Tips for correct posture

Good posture is important not only for the health of the spine. People who keep their back straight, look slimmer and younger, feel more confident, which allows them to be liked by others, regardless of their weight and body characteristics. With a good posture all the internal organs settle down correctly – the digestion and overall health improves.

How to check your posture?
Stand in front of a mirror, stripped to your underwear, and choose the pose in which you usually stand. Now look if shoulders and hips are placed symmetrically. With the correct posture there should not be any warps. Then you should approach a wall and lean against it with your back. Try to feel (and better - ask someone to help you and see) the points of the body that touch the vertical surface. If the posture is correct you should touch the wall with the back of the head, with the middle thoracic spine (it is located between the shoulder blades), buttocks and heels. It is important while checking not to try to pull up or stretch your shoulders, you should stand in a position, which you are used to. In this way you can determine whether you have back problems or not.

How to stand correctly
The correct position of the spine involves bends inwards at the waist and neck, a light bend outwards at the blades. To achieve this position you should do the following:
- Put your feet a few inches apart, evenly distribute the weight along the length of the foot, because many people carry the body weight on the heels.
- Pull the chest and the stomach slightly forward. Pull the navel and the area around it a little to the spine. Thus, you create a stable framework, which can carry the body.
- Knees should be in their natural position, if you stretch them out and clamp them, this will automatically cause the compression of the lumbar discs, which will lead to the overstrain of the back.
- Keep your head and neck in line with your back, and your chin parallel to the floor.
- The shoulders should be relaxed, but not stooped.

To check whether you are standing correctly, just lean back against a wall and place your feet a few inches from each other. Put a small rolled towel in the lumbar region. It will help you feel and remember the correct curvature.

Exercises for a good posture
Simple exercises that you can do casually and on the move can help to maintain a beautiful posture. They are not complicated, even funny, and they can be performed whenever you have some time for them.

“The book on the head”
Take a big book with a hard, but not glossy cover, put it on your head and try to stand, maintaining balance, so that the book does not fall. If this is not difficult for you, start to walk with the book on your head, you can even try to dance a little. When this exercise becomes too easy for you, take several books.

“Puppet on a string”
When walking, for example, on the street, imagine that a thread is attached to the top of your head, and someone is pulling you upwards, and two more threads are attached to the shoulders, which are slightly pulling them back. The chest will straighten up, the back will stretch, the neck will look longer and the steps will become light.

“The Seagull”
Standing straight, raise your hands to the sides at shoulder level. On the count of “one-two-three” pull them back as far as possible, and at the count of “four” return them back to the initial position.

Hanging on a horizontal bar
If you have a sports complex with horizontal bars at home, where you can hang, clutching it with your hands, you should hang on it occasionally for 1-2 minutes. It relieves stress from spine muscles and helps to straighten it. It is especially useful to hang like that after a day that was spent by the computer, or after a workout.

Frequently change your posture
This is not a joke. While sitting down somewhere whether it is a soft couch or a wooden bench, listen carefully to yourself: what kind of sensations is your body having? Try to sit in different ways, choose a comfortable position. But remaining for a long time in the same pose is not very healthy, so if you feel tired - change the position.