My posture has become horrible. I have had a health problem over the past few years that has made me tired. I have also put on a lot of weight and I think I have been unconsciously hunching to hide my big belly. I just saw myself in some photos and it isn't pretty. I sit up straight whenever I think about it - but with chasing 2 kids around I don't think about it all that often. Does anyone have any tips for making my posture better? Thanks!!
I started seeing a chiropractor. She did a full work up on my body and my hips were an inch out of alignment, my neck was moving forward, and my knee pain came from both compensating for my hips and sitting on my foot. We've been working to align my whole body and it's been amazing. No more pain, I feel more solid, and it makes me want to sit and stand correctly. Give it a try!
You just made me straighten up! I tend to hunch over the keyboard if I sit too long.
Yoga is great for the body and mind. It just makes you feel good and you will be more aware of your posture. It is a "practice" so the positive results will take a few times per week for a few weeks. You can stream online and a good, full body stretch an be achieved in 30-40 minutes.
Classes are fun but you can give it a try at home. All you need is a mat and a few kid free minutes.
I have an illness that has affected my mobility and with that posture. So I do physio for this.
When you stand up, lift your chest up. That's all I have to do to get into the correct form. You can suck stuff in, pull chin in, look straight ahead, etc. but that was too hard for me to remember. I used to look kind of odd walking trying to engage everything. So my physiotherapist said "lift you r chest up". When I do that it throws my shoulders back and tightens my tummy naturally. Far easier (I hope that made sense).
The big thing people seem to do now from working on computers is hunching over and letting your chin go way forward. You can try the same thing sitting. Lift your chest up. I stop hunching. When you do it, you'll find you sit differently on your bum (you'll be more centered).
I was told to sit the same way (centered) when watching TV. We tend to slump. If you just sit on the center of your bum (same way you do at a desk once you sit up on your seat bones), you will not slouch on the couch. I need lumbar support (just a pillow) to keep me in the right position.
Hope that helps :)
Yoga and ballet are both excellent for posture.
Don't feel self conscious if you are bigger, there are bigger people in my yoga classes, including the co owner of the studio and she is awesome!
Start practicing at home (you tube and other short videos) you'll love it, not only physically but it's really both relaxing and energizing at the same time. Plus kids like it, the poses are fun and have happy names, dolphin, happy baby, horse, etc. so they may even do it with you :-)
Take a dance class. Good posture is the foundation of most forms of dance and the instructor should help you stand with the correct posture. It will have the added benefit of being fun and help you burn calories.
i try to suck my gut in to hide my gut... and a properly fitting bra as well as yoga will all help.
I just saw an episode of Shark Tank where they were seeking investment in this product:
Can't say whether it works or not because I don't have a need for it, but it sounded like a good idea. I can't remember whether any of the Sharks invested.
Bad posture is primarily due to weak muscles and a bit of laziness. I don't mean to offend, it's simply the truth. You see, our skeleton doesn't maintain our posture independent of our muscles. So when we just let our muscles relax, or our muscles are weak and untoned...we have bad posture because we're relaxing our body onto our skeleton.
The best thing you can do is to lose some weight (walking regularly is a great start), and start adding some body weight strength training. Toning your muscles will improve your posture to the point where you won't need to think about it.
Also, another tip in the meantime...don't cross your legs. Keeping your feet flat on the floor will put your legs, hips and spine in alignment, automatically improving your posture.
Good luck.
have you done any yoga, if so, in class you might recall they have yoga ropes.. if not, that's ok.. you don't have to yoga to use the belt..
what you do is either get a really long one or put two together.. there is a way to tie it around your waist and up and over shoulder down the back.. then you tie it tightly in the front..sounds confusing if you have never done it, so here's a youtube video I found...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH1sz_dz4Sc
you ll find that the belt eventually loosens, but all your have to do is pull it back over shoulder tighter and then re-tie... once you do it a few times.. it's easy to figure out..
good luck
There was a discussion about this on GMA a few days ago. Search for it because they show a few things. Also, when you walk, have your palms face forward, You'd be surprised what a small change can do to your posture.
http://www.amazon.com/Alignment-Matters-First-Five-Years/...
Alignment Matters is a book written by a cutting edge biomechanist. I have read it and made many changes.
Aligment is a real rabbit hole. Trust me, you will find things that need changing that you didn't even know needed changes. You will realize ailments you didn't attribute to biomechanics are are very much related.
The above book can be accessed for free as a blog called: Katie says. But the book is much easier to navigate and arranged in a much easier to follow fashion.
