I hope you’re not slouching right now while checking this out. We’ll see how necessary it is to know the importance of good posture and look at how to fix bad posture problems in your life. As bad posture leads to stress, you can first address the stress through healthy lifestyle tips, pranayama for stress, and yoga for stress.

Poor posture while working on the computer can lead to fatigue, increased muscle tension, and even injury to the vertebrae over time, a study has found. Sometimes, you might find it difficult to turn your head.

Researchers tested the effects of head and neck position. First, they asked 87 students to sit upright with their heads properly aligned on their necks and asked them to turn their heads.

Then the students were asked to “scrunch” their necks and to jut their heads forward. 92% reported being able to turn their heads much farther when not scrunching.

In the second test, 125 students scrunched their necks for 30 seconds. Afterward, 98% reported some level of pain in their head, neck, or eyes.

The researchers also monitored 12 students with electromyography equipment and found that trapezius muscle tension increased in the scrunched, head forward position.

What Is Good Posture:

Correcting bad posture is only possible when you know and experience what is good posture. A good posture definition is a way you hold your body with minimum effort and less strain on the back, and limbs.

Bad Posture Side Effects:

The bad posture side effects include back pain, stain on limbs, etc. This muscle uneasiness when continued for the long term, it turns into chronic stress.

Most of us are unaware of or should I say that we’re unconscious of the inconvenience the body bears because of our bad postures.

The inconvenience is not just physical as we think and take it easy, as we ignore the importance of good posture. It can lead to different mental and physical health issues and further into emotional imbalances like depression.

There are numerous benefits of good posture but half of the ailments just vanish just by maintaining good posture.

But how to have a good posture after the damage is on? Here comes the importance of good posture and good posture exercises to revert to good posture.

Importance Of Good Posture:

The continuous muscular stress while basic sitting, standing, walking, or sleeping in a bad posture is one of the sources of irritation. These are to be done in a certain way to access the full functionality of the body. Here’s a detailed explanation of why good posture is important.

“When your posture is tall and erect, the muscles of your back can easily support the weight of your head and neck —as much as 12 pounds,” said Erik Peper, a professor at San Francisco State University in the U.S.

“But when your head juts forward at a 45-degree angle, your neck acts like a fulcrum, like a long lever lifting a heavy object,” Mr. Peper said.

Common Bad Postures And Good Posture Tips:

Here are the most common mistakes we make with our body and how to make good posture a habit with good posture tips.

A good posture benefits saving our body from extra burdens. These are the daily practices you need to follow.

1. Slouching:

You’ll do this while you sit or stand. This leads to stress and pain in the neck, shoulder, and back muscles. The neck region has the extension of the spine connecting the brain and other body parts.

The stress in the neck affects the spine and abdominal muscles. 

Now the muscle weight of your head and neck is the equivalent of about 45 pounds. It is not surprising people get stiff necks and shoulder and back pain.

Here’s how to improve posture while sitting and standing. A correct posture while standing is shown below.

Posture correction practices for slouching:

• Rotate the shoulder back and down to correct the forward droop (with the arms resting on the side of the body).
• Sit up tall when seated. Keep the legs relaxed, bent at the knees with the feet resting flat on the floor.
• Maintain the natural curve of the spine with a small cushion between your lower back and the backrest if necessary.
• Pull yourself up while standing (but watch out for the forward hip thrust).

The forward hip thrust happens when you thrust the knees back and stand. You can see the correct posture while standing without hip thrust.

2. Standing with the Hip thrust to one side:

This impacts hip muscles by creating an imbalance between the two sides of the body.

Posture correction practices for standing with the Hip thrust to one side:

• Shift body weight to another leg periodically.
• Stand with legs wider to increase base support.
• If leaning against something, make sure the back is tall and the hips are balanced with body weight.

3. Sleeping Incorrectly:

If you have any inconveniences in the back for no reason or when you wake up in the morning, check out your sleeping posture and the sleeping surface.

Bad sleeping posture affects the spine and the muscles.

Here’s how to improve posture while sleeping.

Practices for bad sleeping posture correction:

• Use a firm mattress that doesn’t give under bodyweight and flip or rotate it periodically.
• Support the curve of the neck with a pillow when sleeping sideways. Also, keep a pillow between the legs to support alignment.
• When sleeping on the back keep a pillow under the knees.

