02/02/2021
I've been thinking about posture lately. It's something we hear a lot about. But why is posture so important?
1. It puts your body in alignment. Good alignment means that the body parts are stacked up where they're supposed to be. This reduces stress and tension where it's not supposed to be (classic places include shoulders, neck and low back), and allows muscles to function optimally.
2. Once the body is stacked up well with good posture, the lungs and rib cage have the potential to expand more optimally, maximizing breathing efficiency.
3. Good posture just plain feels good!
Try this simple seated exercise for postural control and breathing. While sitting straight up on a spine corrector (if you have one), or hips up on a yoga block, or on a standard chair), take a full inhale through your nose. Then, as you exhale, slowly articulate your spine into flexion from the top of your head to your low back. Keep a light tension in your abdominals. Stay down in flexion while you take 2-3 full breaths, breathing into the back of the ribs. Think of moving your breath to expand (inhale) and close (exhale) your rib cage. Then, in your next exhale, engage your abdominal muscles and slowly re-srack tour spine, one vertebrae at a time. Finish sitting tall, with you shoulders gently back and down, and your head on top of your shoulders.
**Important**This is an easy quick exercise to do if you have a desk job. You can do this several times throughout your day to re-adjust your posture to feel great!
