Good posture is important to living a healthy lifestyle, and your posture now can have a direct impact on your quality of life later on. Many times, bad posture habits throughout your younger years can result in back, neck, joint and mobility problems in your senior years, but there are certain things you can do to correct bad posture in order to ensure you lead a healthy and active lifestyle now and in your later years.
Most people believe that posture is how you sit or stand – and, while this is correct, posture also includes how you hold your body when you’re lying down. Good posture is the proper alignment of body parts along with the right amount of muscle support against the pull of gravity. Good posture is a crucial part of a healthy and active lifestyle, but bad posture can affect your muscles, joints, and ligaments and lead to arthritis, joint pain, and other chronic disorders. Bad posture can affect your mental health as well as your physical health, because, when you face limited mobility, joint pain, or a slouched back, it can be depressing and emotionally draining. With that in mind, websites like Rolling Paper can provide you with in-depth information on how to improve the general health of your spine and the conditions mentioned. Within this article, you will look find 4 tips on how to correct that bad posture, and get you leading a physically and emotionally healthy life.
Chiropractic services
Find a good chiropractor in Toronto who can help you with your posture through a method of gently adjusting precise areas of your body’s joints, ligaments and muscles. Not every chiropractor in Toronto has the same level of postural training, but if you want to an assessment from top-notch, certified chiropractors, meet the Transform Chiropractic team at their Bloor Street West location and ask about the different techniques they offer for posture correction.
Exercise
There are several at-home exercises that you can do in your spare time to better your posture, exercises that focus on strengthening the muscles in your abdominal area and your lower back. Crunches, single leg extensions, and Pilates roll-ups are just a few exercises good for strengthening your core.
Maintain good posture 24/7
What does it mean to maintain good posture 24/7? It means being consistently aware of how you hold and carry your body, as good posture must be maintained while sitting, standing and lying down. When sitting, your feet should be on the floor, your ankles in front of your knees, your back should be straight and your shoulders should be relaxed. When standing, try and keep most of your weight on the balls of your feet; keep your knees slightly bent and stand straight and tall with your shoulders pulled backward. Good posture when lying down includes lying on your back on a comfortable and firm mattress, along with a pillow between your legs (if laying on your side) or under your knees (if on your back).
Be consistent
Correcting bad posture is a matter of changing old habits, and if you want good posture then you have to be consistent in your habits – if you find yourself slouching, correct it immediately. It may be uncomfortable at first, but once you get in the habit, correcting bad posture will be second nature.