On this page we'll review good posture while standing, sitting, and walking. Good posture will improve how you look and feel, but if you’ve ever tried to improve your posture you know how impossible it seems. You sit up straight and squeeze your shoulders back and down, but a moment later you’re slouching again. The reason is because most people focus on the wrong thing.
Try this yourself. Place one hand on your low back and the other at the back of your neck and then round forward. You’ll feel these muscles activate. Now, lean back until you feel these muscles relax.
Better posture balances bones, while worse posture uses muscles and ligaments to hold you up, which leads to chronic pain. When we focus on balance, better posture becomes easier and requires less effort than slouching.
Breathing Posture
The most important concept to better posture is to breathe deeply and primarily with the diaphragm muscle. For a more detailed introduction to better breathing, check out my blog on How to Breathe.
Improve your tongue posture by pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth, similar to the position it's in when you make an "n" or "ng" sound. The practice is called mewing and it improves breathing and facial structure over time. This will also strengthen the muscles of your head and neck.
Standing Posture
Correct posture is simple but requires diligence to make it an unconscious habit. “Be Tall” by reaching the back of your head to the sky. Imagine there’s a string at the base of your head pulling you up. Be taller and you’ll notice your abdomen comes in and your chest naturally rises. Lengthen your neck, mid spine, and lower spine, and after a few moments of effort, attempt to make the effort light and effortless while gently lengthening your spine. This is by far the most important principle of better standing and sitting posture, and with this tip alone you can have phenomenal posture.
Keep your nose below your ears so your head is balanced on your shoulders.
Use a mirror to identify a neutral spine and keep your ribs stacked over your hips. If you feel your ribs poking out, you’re too arched. If you feel spine bumps, you’re too rounded.
Better posture is tall, but it’s not vertical - don’t push your hips forward as this will put pressure on your hip muscles and low back. Instead place your fingers where the legs meet the hips and gently push back to place your hips slightly behind you.
Reach back with one arm at a time like you’re trying to reach for something in the backseat of a car and then ‘anti-shrug’ your shoulders down to set your shoulder blades onto your rib cage.
Tight shoes with elevated heels create bunions and strain plantar fascia and the bones of the front of the foot. Be barefoot or wear flat and wide shoes to mobilize and strengthen your feet - as nature intended! Stand with feet hip width apart and parallel. Distribute your weight evenly from side to side so your ankles are straight, not excessively pronated or supinated.
Lift your toes and spread them as much as possible and then firmly “grip the ground” with your foot by attempting to bring your big toe and heel closer together. This will engage your foot muscles and raise your foot arch to create a strong foundation to stand on.
Slightly externally rotate your knees to point outwards as if you were trying to wrap your legs around you to align your hips, knees, and ankles.
Sitting Posture
Most seats promote poor posture, which stresses the spine and pelvic floor.
To sit with good posture, sit at the rear of the seat and roll your pelvis forward to sit on the sit bones. You can find these bones by sitting on your hands and feeling for two bony points at the bottom of your hips.
When the hips are well-positioned and your posture is tall, the spine is balanced and neutral. Having a pelvic tilt that is not neutral can lead to tight hamstrings and back pain. Start focusing on finding a neutral pelvic tilt while you sit. Imagine you are a dog and allow your tail to stick out behind you. Don’t sit on your tail!
If you’d like to read or learn more, the best resource I’ve found for posture is the 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back by Esther Gokhale.
This is a brief introduction to good posture. Think of the recommendations made here as home base. It's great to add variety to your posture as often as possible, and then return to your good posture base when you can.
If you have questions, send me a message or comment below. Hope this helps! - Tom
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