How's Your Posture?
By Teresa Ambord
If instantly looking slimmer, taller, younger, and more confident appeals to you, check your posture. Even people who are otherwise nice looking may appear frumpy if they slouch.
Maybe you’ve seen someone sitting down who you thought was pretty (or handsome). Then you saw that same person slouch across the room with shoulders hunched and head forward. In only a second’s time, bad posture can transform an attractive person into a hunchback who appears older, shorter, heavier, and more timid.
Barring physical problems, for most of us, bad posture is little more than a habit, but one that is hard to break. But it is possible with conscious effort and exercise to improve. The hardest part of posture improvement may be remembering to think about it. As annoying as it was when you were growing up to have your mother always reminding you, at least she kept you aware. Since Mom isn't there to tell you, you can ask trusted friends to call your attention to it. You can also put post-it notes in strategic places, like your computer monitor and bathroom mirror.
You can also work to improve your posture by the way you sleep, the way you sit, and by strengthening your abdominal muscles.
Sleeping
Experts will tell you to start with a firm mattress and a pillow that keeps your head aligned with your body. Those big fluffy pillows are nice, but not if they crank your neck too high.
- If you sleep on your stomach, which is not recommended, you can keep your body lined up by putting a pillow under your waist.
- If you sleep on your side, one of your knees will tilt downward too far, unless you put a pillow between your knees.
- If you sleep on your back, a pillow below your knees will also keep your body aligned.
Standing
- Take a mental inventory to be sure your ears, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles all line up.
- Relax your shoulders a bit and unlock your knees to keep from appearing rigid.
- If you must stand for a long time, shift your weight to keep from slouching.
Sitting
- Keep knees even with hips or slightly higher.
- Feet flat on floor. If that’s not comfortable, use a footrest.
- Don’t sit longer than you need to, instead taking breaks to move around.
- If you work at a desk, make sure the chair supports your back.
- Don’t lean forward to see your computer monitor. Make the monitor do the work by adjusting it to the point where you don’t have to look down to read it.
- When you drive, sit with your hips as far back against the chair as possible for support.
If back pain is a problem or your posture is noticeably bad, you should ask your doctor what he or she recommends. The doctor may want you to visit a physical therapist for treatment that will help you maintain mobility, improve your posture, and hopefully ease the pain.
If you’re looking for some exercises that could help improve your posture, here are three moves recommended by Ann Riat, physical therapist at Mercy Regional Health Center in Manhattan.
1. Lie on your back, knees bent. Push out your chest and press shoulders to the floor.
2. While lying down, tuck chin toward chest. Stretch the back of your neck forward, making it longer. Do the same move sitting up.
3. Stand with your back against a wall. Touch the wall with your heels, hips, and shoulders. Raise your arms above your head and touch the wall.
Do each move every day, ten times. Riat says that bad posture, like any habit, develops over time and will take time to change. Improvement may be slow, but worthwhile.
