Let’s Talk Posture
I’m sure you are aware that poor posture (think rounded shoulders, head hanging forward and a hunched over back) can cause all sorts of muscle aches and pains but did you know that poor posture could activate your sympathetic nervous system which is responsible for your “fight or flight” response? The area of nerves in our thoracic spine, between your shoulder blades, directly communicates with the part of the brain responsible for our “fight or flight” response.
So what can we do about it?
Generally speaking when sitting or standing you should imagine you’re dropping your shoulder blades into your back pockets. This automatically straightens our spine and puts our head on top of our shoulders where it’s meant to be! If you are not used to this posture you may feel some muscle fatigue just below your shoulder blades, you may even get some delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) but keep at it as the muscles will get stronger and you soon won’t even need to think about perfect posture because you’ll be automatically doing it!
What else can we do?
When sitting you want to make sure you are using a supportive chair. Sit with your feet flat on the floor or if you have little legs like me you can rest your feet on a footrest then make sure your weight is evenly distributed on both your “sit bones”. If you are working try to keep your elbows at 90 degrees and your mouse/telephone/mobile phone within reach so you aren’t constantly over stretching in one direction.
What about other postures?
Gardening can be shocking for our posture! Hours spent bending, twisting and/or hunched over can put some serious strain on your spine. Try to avoid twisting when shovelling dirt/mulch or pulling up weeds. Correct lifting with the weight close to your body and your knees bent rather than your spine bent over is a must!! If you have a particularly aggressive weeding or planting session planned try using a garden stool or small bench to be closer to the ground so you’re not squatting hunched over for ages!
Smashing a cleaning session? Vacuuming, mopping or even just standing washing the dishes are usually performed with shocking posture so how can we make it better? Try using a lunging motion with your legs when vacuuming or mopping, yes you will feel like you’re in an 80’s aerobics video but it’s really important to maintain good posture while performing these repetitive movements. If you’re stuck standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes try bending your knees rather than bending at the waist and if this doesn’t work for you, you can try opening a cupboard under the sink and resting a foot inside the cupboard so your knee is bent.
With all activities it is really important to take breaks! We are just not meant to be stationary for hours at a time. Sustained positions can contribute to back and/or neck pain so go for a walk on your lunch break, take the stairs when you can, set an alarm for 30mins so you can stop what you’re doing to move and stretch then re-set your posture and get back into it. Trust me… Your spine will thank you!