Mother may not have known absolutely everything, but she was on point when lecturing you about your posture.
Not only does slouching create an image of sloppiness, it’s bad for your health. In fact, experts say that slouching can cause soreness, joint pain and even headaches.
The good news is that there is a way to avoid these health consequences. To put it simply, practice good posture.
According to the Mayo Clinic, practicing good posture can prevent frustrating aches and pains associated with poor posture. In addition, proper posture helps to create an all- around look of confidence and togetherness. That’s a good thing when it comes to presenting ourselves in the best possible light.
If you’re ready to make good posture a priority, check out these six ways to improve your stature today.
1. Make it a habit to sit up straight at work.
Part of good posture is focusing on how you sit. This means making a conscious effort to sit up straight at work.
“When you do have to work at a desk, sitting up with good, tall posture and your shoulders dropped is a good habit to get into," Rebecca Seguin, PhD, an exercise physiologist and nutritionist in Seattle tells Health.
To prevent this issue, experts at the Mayo Clinic emphasize the importance of choosing an appropriate chair. Ideally, you want to choose a chair in which your knees remain level with your hips. In addition, your feet should be flat on the floor. The perfect chair should also support the curve in your lower back. And if it doesn’t, you can roll a towel and place it behind your back. A blanket can even be used.
If you feel that the chair you use at work doesn’t support these concepts, consider talking to your boss about better seating options. After all, you deserve to feel healthy in the workplace. The worst possible answer you could get is no, right?
2. Practice “Wall Angels.”
Remember how fun it was to make snow angels as a child? A sort of similar exercise can help adults to achieve correct posture.
According to U.S. News & World Report, an exercise called “Wall Angels” helps to keep shoulders in the proper position by keeping them both back and drawn together. This is a simple exercise you can do any time, any place.
To practice Wall Angels, position yourself in a wide stance against a wall with your head and back pressed against it. Next, position your arms next to the sides of your body with a ninety degree bend. You should also strive to keep arms at shoulder height.
Face your palms away from you and allow your shoulders, arms and the top of your hands to touch the wall behind you. Now raise your arms above you in a wide V. Stay in contact with the wall the entire time. Next, bend your elbows and return to your starting position while staying in contact with the wall. Do this twice for 10 to 15 repetitions.
3. Add yoga to your routine.
Yoga and proper posture go hand in hand. That’s why yogis tend to have naturally good posture.
A great way to improve posture is to add a yoga class to your exercise regimen. And if you can’t make it to a class, you can try a simple posture called “Tadasana.”
According to Yoga.com, this pose can be practiced by standing with the feet hip distance apart. In addition, they should be parallel to one and other. Next, tuck your tailbone and use your core as a brace. Position your head in a way that your chin is parallel to the floor with the top of your head lined up with the center of your pelvis. Now elevate your arms so that they are over your head. Strive for a distance of shoulder width apart. Hold this for about a minute. And try to keep your arms and shoulders both relaxed and away from your ears.
4. Practice squeezing your shoulders together.
According to U.S. News & World Report, squeezing the shoulder blades together can be a posture helper. To do this, pretend you’re grabbing something that is sitting on top your spine. They suggest envisioning a pen. Remain in this position for 10 to 20 seconds.
In practicing this exercise, note that this can be done from a standing or seated position. Just make sure to keep your shoulders down as opposed to pulling them up toward your ears. This exercise can be performed to realign posture throughout the day.
5. Take the wall test.
Some of us may not know what good posture really looks like. This is where a reference point comes in handy.
The Mayo Clinic says that there is a test you can use to check posture. To do this, stand against a wall with three things touching the wall: your head, your shoulder blades, and your bottom. Keep your heels somewhere between two and four inches away from the wall. Now place your palms against the wall and slide them directly behind the curve in your back. Your goal is to “feel about one hand’s thickness of space behind your back and the wall.”
If your body doesn’t line up, adjust your posture. For example, in the case of too much space, you can tighten your abs. And if there is ample space, you can arch your back. This will adjust your hands, which will tell you that you’re standing correctly. Next, walk while holding this posture.
6. Look in the mirror to check posture.
According to Today, a simple mirror check can be helpful in the process of practicing good posture. This can give visual confirmation of whether or not your posture is correct.
“Look in the mirror. If your palms face your thighs with the thumbs pointing ahead, that’s good posture,” Peggy W. Brill, a physical therapist based in New York City and spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association tells Today. “But if your palms face backwards, you’re probably slouching.”