POSTURE:

Your Posture is a window into your spine. Poor Posture is a sign of spinal misalignment (Subluxation), it’s one of the number one causes of back pain. It can also cause your nervous system to be in flight or fight mode, which means your body is under a lot of stress. Poor posture also increases the physical load on all the joints of your body and it will cause them to wear out faster.

When we look at posture this is what we look for: Your head should be straight and your shoulders should be level with your hips. There should be no rotation, contortion, and/translation. Your legs should be straight and not internally or externally rotated. From the side, your head should sit directly on top of your shoulders. Your shoulders should be back and not rounded forward. Your pelvis should be in a neutral position and your knees should be unlocked.

One of the most common poor postures and patterns of subluxation I see in my office is a rounding forward of the shoulders, along with forward head posture. When your head moves forward of your shoulders and you lose the normal curve in your neck it increases the stress and pressure at the base of your neck and upper spine. It also causes a “tethering” of your spinal cord, meaning, it literally stretches your spinal cord, which is not good. And, for every inch that your head moves forward it adds an additional 10 lbs. of weight on your spine. This is one of the reasons we focus so much on correcting poor posture and spinal misalignment.

EXERCISE

If you have a desk job and you spend your day sitting; and, you have done this for years, it is likely you have a loss of curve in your neck, forward head posture and rounded shoulders. So what I want you to do is a very quick exercise.

Try to take a deep breath in through your nose with your head shifted forward and your shoulders rounded forward…

What you will notice is that your breathing feels very restricted and stressful. You will likely notice that you aren’t able to breathe as deeply as you would like to. This posture puts mechanical stress on your chest and therefore you end up taking it less air/oxygen overall. This is due to the fact it reduces your vital lung capacity.

This is yet another reason why your posture is so important. In the video below I go over a very important stretch you should do regularly throughout your day, ESPECIALLY if you have a desk job! Please watch the video – and as always…

LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, AND SHARE! 

Location: Folsom, California @ Thrive Spine Center