Years of ballet, horseback riding and even sitting in a classroom with a strict teacher will all teach you one thing – to sit up straight. Good posture is something many people take for granted. It won’t just make you look taller and more confident, but it could change your life.
There are a large number of good habits we should be practicing everyday that are small, yet important, but also easy to forget. All it takes is commitment and a constant effort to do better. Whether or not you already experience back pain, practicing better posture will only improve your health. If you do experience back pain, the possibility of it traveling to the rest of your body (your neck and shoulders specifically) is significantly high. Keeping your spine in the correct alignment will allow your body to work more efficiently and without putting it under too much strain. By giving your muscles the chance to work properly your body would not need to spend as much energy to complete tasks as simple as sitting down or standing up. After just one day of constantly slouching, your body will experience so much more fatigue than it needs to. Try it just for today and see how your body feels by the time your head hits your pillow.
That being said, while it only takes lifting your head up higher and correcting your slouch, the difficulty in changing a habit lies in the need to constantly remind yourself to stay on track. It is easy to forget that your body isn’t in the right position when your mind is focused on other tasks, or you are just plain used to it. Ask a friend to help you out by reminding you to sit right whenever they notice it. And if you want to take that extra step, invest in a posture t shirt to do the correcting for you!
As soon as you start being aware of it, the job is already halfway done. Even just being aware of your bad posture propels you a hundred steps forward. Listening to your body’s needs grounds you, bringing you closer to your surroundings as well as your own consciousness. The benefits of practicing good posture are almost endless. You wouldn’t have to keep experiencing pain and your body will thank you for it. You will feel less irritable, less stressed and even more importantly you would feel rejuvenated. Stress and anxiety are two things they say you cannot fix overnight. It’s not a race, it’s a marathon. So keep practicing and don’t be so easy to give up. Mental stress comes hand in hand with physical stress, so why not kill two birds with one stone?
