Welcome to our multi-part series on posture! There is so much to discuss and observe when we talk about posture that we decided one blog post just wouldn’t be enough.

So why should I care about good posture anyway? Great question….we’re so glad you asked!

Growing up, did anyone in your family pester you about your posture?

“Stand up straight!”
“Stop slouching!”
“Don’t slouch, it makes you look sloppy!”

Yeah, ours did too! But really, if you think about it now, they  might have had a point.

Imagine what you might look like if you slouch, or better yet stand in front of the mirror and slouch…..

What do you OBSERVE? Does you shirt wrinkle in the front and look frumpy? Is your belly sticking out? Does your hair fall in your face? Perhaps your face has a slight frown because it’s kind of uncomfortable to hunch over that computer? Or do you look bored?

How does it FEEL to slouch? Is it harder to take a deep breath? Does your back/neck hurt/shoulders hurt? Are you physically tense? Maybe tired? Is it harder to talk and hold a conversation?

Ok, now that you’ve felt and observed what it’s like to have bad posture, go outside and LOOK AROUND YOU. Do you see anyone else doing it too? What is the first thing that comes to mind as you observe them? Do they look unhealthy and/or unhappy? Scared? Sad? Unfit?

BINGO! Yes that’s right, bad posture affects not only how YOU feel, but it affects how others judge you!

Check out this article from the New York Times that we shared a few months ago for some interesting research on this topic:
Posture Affects Standing and Not Just the Physical Kind

Now you can see why we need a multi-part series on posture, right? We haven’t even started discussing the different kinds of bad posture or how bad posture leads to injury and chronic pain either. That’s next time!