Sit Up Straight

The Truth About the Importance of Good Posture

By: Dr. Anita Haque, D.C.

How often did you hear your parents tell you to “stand up straight”, “sit up” or “stop hunching over!”? Growing up, I remember my mother telling me repeatedly to sit straight and put my shoulders back and always thought that she was trying to make me into some sort of prim and proper girl. But did our parents really have a good point?

Take this quick test to see how your posture really affects your body: Go ahead and slouch and sink into whatever you are sitting on giving yourself horrible posture that would drive your parents crazy and then…TAKE A DEEP BREATH. Now, sit up as straight and tall as you can with the best possible posture you can get into and again, TAKE A DEEP BREATH. What did you notice? You should have noticed that it was much more difficult to take a deep breath while slouching and that it was easier to take a deeper breath when sitting up tall and straight.

Posture affects your health on a structural and physiological level. The physiological level you just observed with the breathing. Since our bodies are driven by oxygen flowing to all of our cells carried by the red blood cell, it is essential for the functioning of all of our organs and muscles to have adequate oxygen supply. Without enough oxygen, we might begin to experience chronic fatigue, dizziness, headaches, tire out quickly on exercise, and not sleep soundly.

Structurally, posture is a direct reflection of the spine. Good posture indicates a healthy spine and humped or stopped posture indicates degenerative spines and bad backs. Most people with poor posture habits whether it be at the computer or standing up also suffer with aches and pains since the spine is not sitting in its correct position and muscles around the affected spine are either stretched too far or pulled in too tight.

The good news is bad posture habits can be corrected! Here are a few quick tips: while sitting at a desk look straight ahead and then pull your chin back into your neck as far as you can and hold that position for five seconds (give yourself a double-chin look). Then relax your neck and repeat the exercise 10 more times. This exercise will help to bring your head and neck back on top of your shoulders and relieve some tension in the base of the neck. Another good time to practice is while driving in your car and stopped at a red light.

If you have to stand most of the day or lift and bend over repeatedly, then this next exercise will help with your posture and also prevent lower back injuries. While standing up straight, squeeze in your belly button as far back into your spine as you can and keep breathing. Continue to hold the belly button tight for 5-10 seconds and then relax. Deep abdominal muscles will activate which hold and protect the lower back spine. Repeat this procedure another 10 times. This move can be done while sitting or laying down.

Good posture affects your health and your self image and is easy to practice. So go on, and keep your head up high and straight!

For more information on your posture or to have your posture evaluated contact Dr. Anita Haque at (925) 960-1960 or http://www.haquechiropractic.com