Top tips to make perfect posture second nature
Remembering to take notice of how you use your body during your daily life will greatly improve your awareness of
personal posture and alignment. Try the following tips and notice how much your posture improves.
• Move the driver’s seat of your car to a more upright position so that the back of your head rests on the headrest.
• Stand evenly on both feet at every opportunity. Utilise times when you are waiting – like in the supermarket and post office
queue – to practise.
• Use a backpack to carry your gym gear and always put both shoulder straps on.
• Sit with a lengthened spine at work, at the café, in the doctor’s waiting room. Keep both feet on the floor.
• Never cross your legs. Feel that your weight is evenly distributed over your sitting bones.
• If your office chair has arms, take them off. Make sure your work station is well set up.
• Sit like the letter ‘i’ not the letter ‘c’.
• Get up from your desk every 45 minutes, walk around, stretch, perform some forward bends, arm raises, and shoulder rolls.
• Place these alignment cues into your memory bank:
- Stand tall, evenly on both feet
- Lift the arches of your feet and lengthen your toes
- Release the muscles of the chest and front of shoulder
- Draw the shoulder blades down the back into a soft ‘V’
- Lengthen the neck and allow the skull to float on top
- Gently activate the pelvic floor and transverse abdominals.
• Stroll instead of striding occasionally, so that you notice how you are moving.
• Breathe long, slow and deep breaths as often as possible.
• Be aware, take care of your body and you will move freely.
FRIENDS OF GOOD POSTURE
• Stretching of chest and anterior deltoid
• Stretching of hip flexors and hamstrings
• Strengthening of lower trapezius, rhomboids and the core
muscles
• Feldenkrais
• The Alexander Technique
• Well taught yoga and Pilates
• Fitballs and foam rollers
FOES OF GOOD POSTURE
• Mindless motion, being unaware of where the body is in space
• Sustained positions in incorrect alignment
• Too many abdominal curls
• Too much hip flexor overload
• Too many push-ups or chest press
• Chairs and sofas that make you slump and slouch
• Office chairs with arms
Remembering to take notice of how you use your body during your daily life will greatly improve your awareness of
personal posture and alignment. Try the following tips and notice how much your posture improves.
• Move the driver’s seat of your car to a more upright position so that the back of your head rests on the headrest.
• Stand evenly on both feet at every opportunity. Utilise times when you are waiting – like in the supermarket and post office
queue – to practise.
• Use a backpack to carry your gym gear and always put both shoulder straps on.
• Sit with a lengthened spine at work, at the café, in the doctor’s waiting room. Keep both feet on the floor.
• Never cross your legs. Feel that your weight is evenly distributed over your sitting bones.
• If your office chair has arms, take them off. Make sure your work station is well set up.
• Sit like the letter ‘i’ not the letter ‘c’.
• Get up from your desk every 45 minutes, walk around, stretch, perform some forward bends, arm raises, and shoulder rolls.
• Place these alignment cues into your memory bank:
- Stand tall, evenly on both feet
- Lift the arches of your feet and lengthen your toes
- Release the muscles of the chest and front of shoulder
- Draw the shoulder blades down the back into a soft ‘V’
- Lengthen the neck and allow the skull to float on top
- Gently activate the pelvic floor and transverse abdominals.
• Stroll instead of striding occasionally, so that you notice how you are moving.
• Breathe long, slow and deep breaths as often as possible.
• Be aware, take care of your body and you will move freely.
FRIENDS OF GOOD POSTURE
• Stretching of chest and anterior deltoid
• Stretching of hip flexors and hamstrings
• Strengthening of lower trapezius, rhomboids and the core
muscles
• Feldenkrais
• The Alexander Technique
• Well taught yoga and Pilates
• Fitballs and foam rollers
FOES OF GOOD POSTURE
• Mindless motion, being unaware of where the body is in space
• Sustained positions in incorrect alignment
• Too many abdominal curls
• Too much hip flexor overload
• Too many push-ups or chest press
• Chairs and sofas that make you slump and slouch
• Office chairs with arms