4 ways to improve your posture without feeling like you’re working on your posture.
You may know what exercises to do that make you feel better, but actually doing them is another story. I want to share with you four strategies to work on your posture without feeling like you’re working on your posture so you can incorporate them more into your daily or weekly routine and start seeing improvement.
The first way is using what I like to call “Opposite Day.” This would be using the opposite movement pattern that you usually use. For example, if you still with your legs usually crossed in one way, sit more with the opposite leg crossed. Or when you’re driving and you usually sit with your arm resting on the center console, switch to having your other arm on the door for the majority of the ride. This also applies to how you stand… if you’re in line for coffee and you put most of the weight on your right leg and let your hip drop, try to mimic the same thing on the other side. It might even be fun to go back and forth to see what you feel different between them.
Other strategies can be carrying your bag on the other side, holding your child longer on the opposite side, reaching for something in the cabinet with the other hand. It feels funny at first but the more you add the other side in, the more interesting it is to your body and actually wants to do it more! Apply this to whatever activities you’d like. You can pick one day to do as much as you can or sprinkle different movements in throughout the week.
Intentionally stretch when you wake up. This is something really easy to do as soon as you wake up and actually looks like that quintessential picture of a stretch you see in magazines or on TV. Arms up in the air, yawning, feeling where your body wants to go and seems like it shakes off the cobwebs. If this doesn’t come naturally, you literally take your hands and put a little tension in them and reach forward, upward, or whatever direction you’d like and keep reaching until you feel your body take over. Do this for about 1 minute or however long feels good.
Sit on the floor while you watch TV. Yes, it’s that simple. Due to the harder surface, sitting on the floor will keep you from sitting in the same position for too long and will bring lots of variety to your positions. When sitting on the floor, it is almost natural to sprawl out, or stretch your legs in a straddle, or even lay back onto a pillow against the couch while fully reclined. This keeps us from forming that all-too-common sitting position of a rounded back and tucked-under hips. To add to this, keep a foam roller in your TV room and use that for 5 to 10 minutes on your tightest areas before you move on to the next position.
The last thing is to takes Pauses for Posture. An easy time to pause is when your coffee or tea is brewing. This is usually 1-3 minutes and although you may be tempted to run around the house to get last minute things together for the day, take this time to be quiet and be mindful of one, two or even maybe three easy exercises, that help you feel better in some way. Hold them for about a minute to ground you before you start your busy day. Find another minute or two somewhere later in your day to Pause for Posture!