Good Posture Is Not What You Think!

Many of us don’t think much about posture until we see a photograph of ourselves, not looking as we expected; or how we feel, where there’s a nagging pain somewhere in the body — usually in the neck, shoulders and back.

If you’ve ever taken a yoga class or private sessions with me, I’m on constant repeat asking you to lengthen your spine or to reach your torso toward the sky with an imaginary straight line from your feet to your head.

That imaginary straight line is your Plumb Line. 

Ideal posture stacks your ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles along this imaginary line. 

Just like foundational beams for a house, a stacked position is structurally sound. 

3 areas of the spine that can deviate from plumb line: 
-forward head posture (your cervical spine) aka Cervical Lordosis
-hunchback (your thoracic spine) aka Thoracic Kyphosis
-excessive curve in your lower back (your lumbar spine) aka Lumbar Lordosis

“You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.” ~ Joseph Pilates

Consider the types of movements you make after waking until you get to work.  Do you reach, bend, squat, twist —like our ancestors did in order to find a meal?  What types of movements are you doing while at work?  Notice that we usually move in a forward plane where our perception narrows.

Anyone of us sitting at a computer screen for too long will feel the impact of these deviations that restrict our movement, deplete our energy, contribute to injury and even spinal decay.

When we train for posture with the plumb line in mind it offers us considerable potential to move - in any direction.  All organisms, including humans are made to move; and to move frequently.

Folding forward, back bending, side bending, rotating and twisting are all movements of a healthy spine that will help keep your plumb line in check. 

There are wonderful aspects of our modern life, however, as you know and can personally feel these conveniences dwindle our body’s innate dexterity for movement and perception.  We have options for a variety of (desk) chairs, yet there is no perfect chair as they are designed to posteriorly tilt your pelvis, and automobiles use bucket-style seats, which is a brazen design to restrict movement.

Sitting in most chairs doesn’t provide the mechanics to sit in a balanced way; your pelvis dips back or your spine leans back or slides. All of which weaken your body, exhaust your muscles while taking you out of alignment, out of your plumb line. 

What back support for a chair is best?
I’m glad you asked! If we, as humans can stand upright without back support, then we don’t need back support to sit!

The Gymic Disc'o'Sit cushion is the most decent (sitting) solution as this cushion allows your pelvis to float like sitting on a waterbed.  Creating micro-movements, which is excellent for your fascia.

Correct pelvis inclination is a 45º angle between the hip and thigh bone so that your spine can be vertical. This forward inclination of the pelvis allows for an immediate lift through your spine.  In yoga we refer to sitting on your sit bones for the correct pelvic position in relation to your spine.  This is also referred to as the Anal Triangle.

Test yourself
Sit in a chair, tuck your tailbone under, roll your lower back down, let your shoulders fall forward and your head drop down as if you were texting.  While sitting in this posterior tilted position, take a full big belly breath. Did you notice it’s not easy to breathe?  It’s challenging for anyone to get enough oxygen in a slumped position.  What’s going on?  Why does this position feel terrible? 

Well, your pelvis rolls backward, sitting on your tailbone and glute flesh, your torso is compressed with your head/neck sticking out like a turtle.  This seated position, sitting on your glutes gets smaller and compressed.  Which is the bottom of your gut tube that connects to your throat; consider digesting your lunch in this compressed position. Relearning how to sit up correctly on your anal triangle (aspect of sit bone area) will take time. Practice titration, little-by-little sitting up tall will help open up your tail space, creating a new healthy habit!

When you sit upright, on your sit bones, specifically your anal triangle, your pelvis rolls forward, pubic bone is further from your belly button, tailbone lifts, sitting on flesh of thighs instead of your glutes, more weight is on your feet creates extra support to sit on all 3 points, which is referred to your anal triangle.

In yoga we encourage sitting on your sit bones with a tall spine, this is just another approach with further detail.

The best way is to perch your body rather than sit, which allows for your hips to be higher than your knees.

Sitting on a chair with your legs at a closed angle for long hours without movement, the fascia around your hip and down your thighs and legs gets tighter, matted and more uncomfortable. Sitting is harmful for your fascia.

Try sitting on the floor with legs crossed in Sukhasana (easy seat), wiggle on your butt to feel your sit bones (the bottom of your pelvis) so that your spine can lengthen. This is an excellent way to open your hip joint that has been compressed and restricted.

Explore doing other tasks sitting on the floor - eat, reading, watching a movie….

Sitting on a ball-chair seems like a great idea, however, your legs are stuck in a wide position, which is not great for your hip joint, plus the ball tends to roll back too much. 

Our bodies perform best when we are moving.

Poor posture inhibits moving as we’d like.  The less we move, the faster our health (spine) declines. 

Standing desks must be the best solution right? 
Well, yes ......if you are fidgeting, moving and shifting your weight around. Yet, leaning with all your weight on one leg or forearm on the desk is just another form of whacking your body out of alignment, creating other stability issues.  Add a pebble stone doormat to stand on so that your feet have some sensory feedback. This strategy will also have you moving too. 

Good posture isn’t just standing tall, it’s more involved as to your response to the current moment and the next, how stable and safe you feel, and your self awareness. 

However, the absolutely best solution for the health of your posture, plumb line and your fascia is to dance!  In all seriousness, dancing is non-directional movement that engages all of your muscles, warms up your fascia, keeps it fluid and inspires a healthy spine.  Dancing will also release the malaise trance of staring straight ahead into a screen. 

Pandiculation occurs upon waking-up or even after being sedentary.  We perform an energized involuntary stretching of the soft tissues, it’s our nervous system's instinctive way of waking up our sensorimotor system, preparing us for movement. Animals pandiculate as well.  Pandiculation primes your fascia for the day ahead. 

To Pandiculate: (try this now)
Stand up, reach straight arms high, make fists, tighten elbows and knee, lean side-to-side, reach and stretch your body long.  Yawning usually occurs as well.  Pandiculation is easy to do, and we all usually stretch like this horizontally just before getting out of bed. So practice everyday, throughout your day.

Integrate dancing and Pandiculation to your daily routine, this conscious act will change your life and spine.  Igniting your whole body-mind connection for long term health and vitality. 

To develop better posture, we need to understand the important roll of fascia. 

What is Fascia?
Fascia is an architecture of connective tissue that envelopes muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels and nerves, while permitting others to glide smoothly over each other. Fascia essentially holds every internal aspect in place. As with other connective tissues, Fascia has a considerable degree of elasticity, which can resist deformation from applied forces and pressure, recover and return to its initial shape and size.

Healthy Fascia is moist, smooth, slippery and flexible, when your body is stressed or doesn’t move, your Fascia becomes dehydrated, dense and matted.

What can I do right now for better posture?
-pandiculate via standing
-dance!!
-go barefoot as much as possible and on uneven terrain
-belly breathe vs shallow chest breathing
-be aware of your position, how you move and don’t move
-stand broadening your chest, feel the space open up as you relax your shoulders back and down
-change positions with a variety of movement (reach, bend, twist, rotate)
-pandiculate!
-dance!

Mens Sana in Corpore Sans ~ poet Juvenal
A healthy mind needs a healthy body.