Don’t Try Correcting Bad Posture
(As seen in Vessel)
Don’t try correcting bad posture. Here’s why…
On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your posture? If it’s less than a ten you probably think it’s just because you don’t pay attention to it enough or you have a bad habit.
The truth is, a forward slouching posture is the result of many things and trying to force yourself into a more upright posture without addressing the root cause can actually be counterproductive and even cause more problems. Most often poor posture is initiated by the unconscious reflexive contraction of tiny to large muscles on the front side of your body as a result of environmental, mental, or emotional stressors. Simply straightening up consciously will not release these defense patterns that have been neurologically hard-wired into your biology. So, rewiring those defense patterns is essential because your environment, thoughts, emotions, and attitude affect your body, but the opposite is true as well: the form of your body also affects your mind, emotions, and the way you experience the world.
This is why people who are in care in our office notice changes in their ability to regulate their thoughts and emotions and at the same time notice their posture changing without even trying. Do you notice it is harder to sit up than to slouch? This is because when you try to sit up taller you’re actually fighting your own body, and probably need some rewiring. The unique approach to chiropractic care used in our office helps release these tension patterns from the inside out by working with your nervous system that controls those reflexive muscle tension patterns.
These postural distortions impact not only your structure and self-image but your quality of life. Poor posture affects not only the weight-bearing parts of your body and others' perception of you - these postural patterns in your body act like a prism that refracts your own reality leading to distortions in your perception and experience of the world around you. Just try slumping forward-looking at the floor like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh and thinking of all the things in your life you are grateful for today.
You’re probably going to struggle a bit to come up with anything! The truth is, your mind affects your body, and your body also affects your mind. When your body is aligned, you have an experience of a brighter world, inside and out. This is why we believe so much in chiropractic care for a healthy, aligned, and coherent spine, nervous system, and life.