Above are the basic daily practices you need to follow understanding the importance of good posture and habituating it, like first aid. You must also go for good posture exercises or hatha yoga for good posture in for speedy betterment and faster progress in life.

Good Posture Exercises:

Good posture exercises include stretches to improve good posture.

1. Planks: To strengthen the core muscles the obliques and transverse abdomen, as well as your shoulder and back muscles, so that the body gets ready for good posture alignment.
2. Back extensions: Strengthens the spine and low back muscles.
3. Pilates swimming: Strengthen your back to help ensure the proper sitting posture.
4. Reverse Dumbbell fly: This is how to improve the posture of rounded shoulders by strengthening their upper back.
5. Shoulder rows: This simple stretch relieves tension and helps to get the correct posture.
6. Kneeling strength: The kneeling stretch combats tightness in a number of important muscle groups.  you’ll find it much easier to sit and stand with a straight spine.
7. Crossover: Works on all the core muscles, focusing on the obliques.

Hatha Yoga For Posture Alignment:

Some of you might not be good exercise doers and must be thinking of an alternative. You can opt for yoga for posture alignment.

If, will yoga fixes my posture is your question, I would say from my experience yoga for posture correction is a great option. You can check out your posture before and after yoga after a few days of practicing it.

Yoga for posture and flexibility helps ease the body and maintain good posture. Here is the Hatha yoga for posture correction.

1. Bhujangasana: Also known as cobra pose. It stretches the spine, opens the chest and the shoulders, and strengthens the diaphragm. 
2. Tiryak Bhujangasana: Stretches the spine and the lower back muscles, opens the chest and shoulders, and strengthens the diaphragm.
3. Makarasana: Also known as crocodile posture. his posture encourages the vertebral column to get back to its normal shape and release the compression of the nerves.
4. Ustrasana: Also known as Camel Posture. It opens the chest and the shoulders increasing the lung capacity. Good at correcting rounded backs and drooping shoulders.
5. Shashankasana: Also known as hare posture. It relaxes the body and calms the mind. It releases the pressure on the disc by the backward bending posture and the spine stretch.
6. Gomukhasana: Also known as cow face posture, it helps to remove the stiffness from the neck, back, and shoulders, stretching the hips. You can avoid a headache from neck pain or any other pains due to stiff muscles.
7. Kumbhakasana: Also known as dolphin plank, this asana strengthens the arms, shoulders, abdominals, and especially the lower back.
8. Marichyasana C: Want to know how to improve posture for rounded shoulders, this is the best. It opens the chest and stretches your spine. The intercostal muscles are also stretched helping you to breathe deeply. 
9. Supta Padangustasana: Also called as reclining hand to big toe pose, this posture is the best for lengthening hamstrings, and opening the hip without putting pressure on the lower back. In case you have any lower back pain problems don’t go for Parivrtta Suata Padangustasana.
10. Parivrtta Supta Padangustasana:  This pose is also called revolved reclining hand to big toe pose, this lengthens the hamstrings and stretches the lower back to help get correct posture while standing without hip thrust.
11. Shava Udarakarshanasana: Also called the universal spinal twist, this posture helps to realign the hips and releases the spinal tension.

Posture Correction Therapy Accessories:

Thinking of how to improve posture fast, you can take the help of accessories. But you must still do exercises for the complete fixing of bad posture. Accessories are also first aid like the good posture tips mentioned in the beginning.

Or, if your bad posture is severe and can’t wait for the results from exercising, you can go for posture correction therapy back braces, belts, etc for immediate relief and work out the above exercises.

So if you suffer from headaches or neck and backaches from computer work, check your posture and make sure your head is aligned on top of your neck, as if held by an invisible thread from the ceiling.

“You can do something about this poor posture very quickly,” said Mr. Peper. To increase body awareness, Mr. Peper advised purposefully replicating the head-forward/neck-scrunched position.

“You can exaggerate the position and experience the symptoms. Then when you find yourself doing it, you can become aware and stop,” he said.

Other solutions include increasing the font on your computer screen, wearing computer reading glasses, or placing your computer on a stand at eye level, all to make the screen easier to read without strain.

Take Away:

Practicing posture correction, in the beginning, is a bit hard but it will help improve your health conditions and make you energetic for life in the long term. Hope the importance of good posture is recognizable and you work out for good posture.