Celebrate National Correct Your Posture Month by learning the importance of maintaining good posture.
Slouching, staring at screens, constantly in a seated position? These things wear down the muscles in our body, attributing to bad posture. We remind ourselves to stand up straight, wanting to feel taller or look slimmer, but proper posture is more important than appearance. May is National Correct Your Posture Month; let’s celebrate by looking at why and how to maintain good posture.
Benefits of Good Posture
Maintaining good posture does wonders for your overall quality of life. Some of the benefits of good posture include:
Maintain Good Posture to Help You Breathe Easier
Is there any better feeling than taking a full, deep breath? Research shows that posture can affect lung capacity. Looking down at a phone or sitting in a scrunched position can inhibit the ability to fill our lungs and reduce respiratory function. Adequate oxygen intake plays a vital role in daily functioning. Keep your body working at optimal levels by paying attention to your posture.
Good Posture = Less Pain
Tension in the neck and shoulders, lower back pain, joint issues, headaches; all of these things can result from poor posture. Our muscles and skeletal system don’t have to work so hard to support one part of our body over another by standing correctly. We strain different muscle groups when we slouch, lean to one side, or cross our legs while sitting. Proper posture can keep strain from occurring, relieving discomfort and keeping pain at bay.
Maintain Good Posture to Strengthen Your Core
Good posture and core strength go hand in hand. Maintaining proper posture will help keep the core strong. On the flip side, if your posture could use some work, strengthening the core will help correct your posture. Core strength is essential for balance, stability, and completing daily tasks with ease.
Support Spinal Alignment
The spine is a vital structure that protects the spinal cord. Poor posture puts stress on the back, impacting the joints (vertebra) that make up the spine and disrupting spinal alignment. When these vertebrae are not in their normal position, stress is placed on the body’s nervous system, altering normal function and leading to an array of problems.
These are just four of many benefits that proper posture adds to our lives. If you feel that poor posture impacts your body, take steps to correct it to fully reap the benefits of good posture. Not sure what steps to take to maintain good posture? Remember these three tips the next time you notice your posture is not as it should be.
Tips for Correct Your Posture Month
Tip 1: Be Mindful of Correcting your Stance
Whenever you feel yourself slouching or rounding your back, focus on correcting your posture. Imagine you are standing with your back to a wall. Keep your shoulders relaxed, head straight, with feet planted flat on the ground, shoulder-width apart. Are you sitting at a desk for long periods? Your feet should be firmly on the floor, legs at a 90-degree angle, shoulders relaxed, with eyes level with the screen. It may feel awkward while your body is working to reset the muscle memory, but it will be easier to maintain once your body remembers the correct posture.
Tip 2: Strengthen your Core with Posture Focused Exercises
Building up core muscles helps keep you strong and maintain a good posture. Yoga is an excellent practice for core strength. Try these posture supportive exercises at home or work with a personal trainer to target your specific needs.
Tip 3: Schedule a Chiropractic Adjustment
Proper spinal alignment is a huge factor in maintaining good posture. With the spine not correctly positioned, fixing your posture will be next to impossible. Chiropractic adjustments work by using proven methods of manipulating the spine back towards normal alignment. A chiropractor can also assess areas of weakness and give tips for correcting your stance. Changes to your posture and spinal alignment can be seen using pre and post x-rays.
Posture Correction with Chiropractic in Oviedo, Fl
Our doctors are passionate about sustaining the health of our clients, and that includes focusing on maintaining good posture. The chiropractic method used at ProCare Oviedo Chiropractor is a technique called Chiropractic Biophysics® (CBP). CBP uses traction, corrective exercise, and adjusting protocols to correct spine and posture issues. Contact our office to schedule an adjustment, and let’s focus on your posture together!
