Notice how the more forward the head is, the heavier it is. No wonder we suffer from so much neck & shoulder tension!

My Mindful Living series continues with a focus on posture. As a teacher of yoga, pilates, dance, and functional movement for over 30 years, I am used to having people ‘straighten up’ when I walk into the room, often with a look of guilt - like they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. While I do love seeing people stretch themselves to their true height, I am not sure that everyone appreciates why it’s so good for them to do that! Today I am going to focus on what good posture is, the benefits, and some simple exercises to practice it. During this unique time in our history, we may be spending more time indoors, possibly more sedentary. Connecting to good posture can give us a huge dose of good energy, and this is so valuable always, but especially during challenging times.

Good posture is when the spine is long, but with all of its natural curves maintained, so that there is a perfect balance of springiness in the spine, and ‘good stress in alignment’, to encourage the building of strong bone density.

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In the ‘ideal posture’ - the red body in the image below - the lower back (lumbar spine) has a slight forward curve, the ribcage (thoracic spine) has a slight backwards curve, and the neck (cervical spine) has a slight forward curve, but all are balanced so that the pelvis, ribcage, and head are stacked one on top of the other, and are in line with the feet and knees. In all the other postures, the spinal curves are exaggerated or distored in some way, so there is not a balance of forces through the body, which can often lead to chronic pain and strain and a higher susceptibility to injury. When the spine is ideally aligned, there is less wear and tear on the joints (reducing risk of degenerative issues such as osteoarthritis, compression and disc degneration), there is the less effort in the outer muscles to hold us up, so we have more energy to enjoy!

This does not mean to say that having a good posture is effortless. Our core muscles are designed to support the spine, so when we practice sitting or standing up straight, we are getting a core workout. As we practice improving our posture, we may feel the muscles in between our shoulder blades being exercised, or our abdominals, and this is good stuff! At first, we may only be able to keep a good posture for a short period of time, but with practice, we will get stronger! Strengthening our core muscles has been shown to reduce lower back pain, and in general protect our very precious spinal column and spinal cord. A strong core means that we can we can relax the outside of our bodies - our neck & shoulders, our jaw, our lower back, our hips, because we are strong from the inside out.

Only because I truly want everyone to feel as good as possible, I am going to point out a few common postural issues that can create problems – now or over time - if not addressed. Luckily, many of these postural issues can be easily remedied with awareness, time, and practice.

Forward Head Posture

The image at the top of this post says it all: the more forward our head is, the heavier it is, so it is no wonder that neck and shoulder tension are so common. Forward head posture can also lead to headaches, jaw pain, reduced range of motion in the neck, and osteoarthritis or disc degeneration. Our cervical spine (our neck) has numerous nerves, veins and arteries running through it, so when we are compressing this area, the consequences can be ‘not good’. In the 2nd image above, with the 5 spines, ALL the postures except the ideal one, include a forward head posture (the head is forward of the vertical dotted line).

The Remedy

Try to work at a desktop computer that allows the screen to be at eye level, and limit screen time. Take screen-time breaks by going for short walks or meditations that allow you to realign the spine. Because the head and neck are delicate, it’s best to correct the posture by first aligning the ribcage, and not just manipulate the head position. Focus on exercises and stretches that open the chest, and lengthen the spine in between the shoulder blades, as though a string is gently pulling the whole spine up, and the head can balance on top with the chin parallel to the floor.

Swayback Posture

This is the most common postural problem that I see these days. It includes a forward head posture, but also the upper spine and shoulders are overly rounded forward, and the pelvis (hips) are forward of the ribs and head, placing lots of pressure in the lower back. When sitting in a chair, the back of the pelvis is not against the back of the chair, but is forward. When standing, the belly protrudes forward. It can ache in between the shoulder blades because the muscles are overly stretched in the rounded posture, and in the neck due to the forward head. This posture is a total release into gravity – we allow the body to slump, we let the belly go out, we let the hips slip forward. Often the knees are hyperextended as well when standing. Very few postural muscles are engaged here, but we may feel sore all the time because there is too much strain on the external muscles. The bones are not getting good stress to build good bone density, rather the stress is uneven, which can lead to osteoarthritis, disc degeneration, and nerve impingement. To put it bluntly, I would not ask someone with a swayback posture to help me on moving day, because the likelihood of this person suffering a back injury as soon as they take one end of the kitchen table, is high.

