Improve Your Posture for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit
May 1, 2024 | Miriam Rachel
Did you know that May is Correct Your Posture Month? This is the month when you will be reminded to improve your good posture. You may not even realize that if you are sitting at your nine-to-five desk job, you may be slouching down, which contributes to your mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion. If you recall back in school, you may have been repeatedly told by your teacher to “sit up straight,” which you may have ignored, but there was a good reason you were told to do that since childhood. Having good posture benefits your mind, body, and spirit, and in honor of Correct Your Posture Month, let’s highlight those benefits so you realize how essential it is to have good posture.
Good Posture Helps Relieve Back Pain
Back pain is a significant problem that affects many people worldwide. There are various reasons for back pain, as an injury from an accident is responsible for some cases. However, poor posture is a big culprit because when you are not standing or sitting straight, your bones, ligaments, muscles, and joints are not aligned. Therefore, it will cause many problems with your back, and you will find that you will have to go to the chiropractor often, which can get costly.
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If you can be mindful of sitting up straight and improving your posture, your bones, muscles, joints, and ligaments will be aligned, which will only help keep your back healthy and pain-free or relieve much of the back pain if other causes are the culprits.
Good Posture Is a Mood Booster
When you are mindful of standing up or sitting up straight, it helps with back pain and boosts your mood. Sitting up straight makes you feel better in every way, which will improve your mood and help you become more optimistic and enthusiastic.
That is, even if you are at a job that you are not crazy about, you will develop the mindset that you are grateful for the job because many people are struggling with employment, and it pays your bills. Therefore, when you are feeling better generally and in a better mood, you will have an easier time expressing gratitude, which will also help you stay positive.
Good Posture Is an Energy Booster
Standing and sitting up straight help with your back and mood, which is excellent for your energy levels. Think about when you are sitting for eight hours straight or at any other time slumped over, which exhausts you.
Poor posture puts a lot of pressure on you as your bones, muscles, joints, and spine are imbalanced, and the energy to function in that state gets used up because of poor posture. However, when sitting up straight, you are not using that energy, so you have more of it for other things you need to do, leaving you in a better state of mind when tackling other responsibilities.
Slouching over consistently is detrimental to lung capacity, compromising breathing. That is because your tendons and frontal muscles become shorter, which impedes your ability to take deep breaths. Therefore, standing and sitting upright regularly increases your lung capacity, and consequently, you will have an easier time taking deep breaths.
Breathing correctly is essential for your mind, body, and spirit. If you cannot breathe correctly, it affects your mind, too. Breathing well will also contribute to having more energy and a better outlook on life. You already see how having good posture helps in so many ways, and the ways it helps are interconnected.
Good Posture Is Good For Your Muscles
If you constantly slouch, it weakens your muscles, so you want to stop doing that and start sitting up straight or standing straight if you are standing for long periods. Being upright as much as possible will help strengthen your core, back extensions, and buttock muscles because you keep tension at bay as much as possible.
When you constantly slouch, you add more tension, weakening your muscles as gravity pulls on them more. When you are sitting upright for long periods, the distribution of gravity is even. Therefore, it relieves stress, which is good for muscle strength.
You Get Fewer Headaches If You Sit Up Straight
When you are slouched over, you will be at risk of developing headaches because there is muscle tension at the back of the neck, and the only way to reduce that muscle tension is to be in an upright position. However, if you have been slumping for a long time and struggle with beaches, you will want to do some exercises to help loosen up the muscles in your neck.
One good exercise is to go to a comfortable floor setting or take out a yoga mat, lie on it, bend your knees, and put your feet flat on the mat or floor. Then, pull your chin towards the floor as if creating a double chin and hold it for ten seconds. Rinse and repeat ten times. Your headaches should disappear while you do those exercises mixed with good posture. If not, then you will want to see your doctor.
When slouching, you already know you are creating muscle tension, which causes headaches. However, you also create other neck, shoulder, and upper back problems. That is because the joints and ligaments are misaligned, and the more that happens, the more you will suffer from pain and other issues in that area.
You may think that you are having pain in the neck and shoulder area because of sleeping in uncomfortable positions. However, you are having that pain because of poor posture. The more you sit and stay upright, the more you will no longer have pain in your neck, upper back, and shoulder area as you will allow proper alignment with the joints and ligaments.
Your Circulation and Digestion Improve
When being in a slumped position for too long, you are not only harming your back and neck and putting your joints, muscles, and ligaments out of balance, but all of your vital organs are compressed, which you already know, including the lungs.
That will affect your digestion and circulation. Slumping constantly will not allow healthy blood flow, which is also why you would feel low on energy and in a low mood. You may find yourself having digestive upsets, too. Therefore, if you are mindful of staying upright, you will allow proper blood flow, and your organs will not be cramped, which will help you feel better overall.
Fewer Problems Will Happen with TMJ with Proper Posture
TMJ is temporomandibular joint pain, which can have several causes, but consistent poor posture is one. That is because when you slouch over, your head also slouches over, which means your jaw muscles and mandibular joints are in a state of tension. That will contribute to you experiencing pain when eating, yawning, and talking, and TMJ also contributes to headaches.
Therefore, your head will also be upright when you are upright, which will not put any stress or tension on your jaw muscles or mandibular joints. Good posture will help you reduce TMJ issues and may even eliminate them if you do some exercises. One exercise you can do is to have your head in a neutral position and ensure that you look forward. Then, turn your head slowly from side to side as you allow your neck muscles to stretch. You will feel better if you do that a few times daily.
Improved Confidence with Better Focus
When you are mindful of your posture, you will appear taller and more energetic, which means your focus will improve as well, making you feel better, and it will help your confidence, too. That is also because when sitting up straight, you look good and know it. Therefore, you will feel more empowered when mindful of your posture. That is why many politicians and celebrities know their posture; you never see them slump over, and they have to present themselves. When you feel better overall from improving your posture, that will make you happier and raise your self-esteem. Therefore, to find a confidence hack, be mindful of your posture; that simple tactic will tremendously help.
In honor of Correct Your Posture Month, you want to be mindful of your posture. You likely feel terrible overall if you have been slouching down while working. However, you will feel better, healthier, and happier once you improve your posture. Improved posture will also help you manage stress better because you will be better prepared to deal with it. Never underestimate how robust proper posture is for the mind, body, and spirit. You want to ensure you are sitting in comfortable seating that will support your posture. If your office has uncomfortable seating, you can invest in lumbar support pillows or a posture corrector brace. There is no reason not to improve your posture!
I am a Canadian mom, writer, astrologer, tarot reader, and evidential medium that enjoys traveling loves to unravel mysteries and is passionate about metaphysics and spirituality. I am also a mental health advocate and owner of several Medium publications, one being Tarot Talk, and you can find me at https://miriamreadstarot.com.
