What Is a Good Posture? Part One

February 8, 2017

You hear about it all the time – good posture is imperative. Spinal health and your body in general will thank you if you maintain proper posture while sitting down or standing up. That’s great, but what is good posture, anyway? Where does it all begin?

STACKING FROM THE GROUND UP:

Think of your body as a building – it needs a strong foundation to be built on top of. If the 10th floor is built nicely, that’s great. But if it was built on a rocky foundation? Not so good – it will come crashing down eventually. Good posture starts from the ground up.

If you are standing, you need to stack up from the feet. That is your first floor of your building.

If you are sitting, you need to stack up from the pelvis. That becomes the first floor of your building.

If the first floor of your building is tilted sideways or forward/backward, then the rest of the floors that you’re trying to build above (ribcage, shoulder and head with the vertebrae in between) will have a difficult time maintaining a good position. Before you know it, you’ll either fall out of “good” position or you’ll have discomfort trying to maintain “good” posture.

Once you have your foundation correct, then stacking the rest of your will be much easier. Start from the ground.

By bringing awareness to proper posture and educating yourself on how to get into it and maintain it, you can easily correct many of the pains and aches in your everyday life. Make sure you’re doing it right by coming into our practice and checking with our physical therapists or pilates instructors. Contact us here to book your first session.