The Remedy

The good news is that this posture can be easily improved with awareness & practice.
When sitting in a chair, bring the back of the pelvis in line with the back of the chair, and lengthen the rest of the spine up as though there is a string coming from the crown of the head.

When standing – test your posture against a wall. The back of the pelvis and the back of the ribs should be equally in contact with the wall. The head may not be against the wall, and this is fine for the moment - please do not force the head to touch the wall as it can be done improperly and cause undue strain. Focus on the pelvis and the ribs, and a sense of the head floating on top.

Try to recreate this posture when standing – stacking the pelvis, ribs and head on top of each other in alignment on top of the feet. Practice this more ideal posture at various times through the day, and take breaks when the core muscles get tired. It does get better!

Lordotic Posture

This is when the pelvis is tipped backwards so the tailbone sticks out to the back, instead of pointing straight down to the floor. The lower back is overly arched, compressed, and tight, and the abdominals are protruding out. The hips can also often feel tight. Again, this causes uneven stress on the spine and discs, and can cause nerve compression . It is also often accompanied by hyperextension of the knees.

The Remedy

Align the pelvis so the tailbone is pointing straight down to the floor, and the abdominals are gently drawn in. Do not grip the glutes or the stomach muscles to make this happen, rather, focus on aligning the bones first, and the supporting muscles should engage gently.

Kyphotic Posture

Since the lordotic part of this posture was already covered, I want to focus on the ‘kyphotic’ part. This is when the ribcage and upper spine are overly rounded forward. With all of the postures discussed, the longer we have had them, the more work it is to improve them. This is especially so for kyphosis, because when the upper spine and ribcage is rounded for a long period of time, the muscles and bones can become quite rigid, and connective tissue can build up, creating the ‘dowager’s hump’ at the top of the shoulders. Because of this rigidity, the neck and lower back can compensate and move too much (hypermobility), which can lead to degenerative issues like osteoarthritis in the neck and lower back.

The Remedy

Improving this posture requires attention to subtlety and detail. Breathe and make small, micro-movements in the ribcage area - moving the ribcage side to side, forward and back, and in small rotations - taking care not to move just at the neck and lower back instead. Squeeze the shoulder blades together and apart, and circle the shoulders to begin to massage the muscles here. Practice opening the chest with a sense of lifting the breastbone, and widening the collarbones. Increase the awareness of this area, and ensure that when sleeping, the head and lower back have good support. The image of the string gently pulling up from the crown of the head is super helpful here.

Final Posture Hacks

The second last thing I want to point out is that often, in an effort to ‘straighten up’, we can squeeze our shoulder blades together and stick out our chest when we notice that we are letting our upper body round forward. While we need to engage our postural muscles gently to be tall, we should never have to squeeze or grip our muscles to hold us up. Instead, like I have said a few times here, imagine a string from the crown of the head gently pulling up, so the bones can stack up one on top of the other like building blocks, and the postural muscles can support this. Squeezing the shoulder blades together can be a very useful exercise, but we do not want to stay that way all day. It needs to be more natural.

The very last thing I want to emphasize, is relaxing. Once the optimal posture has been somewhat established, breathe and imagine the muscles on the outside of the body relaxing down towards the earth. Imagine pressing the feet down into the floor when standing, or pressing the ‘sitting bones’ down into the chair we are sitting in, and align the bones on top, like the energy of an inhale, and then imagine the outer muscles relaxing down, like the energy of an exhale. This balance of the inner body lengthening up, and the outer body relaxing down can create a wonderful equilibrium of energy in the body: not too tight, and not too loose.

Expert Guidance is worth its weight in gold

If we are used to having ‘not the best’ posture, it may require some effort to change it. I certainly recommend visiting a trusted expert in this area – an experienced yoga or pilates teacher, physiotherapist, or chiropractor for example – especially if spinal, nerve, or chronic pain issues are already present. Personally, I have been teaching rehabilitative and functional exercise for over 20 years, and know that improving posture is possible at any age and stage, and that it is perhaps the fastest thing that we can to to make us feel (and look) younger and taller. More importantly, it can improve bone density, reduce risk of injury and degeneration, and allow for more optimal function of the whole body.

I am currently doing a video series on ‘Improving Balance”, that is great for just that, but it can also reveal where our alignment could use some attention. In these videos I share simple exercises for the feet, hips, core, and spine. Here is the first one, and the rest can be found on my video page or on Youtube.