It is a fact that maintaining a good body posture is essential for your overall health. Most people often ignore the importance of good posture, but it is as important as having a healthy diet, sleeping comfortably, and regular exercise. Generally, having good posture ensures that your body is well poised to undertake daily tasks with more vigor and energy, all the while keeping away fatigue. Good posture is often considered as the core pillar to your overall physical health.
What Do You Mean By Good Posture?
What constitutes good posture? Posture refers to the position we hold our bodies while standing, sitting, and lying down. The human body is designed to maintain normal posture unconsciously via certain muscles. However, everyone needs to be somewhat aware of their posture to a given degree.
- Proper Posture While Sitting: While sitting, you must ensure that your feet are on the floor or on a footrest. They should not hang mid-air. You should keep your knees at or below your hip level and maintain relaxed shoulders with your forearms at a parallel position to the ground. Finally, have your backrest support your entire back. This is considered a good sitting posture.
- Proper Posture While Standing: To maintain a good standing posture, ensure that your weight is borne by the soles of your feet, with your feet placed 4 to 5 inches apart. Try to tuck your stomach in and have your hands straight, relaxing naturally from the body on both sides. This will help you maintain a straight structure.
- Preferable Lying Position: Most people say that the secret to sleeping right is having a good and comfortable mattress. To maintain a right sleeping posture, always support your head with a pillow such that it is at an elevated position to the rest of your body in order to aid in blood circulation.
Tip: Always try to avoid lying on your stomach.
A good posture ensures that your entire body is symmetrically aligned and the muscle tension is just about right. Maintaining a good posture ought to be fairly easy.
Why Is Maintaining A Good Posture Important?
1) Good Posture Helps Reduce Lower Back Pain: When you sit or stand in a slouched position for a longer period of time, it will put stress on your lower back. Basically, it will put pressure on the posterior structures of the spine that include intervertebral discs, face points, ligaments, and muscles.
Tip: You can do regular exercise to strengthen your lower back. Engage your gluteal and abdominal muscles often, so the body will rely on them instead of putting pressure on the lower back.
2) Reduces Headaches: Poor posture can also contribute to headaches since there is constant pressure on the neck muscles. It is often observed that if we correct our posture, we can reduce muscle tension and get rid of headaches.
Tip: Regular exercise of neck muscles will strengthen them and help maintain good body posture.
3) Increases Energy Levels: Having a good posture helps increase the body’s energy level. When the bones and joints are in correct alignment, this allows muscles to be used for their specific purpose. Therefore, you will have less fatigue and more energy.
Tip: Working on your torso will activate your side abs and strengthen your obliques to activate the right muscles while you are sitting or standing.
4) Good Posture Relieves The Built Up Tension On Your Shoulders And Neck: If you habitually walk or sit in the forward head posture, it will put a strain on your upper back, shoulder, and neck. Therefore, it is important to maintain proper alignment of the joints and ligaments to relieve the buildup of tension and/or chronic shoulder pain.
Tip: You should regularly stretch your neck and shoulders to relieve pressure and tension.
5) Improves Blood Circulation And Digestion: If you do not maintain good posture, bad posture will compress vital organs. This will lead to poor blood circulation and the organs won’t work efficiently. A good body posture will help in improving your blood flow, as well as improving digestion, making you feel lighter and more active.
Summary:
Good posture means your body is optimally aligned and in homeostasis; Your muscles aren’t shortened or lengthened… Your body has a natural tension (but not stress) on its muscles.