How to Get Better Posture Using Yoga
NORA DAY
Freeze! Take a look at yourself right now. Are you hunched over reading this? Are you slouched in a chair? Our time spent at computers and looking at phones is having a real impact on our posture and it isn’t for the better.
Is good posture important?
Bad posture over the years can cause you all sorts of problems that can impact your overall health. When you can maintain good posture, these things can happen for you:
- You will breathe more easily
- You can avoid injuries
- Digest your food more easily
- Promotes a healthy spine
- And you will look slimmer and more confident!a
If your job has you sitting down a lot during the day, maintaining good posture can be even more of a challenge. Sitting in one spot can make your muscles and joints stiff causing us to hunch over and be even less mobile. When we don’t feel good
Here is what good posture should look like
- Chin parallel to the floor
- Shoulders even (roll your shoulders up, back, and down to help achieve this)
- Neutral spine (no flexing or arching to overemphasize the curve in your lower back)
- Arms at your sides with elbows straight and even
- Abdominal muscles firm
- Hips even
- Knees even and pointing straight ahead
- Body weight distributed evenly on both feet
The Link Between Yoga & Good Posture – It’s all in your carriage
Your carriage is your mid-section and your key to better posture. You want to keep your carriage lifted and your shoulders relaxed.
Watch this video to learn more about your carriage and I will show you exactly where it is and how it works.
Practicing yoga helps to develop and strengthen your carriage…. This is what makes yogis so strong!
When you practice yoga, here is what happens for your posture:
Awareness: You become more aware of the position of your body when you are out of class. You become more aware of what your core is doing. You will feel more opened up and your shoulders will be back and neck will feel lengthened.
Strength: Yoga will make you stronger and having good posture requires strength! By practicing yoga, you will strengthen your carriage which helps everything else line up better – straight spine, square shoulders, chin up, chest out, core engaged.
Flexibility: Tight chest and hip flexor muscles pull the body forward, forcing your spine out of a healthy neutral position. Yoga can help reverse this through deep stretches that will release these muscles and allow your spine to return to a neutral position more easily.
Here is What You Can Do
It is difficult to avoid the pressures that are put on our body from everyday life…. Work, desk jobs, phones, sitting.
Improve Your Environment: If you sit all day at a desk, look at your setup. Are you setting yourself up with the best work environment for your body? There are plenty of new chairs and desks that can help improve your posture. Better yet, set yourself up with a stand-up desk. I always stand when I’m on the computer; engaging my core! Standing also encourages me to take mini side stretches, lengthen my arms overhead for a full body stretch, take deep breaths, step back from my standing desk, take a forward fold,, I feel like I’m stretching all day; Stand UP!
Do Yoga: Yoga is a wonderful, effective way to improve your posture and overall well-being. Yoga helps you develop a solid carriage that your body can depend on. The stretching, the breathing, the overall opening up of the body, is the foundation that yoga is built upon. When you practice yoga regularly, (3-5 times a week), your posture will naturally improve. The space and flexibility you gain, transfer to your posture, from the inside out. You may not even realize it at first, but you will soon feel the ease in your bones and joints. Making your posture more streamline from your toes to the crown of your head.
So, what are you waiting for! Stand up! Stand tall, let your carriage do the work and let’s do some yoga! Here are some classes that will get you stretching, open you up and strengthen your carriage!
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Since the age of eight, when she was given a book on yoga by her mother, Nora found her calling, though she didn’t know it at the time. Since then she has evolved her passion for yoga into a yogi’s life of practice and teaching around the world. Nora has extensively studied the traditional teachings of Dharma Mittra, Shiva Rea, and David Williams and incorporated Vinyasa Flow, Yin and Ashtanga styles into her own unique yoga practice. Professionally, Nora is 500 E-RYT, Yoga Alliance Certified. In addition to devoting multiple hours a day to her personal practice, Nora is an example of how to honor the temple of the body. A 30-year vegan and raw foodist, Nora combines yoga, diet …