Do you suffer from chronic upper body pain or super tight shoulders?
Do you dream of a daily back massage?
If you are using your smartphone or tablet or hunched over a keyboard all day (whoops, like I was writing this), you may have “tech” neck with related stress and pain running from your neck down your back to your hamstrings.
Time to straighten up right now.
Years ago, my 5th grade English teacher told our class repeatedly to bring the books up to our eyes, rather than hunch over our desks to read. Now we have books and technology pulling our posture forward.
She was clearly on to something.
Alas, that book-tech neck back. It is no longer relegated to us book readers and code jockeys. Everyone is at risk with all the e-readers and technology we use daily. But if we fix our posture sooner than later, we will reduce our chances of a dowagers hump, back pain, energy loss, and chronic stress.
Here is a 30-second good posture lesson:
Stand tall. Stand up and take a deep inhale and lengthen your spine. As you exhale, drop your shoulders. Imagine you are being pulled up by the crown of your head.
Get aligned. Stand up and align your skeleton. Align your shoulders, hips, and ankles in a vertical column.
Engage your core. Engage/squeeze your lower abdominals. This will stabilize the upper body and provide a natural brace for your back. An engaged core can help you stand tall.
Relax. Still tense? Roll those shoulders forward and backward. Ahh. Then shake out your arms and shoulders and do arm swings.
Check it out. Check-in a mirror to ensure you connect the dots. Look good? Give yourself a wink and high five!
Look at your new posture and smile.
See how much better (leaner, taller, and happier) you look? Remember this.
Make posture and alignment a priority in your life and in your exercise. When you have good posture when you walk and run, you will breathe easier.
Elevate your book, smartphone, tablet, or computer to meet your eyes at eye level, so you don’t have to look down.
Think about your posture when you get out of bed in the morning. If you have back pain, this is crucial. Pull your core in as you roll out of bed, place your feet on the ground and stand tall.
Forgetful? Put a posture reminder sticky note on your mirror, computer, and your car’s rearview mirror.
We’re all in this technology world together.
Cheers to YOU and your new posture.
PS. Thanks to my friend and fitness client Stephen for being the model of good posture!
