Healthy Living

Five Ways To Better Your Posture

Posture is an important thing to focus on when it comes to our bodies. Without the correct posture, you could end up doing more damage to your back and the rest of your body early on in life. Your body needs to support you through the years and as we naturally age, so does our ability to remain upright. With that said, a good posture can help maintain your health and wellbeing for longer. Here are five ways to improve your posture.

Be Conscious Of Slouching

Slouching – it’s something we all do but we don’t always pay attention when it’s happening. Whether you’re laying on the couch or sitting at your office desk, slouching is a common thing that many do and it ends up doing damage to their back and neck over the years. It’s important that you’re correcting your posture and being conscious of when you’re slouching.

If you’re someone who slouches on a regular basis, then you’ll want to find ways to combat it as best you can. You can get braces or certain clothing that helps with posture and to keep you up right instead of slouching down. You may find that putting some cushions at the lower end of your back might help you to remain upright at all times. 

There are lots of ways to help with your slouching but the main thing is to be more conscious of it. When you notice you’re doing it, fix it immediately and remain attentive to it as often as you can. As you do more of this, you’ll naturally straighten up more so than slouching down. Although slouching might feel comfortable, it’s not going to do you any favors as you get older. 

Do Yoga And Pilates

Exercise is good for the body and in particular, it can be very good for posture too. However, it’s all about doing the right exercises in order to better it that counts. With a lot of weighted exercises and strength workouts in general, it’s often all about the form that you have when doing the individual exercises. This can be good to do more of so that you’re more attentive of your posture and the way your body is positioned.

Two good exercises or classes to do would be yoga and pilates. These are both great for concentrating on the body itself and assuming positions that are going to help bring the body strength but also to stretch and straighten the body out correctly.

If you’re new to yoga or pilates, then it’s important to pay attention in the class so that you get every position and exercise correctly. It’s going to take some time to do it exactly like the instructor does it but that’s the fun in these types of exercises. It can help bring focus and they are something that can bring a lot of good to your mental wellbeing too.

Get The Right Desk Chair

The right desk chair when you work a lot in an office environment can be essential to your posture. With desk chairs in particular, if you don’t have the right one, then chances are it’s going to hinder your body in more ways than one. When you join an organization and work in an office environment, you’re entitled to a workstation assessment because after all, the company is responsible for the health and safety of your surroundings.

With that being said, if you’ve not already had one of these, then it’s definitely time to get one done. This will be helpful in replacing any office equipment that you have, with something that ergonomically-friendly. This isn’t just your office desk chair either. You might want mouse and keyboard wrist supports or a monitor riser to help bring your desktop screen up to the right level for your neck.

Doing all this can sound like a bit of an effort but it’s definitely a short term pain for a long-term gain when it comes to your body and it’s general health. At the very least, you should have a desk chair that’s comfortable.

Seek Professional Help

There may be times where damage has already been done and therefore it’s more about prevention and pain reduction. With that being said, there are plenty of places out there that can provide the professional advice and help that you might need. When seeking professional help, you may want to approach somewhere like https://scoliosisinstitute.com/, for example. Make sure you do the research and you’ve enquired with all avenues to know exactly what you need and can benefit from when it comes to medical and professional help for your posture and back in particular.

Do your research and before you start committing to anything that could involve invasive or non-invasive procedures, weigh up the pros and cons to each.

Better Your Sleep Position

The way we sleep can influence how good or bad your posture may be. It’s important to lie the correct way in order to look after your back and neck in particular. The best sleeping position to be in is lying on your back. This will help keep your body in a naturally straightened position. Either this or the fetal position is also a good one to be in. Anything where you’re lying on your stomach or sides is likely going to impact your posture in the long-term. 

It will feel uncomfortable at first but if you persist with starting off your sleep routine by lying on your back, you will likely feel a difference. Of course, we can’t really control what our body positions itself into when we sleep but for the most part, your body may end up lying on it’s back if that’s the position you fall asleep in.

Bettering your posture takes time but it definitely helps give you the support that you need for your body to feel less pain and discomfort. With that being said, use all the tips above to help protect your back and the rest of your body from harm.

Karla Urwitz
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