I often jokingly tell my patients “If everybody had perfect posture, I would be out of a job!”
Why is this?
Posture is the single most important basis of correct body functioning. It is so important, that I decided to dedicate all my blogs for 2024 towards making our readers more aware of this:
When, why and how should we think of our posture?
What is the correct postural alignment?
How can I improve my posture?
Why is it so important?
What came first: the illness/disease or poor posture?
What are the benefits of good posture?
What part does my core play?
What is posture?
Simply put, posture is the alignment of our bodies.
If there is a midline through our bodies where the centre of gravity would go, it should look ideally like this when standing:
But how / what do I do to get this posture?
There are 2 ways that I teach my patients good postural alignment (and making it so, that it is easy to remember) :
1) The cha-cha-sha technique:
“Where’s my chin? Where’s my chest? Where’s my shoulders?”
So, “ch -ch- sh…”
“Chin in, Chest up, shoulders back down and relaxed.”
You can repeat this during the day a few times – this also works for sitting postural alignment.
2) The Bee – sting technique:
Think of: “A bee stung me in the middle of my back!” and straightening yourself up from there – this puts you whole spine and head in a good alignment.
And this also works for sitting posture.
When we correct our postures, using these above -mentioned ways, it can feel exaggerated and tiring. This is because our postural muscles are weak and we are kinetically not used to having the correct posture. A few pointers:
– Try to correct it as much as possible during the day
– Set a timer on your phone or computer to remind you to correct your posture
– Stick with it, even if it feels uncomfortable…
– If there are no underlying pathology, it should feel better within 3 weeks and more normal
Always think of your alignment when you are sitting standing or lying down / sleeping.
If you have an underlying issue, any pain or stiffness, it can help to alleviate these symptoms. If there is no underlying pathology the correct alignment will prevent a condition from developing.
No one gets younger… If we do not improve and work on our postures NOW, the chances are that it will only get worse as we get older!
Correct posture in different static positions:
Thanks and have fun developing good postures!
