How Do You Make Good Posture a Habit?

Does your neck feel stiff or painful at the end day? Do you get at least one headache a week? It could be that sitting at your desk five days a week is affecting your posture and causing you discomfort and pain.

Fortunately, there is good news: you can do something right now to change that. It will take commitment and discipline, but it will be worth it.

Your posture can be your friend or, it can be your enemy. If you are currently in pain or discomfort, it is your enemy. Let us make it your friend and supporter.

First, let’s take a quick look at how posture affects your neck and other parts of your body so that you can understand why it’s so important, and motivate yourself to correct bad posture now, and maintain good posture in the future.

Think of your head as a massive bowling ball rolling towards the cliff; it becomes increasingly difficult to stop the movement as it rolls towards the edge. This uncontrollable action is like you progressively (and unconsciously) moving your head closer and closer to the computer screen in front of you. The more stressed you are, the more you tend to move your head towards the computer screen. A prolonged static posture in this direction causes stress on your neck muscles which then leads to stiffness and pain. What actually happens over time is that bad posture causes the neck muscles at the base of your neck to shorten, which makes them tighten up and cause you pain.

If you do not correct this problem now, it will only get worse and cause aches and pains in other areas of your body.

POSTURE CORRECTION EXERCISES

Practicing the Chin Tuck each day will help you to defeat neck pain. The Chin Tuck helps keep the head aligned above the spine, which keeps you pain-free. You should practice this every day for at least 21 days to get into the habit. It will be worth it; you will not regret it.

An easy way to do this is to set yourself a reminder either on your phone or through the Phyxable app.

To perform the Chin Tuck movement:

• Sit up straight or stand up. Next, nod your neck (making a double chin) and pull your head towards your spine. (You should be able to draw an imaginary straight line from your earlobe to your shoulder.)
• Repeat this every hour, elongating your neck and holding that position for five seconds. Your neck pain will reduce in no time.

Remember: Do this for 21 days to form the habit. You will gradually realize the benefits of good posture!

This article was originally published on the Phyxable Blog.