Everyday Habits and Our Posture
Do everyday habits have an impact our posture?
Let's see for ourselves.
In fact, let's check our posture right now.
- How do I sit?
- Is my spine straight?
- Do I lean to my right or to left while sitting in font of computer screen?
- Do I sit on one leg?
- How it affects my spine?
- How deep (or shallow ) is my breathing?
All these questions...
Deep breathing is called belly breathing (when your belly button goes up with in-breath and down with out-breath). This type of breath helps to create conscience connection between our mind and our body. And as result - makes us savvier about our body's needs. Simply put, it awakens our body awareness.
Let's straighten up our spine, massage sides of our neck,
plant our feet firmly into the ground.
Is there something else that is missing?
As we started to listen to our body...
Cup of nicely smelling tea would be great? Let's make it! Trust me - it's worth it. It will make reading cozier and more enjoyable.
Our body always pays us back for the attention it receives.
Now let's get back to the posture.
All the activities that we go by in our daily life affect our posture. The way we drive, lift objects, sit, and even sleep.
Everything counts.
Driving.
Some car makers have more comfortable and ergonomic seats others do not. But with least comfortable seats as well as with most comfortable seats,
the rules that help keep our back out of troubles are the same:
- Your seat should be far enough from the steering weal so your legs are not jammed between gas paddle and the seat.
This means there should be more than a 90 degrees angle in your knee.
- Your sit should be high enough so there is 90 degrees angle in your hip joint.
- Your knee joint is not higher then your hip joint ( the femur bone *one that connect hips and knee* is parallel to the floor of the car.
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And special note for men: please do not sit on your wallets! It literally breaks your back.
Following these simple rules will keep your lower back out safe while you are driving.
Many of us drive at least 1 to 3 hours per day, making it enough to affect muscles of the hip structure and the back.
Sitting.
If you already have weak lower back, then it is very important to watch the way in which you sit.
- Sitting on one leg will contract muscles which are responsible for the external rotation of the hip, bringing this one particular side of the balance.
- Sitting in the half lotus position (meditation pose - sitting on your crossed legs) will contract external rotators of the hip and will out stretch internal rotators muscles. This will weaken the hip joints on both sides of the body.
- Sitting in what is called a "saw posture" What is "saw" posture? When you sit on the floor with your knees creating tops of letter "M," and your ankles are at the sides of the "M" and your buttocks is exactly in the middle. There are probably not that many people who can sit in this position comfortably. But for those of you who can: please do not sit like that. What happens when you sit like this is: you contract your internal rotators of the hip and stretch the external rotators. This uneven muscular tension will make your hip joints unstable and susceptible to problems.
Sleeping.
Hips.
Sleeping on one side is very often a comfortable position for many people.
When we sleep on one side with our top leg bent, there is usually a contraction of deep muscles of the hip on that side.
There is an easy and comfortable solution: use a body pillow under the top leg.
By doing this, you do not overstretch muscles and keep hips in neutral position.
Neck.
Neck and shoulders is the place in our body that is easily affected by physical and psychological stress.
That is why it is so important to take proper care of it.
Memory foam pillows or neck rolls are great for people who have pains and aches in the areas of neck and shoulders.
Shiatsu Therapy Plus+ providing services in Bucks County, PA 484.213.2938