting posture in yoga can help break the practitioner of bad habits. Since most of us spend hours at the office stuck in front of a computer, odds are you too have fallen victim to less than perfect posture. Whether you find yourself straining your neck to see the screen or you have to sit on the edge of your chair so your feet can touch the ground, both practices can have a negative effect on your body.

While we know that this posture is bad for us, we usually tend to ignore it because it’s what we need to do in order to get the job done. Practicing the proper yoga sitting position can help us be more aware of our bad habits, because it is these bad habits that will start to cause pain. Since the core of yoga is to be in a firm yet comfortable posture, your posture at work should follow the same methodology. That way no matter how stressful the day gets you should be able to leave feeling as refreshed as you did when you walked in the door.

These are just a few of the tips that a proper sitting posture in yoga has to offer. Utilizing a firm yet comfortable posture can help the practitioner experience all the positive effects that yoga has to offer.

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Good Sitting Posture – 5 Sure-fire Tips to Better Spine Health

Eric — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:52:53 +0000

While much attention is given to our active posture, our posture at rest is often more important, especially as this is how significantly more of our time is spent. As such, our aches and pains, as well as our opportunity for improvement, are more available to us during times when we are apparently relaxed. Yet because it seems like our bodies are under fewer demands as we sit or recline, our resting posture receives less attention and effort.

The spine consists of an outward curve in the upper back and an inward arch further down. If either is not aligned properly, and is not kept in check via correct resting posture, then numerous pains can develop. Also, since this natural support is crucial to efficient bodily function, we will fatigue more easily if both arches are not receiving constant support from the many muscles of the back and spine.

There are several important aspects of resting posture of which it is essential to be aware. Each re-enforces the other such that neglecting any one will make your entire effort less effective.

The head must be straight and level with the top of the spine. The neck should also be relaxed, and does not need to remain tense to maintain this pose. Most people unconsciously tilt the neck downward, especially when focusing on computer screens. Slouching strains many muscles in the back and spine, tiring them more quickly than would otherwise happen were your spine allowed to assume its natural curve.

It is also important to keep the shoulders relaxed and lowered away from the ears. With the shoulders lowered, the spine should be as vertically aligned as possible. Much of your body’s support is derived from this vertical alignment. Deviating in any direction places extra strain on the muscles of the back and spine.

The pelvis should also tilt forward, thus placing no undue pressure on the tail bone. Despite the fact that much of our time is spent seated, the tail bone is not truly intended to support weight. Shifting your pelvis forward distributes weight across the hip bones and legs, which are far better at carrying heavy loads. Be sure to take frequent breaks, thus giving these muscles time to recover and increasing their circulation. Increased circulation helps rid the muscles of fatigue toxins which cause them to tire more quickly.

If at all possible, sit with the seat of your chair tilted so that the front part is slightly lower than the back. Sitting this way will help to keep the proper curves in your back and your spine aligned correctly.

The lower abdomen should be drawn in slightly which gives structural support and also allows for a natural curve in the lumbar spine to help support your weight better.

You may find that these practices feel unnatural or tiring. If this is the case, a postural exercise routine may help by exercising specific muscle groups in ways that will help them provide the best support for an efficient posture. Such programs exist, and are an excellent investment for anyone taking their health seriously.

When next you sit, strive to increase awareness of your habits. Notice in which of the previously-listed practices you excel, and upon which you may wish to focus extra attention. Also, examine areas where you commonly relax or otherwise sit for extended amounts of time, ensuring that they encourage behaviors that promote good and healthy posture. By improving your awareness of your body, you’ll slowly but surely begin to improve your posture, feeling much better as you cultivate these healthier habits.

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Back Posture – Chair Sitting Made Simple and Comfortable

Eric — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:12:39 +0000

We may consider ourselves extremely lucky for having been born in the 20th century. If we had been born in the Victorian era, it would have been well nigh impossible for us to slouch on the sofa, slump on the chaise longue, or sit around in various poses of lethargic, indolent and sluggish postures. We would have been sitting at the edge of the chair, with our backs ramrod straight, head looking straight ahead, with absolutely no give to our spinal cord. That must have done wonders to our posture, especially if we happened to be corseted, but it would not do anything to make us feel or look relaxed.

But that sort of “correct posture” training, which became automatic after a couple of years of “sit up straight, head held high and slouch not” has unfortunately vanished from the usual physical training given to children both at home and at school. One does not care to pull up a child both literally and figuratively, if he is lounging bonelessly on the sofa, while watching the TV, with his whole upper torso slumped onto his tummy.

But posture training does not have to be painful or require lots of discipline. A simple program, ten minutes per week, can do wonders to improve posture, reduce back pain, and increase confidence.

So to make sure that our neck and spine do not suffer over much in the future because of our bad posture during our childhood and youth, we have to look at the best way in which we can improve our posture, especially when we are sitting on sofas or in chairs.

The moment you sit down in the chair, lift your head high, but not so high that there is a strain upon your neck. Your chin should be at the level of your lap. Do not crane the neck. The head is going to drop into its natural position apropos the spinal cord.

Now, relax your shoulders and make them fall away from your ears. People have the habit of slouching on the chairs, with their chins, nearly touching their chests, and the shoulders nearly touching their ears. This posture is definitely not good for your neck or for your spinal cord.

Now is the time for your spinal cord to straighten itself, neither backwards nor forwards. It should be vertical.

