What Is Perfect Standing Posture?

How do you know if you have good posture?

More than likely, if you suffer from habitual back, neck, shoulder, hip, knee or foot pain, the way you stand on a regular basis may be a contributing factor.

I can pretty much bet that if you have pain anywhere in your body you can improve the way you feel by learning good standing posture.

In fact, good posture is so crucial to your overall well-being that if you come to me complaining of pain anywhere in your body, more than likely I will begin by assessing the way you stand, sit and even sleep on a regular basis.

Simply put, good posture is defined as the place in space where you are most biomechanically efficient.

You're a better athlete when you have good posture, you have more energy because your lungs have space to breathe more fully and you can even shave 10 pounds off your appearance in photographs if you learn what I'm about to teach.

Since most of us spend our days slumped over a desk and/or the steering wheel of our car, simply feeling relaxed may not be the best indication that you are standing properly.

Ideally, if someone were looking at you from the side, the middle of your ankle would line up with the middle of your hip, shoulder ear.

Your weight would be equally balanced on both feet.

Now you may think you stand with good posture, but you may be suffering from:

• A twisted pelvis
• One or both feet turned out
• One or both knees rolled in or out
• A tilted pelvis
• One hip higher or lower
• Swayback, a.k.a. hyperlordosis (low back curvature greater than 30 degrees)
• Flat low back (low back curvature less than 30 degrees)
• Kyphosis (upper back curvature greater than 30 degrees)
• Scoliosis
• One shoulder higher or lower
• Degenerative discs
• Herniated discs
• Forward head posture - every inch forward your head is adds 10 pounds of pressure to your neck
• Or an infinite number of permutations that could all add up to constant pain and lower energy.

During one-on-one assessments, I measure the curvatures of your spine and examine your standing posture before recommending corrective stretches and strengthening exercises.

Here's a way I teach my clients to stand with good posture:

Directions:

? Put a yoga block or book between your feet.

? Hug the block or book with your feet, pulling your inner groins back toward the center of your body.

? From two inches below your belly button, lift the pit of your abdomen toward the crown of your head.

? Lift and spread your chest.

? Press the back of your shoulders behind you into an imaginary wall.

? Pull your head into alignment over the center of your chest.

? Let your arms hang gently to the side.

? Breathe and relax.

? Hold one minute, then remove the block or book and practice standing straight.

Benefits:

? Brings your spine into alignment.

? Increases oxygen flow to your lungs.

? Trains your body awareness. Notice how your little aches and pains go away just by standing up straight.

? This is the basic posture from which you will practice all your other exercises.

You can learn more about good posture with this FREE download. Just click on this link to print it out. 

To learn more about how you can get out of pain naturally without drugs, read my eighth book and sixth Amazon Number 1 bestseller, The Difference Between Pain and Suffering. 

The Difference Between Pain and Suffering is a complete handbook for hope and healing for pain relief without drugs. Written by medical intuitive healer Catherine Carrigan, this book outlines tips you can follow to restore your health naturally. Drug overdose is now the No. 1 cause of death for Americans under the age of 50.Learn how to feel good without opioids or over-the-counter medication.

• Your Physical Body: Learn how to heal pain through nutrition, yoga, posture exercise, restorative movement, juices and smoothies and food healing.
• Your Energy Body: Take advantage of the hidden secrets of your chakras, energy healing, Reiki, balancing your acupuncture meridians and breathing exercises.
• Your Emotional Body: Release the emotional stress your suffering, overcome your broken heart, understand the messages from your body and let go of the payoffs for chronic pain.
• Your Mental Body: Change your story to think like a rich and healthy person.
• Your Spiritual Body: Raise your vibration past pain and suffering and learn how to comfort others when all you have to give is love.

This book includes an appendix with 41 therapeutic yoga exercises, charts and directions on how to balance your own acupuncture meridians and recipes for radiant health.

Want to learn more about how you can eliminate chest, shoulder, upper back neck pain naturally? Call 678-612-8816 or email me at [email protected] to make an appointment. I’ll analyze your posture and explain what’s going on in your body and what you can do to feel better today.

To join Catherine’s ongoing yoga classes, follow the directions at this link. We meet Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 9 p.m., Thursday mornings from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Thursday evenings 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Private lessons meet by appointment Monday through Friday.

Photo of overhead lat stretch courtesy of Diane Fulmer of Savannah, Georgia.