Top 3 Misconceptions About Posture and Why You Need to Start Correcting Posture Now
Have you been
correcting your posture? If not, why? Haven’t you heard all the great
benefits about good posture? I can’t blame you if you haven’t because
posture seems like the hidden secret of the health industry. It’s a
topic that only surfaces once in a while, but most times it’s nowhere to
be found.
Over the last few
years posture has been showing up a few times a year. Well, that’s
certainly better than not at all, but it’s nowhere as prominent as
nutrition and exercise. Why is this so? Why does it feel like the issue
isn’t important? It’s sad how people all over the U.S. struggle with a
host of problems that are related to posture and yet the effort to put
the right information forward is insufficient. There could be some
serious changes if more people understood how poor postural alignment
impacts the body.
Are you aware that
lower back pain and cumulative trauma disorders can be caused by
consistently poor body alignment? Posture, as it related to body
alignment, isn’t just about sitting upright and walking straight like
you’ve just placed a book on your head. It encompasses the crown of the
head right down to the feet, but so many of us are missing this and it’s
probably due to a host of misconceptions about the subject.
What have you heard
about posture? We can compare notes later, but here are the top 3
misconceptions I’ve encountered about posture and what you need to know
about them instead:
1. Posture isn’t that important why bother teaching it?
As stated before,
posture is showing up a few times in the media, but the focus is on the
remedy after the problem has surfaced instead of the habits that lead to
the problem. For example, there are special creams to help alleviate
lower back pain, but no one is talking enough about what’s causing the
problem and how to prevent it. Pain in prominent areas like the lower
back, neck, and shoulders could be avoided or managed better with the
proper understanding of good posture as it relates to body alignment.
2. Posture is all about sitting up straight, right?
It’s more than just
sitting up straight; it’s about the position of the body, the entire
body as it performs its day to day tasks. When professionals work to
correct posture they examine the habitual behaviors that will eventually
lead to a problem and try to stop them from happening. One of the basic
questions asked is: What is the body’s alignment while it consistently
performs its day to day tasks? Something as simple as sitting can place
unnecessary strain on the body and lead to head and lower back problems.
3. Posture has no effect on anything else
Sure, posture may
seem like nothing until you’re undergoing surgery for a problem that was
hastened due to poor postural alignment. What you do at your neck
affects the rest of the body. If you’re hanging your head over
regularly, it adds extra weight to the neck, affects the spine, and
throws off your body’s alignment. Most cases of lower back pain stem
from consistent or habitual behaviors that negatively impact the spine.
The muscles and ligaments are impacted by being either stretched,
weakened, or strengthened when they shouldn’t be. It’s a vicious cycle,
but one that can be broken with knowledge and right application.
I’m sure after
reading this you understand why this is so important. This is why the
National Posture Institute is so vigilant about posture correction and
spreading the word to health & fitness professionals. These
misconceptions are just the surface, I’m sure there are others but this
article would be much longer. If you’re already a certified professional
through us then you’ve been nodding your head this whole time. It’s
fantastic to have you and I hope you continue spreading the word as more
and more people need to know this.
For those who haven’t seen our NPI-Certified Posture Specialist™program here it is, this is where we make magic happen and change the world, one spine at a time:
Click here to our NPI-Certified Posture Specialist™ program >>
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