Now is the time when you need to tuck in your tummy. Not only is it not going to show up as a somewhat protruding tumtum, but regular tucking of the tummy, whenever you sit down does wonders for the tummy muscles. Just imagine that you are holding in your breath for a count of 3 with your stomach tucked in. This properly tucked in stomach is going to give support to your upper torso.

You would not want to put lots of pressure upon your tailbone, would you? That is why it is necessary to make sure that you tilt the pelvic region forward so that it takes on a portion of the body’s weight. This tilting is also going to ascertain that you sit upon the right pelvic bones.
Make sure that the back portion of your chair is not sunk in. The front portion has to be a little lower or tilted forward, so that your spine can get the proper curvature.

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Ergonomics, Posture, And Back Pain Reduction

Eric — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:11:43 +0000

Back pain is something that a lot of people go through all the time, and have no idea as to why its happening. Most of these people do not realize that simply not slouching and having bad posture would help the pain tremendously.

The idea of sitting in a chair, according to those people, is to rest your posterior in a chair seat, lean back with a relieved sigh, fold your hands complacently over your tummy and do a spot of deep meditation. This might relax you a lot in the beginning, but it does absolutely nothing to your posture, spinal cord, back, neck, and of course your tummy. Pain and strain are sure to follow.

Many of us have a 9-to-5 job, and find ourselves slouching in front of a computer, definitely not bothered about the chair we are sitting in, or our posture. Our job is to leer away at the monitor, not being bothered much about the effect that slouch has upon our shoulders, neck, back and stomach. And then we go complaining to our doctor about neck problems.

To make sure that we never find ourselves in such a state — when our once firm stomach muscles have reached the consistency of watery jelly, our shoulders show the body language state of “dejected, disheartened and dismayed” — we have to look at the ergonomics — the best way — of sitting in chairs or a sofa.

When thinking about how ergonomics can help your spinal cord, you need to look at how you sit now and try to find a chair that fits you better. Most people sit in chairs whether at home or work and lean back to relax the body, when they need to lean the chair forward so that the back fits the curvatures of the chair.

Laying back in a chair and kicking you’re feet up, can also be bad for posture, as you will be putting a lot of strain your tailbone by doing this. Keeping your feet on the ground, and on a solid surface will allow them to support your body in a way to correct your posture.

Imagine that you are sitting for an interview; what do you do under such circumstances? You sit with your back straight, head held high. But the moment you get the job, you go back to your slouch couch potato position, not bothering about your posture at all! Make sure that you are not sitting on your tailbone. That can only be done by tilting your pelvic region forward, so that some of your body weight is placed upon your seat bones.

One of the other things that people do not realize up front is how their computer is set up can sometimes hurt their posture as well. This stems from putting your computer screen in a place that requires strain on the neck in order to read the screen. If you have your computer sitting at eye level it will take a tremendous amount of strain off your spinal cord. This happens because you are not required to look up or down for long periods of time, and can keep a good posture while sitting there.

One thing that will help tremendously is getting your body strength to a point in which it will allow you to correct posture. Doing simple exercise around the house or at work to strengthen your neck will help a lot.

Most people try and correct their posture and fail at it miserably because they do not try hard enough. Teaching the body to do something it doesnt want to do can be hard. However, with the right discipline you can get the posture corrected and be on your way to a healthier, happier life!

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How You Can Have Correct Sleeping Posture

Eric — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:19:14 +0000

Have you ever woken up in the morning and realized that your body was full of creaks and groans? Chances are good that you are not simply getting old; you might be sleeping in a way that stiffens your body and can contribute to back and joint problems! Most people don’t think much about the way that they sleep and this can cause them problems down the line. Whether you have felt every bone complaining when you wake up, or whether you are just curious to see if you could be getting better sleep, make sure that you check out these tips for good sleeping posture.

First, think about where your body curves. The two major ones that you need to think about are your lower back and your neck; when you sleep on your back, these areas are going to be inclined to curve away from the bed, leaving them without support. They might be inclined to bend at a strange angle and this can contribute to some real neck aches in the morning. For your neck, look for a pillow that supports the back of your neck as well as your head. Similarly, if you sleep on your side, something soft stuck between your neck and the pillow can be much more comfortable for you in the long run.

Also remember that you should pay attention to where your body curves and dips when you sleep on your side. Have you ever noticed that your knees or thighs fall together uncomfortably? Propping a pillow between your legs can make for much easier sleep and it will allow your hips to rest in good alignment with your spine. This is especially important for women. If you have ever noticed your shoulders coming together painfully as you sleep on your side, get a pillow to hug.

Also remember that you need to be comfortable when you sleep. Springing for a good mattress is an important way to invest in your rest and with a good mattress; you will be able to get the sleeping posture that you need. A natural sleeping posture is one that you should take a look at, and you might want to experiment a little bit. Remember that sleeping on your stomach for long periods is usually a bad idea because of the way that your neck needs to twist.

Some common sleeping postures with how common they are.

When in doubt, try everything! Find your most comfy posture. There is no posture that is right for every one. Look at the diagram! All of those are common ways to sleep There is nothing wrong with shifting from position to position as the night wears on and you might find that this is something that can help you get sounder sleep. Don’t stay in a position that is uncomfortable for you; remember that pain is a sign that something is amiss!

Take a moment to think about how you sleep. Do you have good sleeping posture? If not, this is something that you need to work on right away. Invest in a good posture correction program. It can make a lot of difference, whether you are thinking about getting good sleep tonight or of being comfortable and healthy in the future!