Love for Your Curves
Spinal curves that is. But, before I get to that, I’ve received some great questions from my virtual yoga students, and I thought everyone might like to hear my answers. So, I’m going to briefly interrupt our regularly scheduled programing (don’t worry, the spine and posture discussion is below), to step back for a moment.
When I review the research about the dangers of excessive sitting, there is a rather alarming piece of information that comes up. Regular exercise (5 or more hours a week) is not enough to mitigate the health risks of excessive sitting. Why?
I believe it is an issue of alignment. When we spend much of our day seated, we develop poor physical alignment. There is an undisputed link between poor alignment and common diseases such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, pelvic floor disorders and more. But, many of us often experience another symptom of bad alignment – joint and muscle pain.
For desk jockeys, this often takes the form of neck, shoulder and back pain. So, you may be wondering, why not focus this series, designed to help restore healthy alignment for people who spend a lot of time sitting, on those parts of the body? Why start with the feet and legs?
The answer is that the feet and legs are the foundation of our house of alignment. Imagine a giant crack appears in a bedroom wall at your house. You could certainly spackle and paint, but if a foundation problem is the cause of that crack, it will soon reappear. You need to repair the foundation first.
Starting with the feet and legs, and working our way up the body, will ensure our work is impactful. The good news: I bet you will feel an improvement in your neck and shoulder pain after working on your legs. Try it and tell me how it goes!
Spine & Posture
So, we’ve covered the lower limbs and the midsection, let’s talk about our spine and posture today. A healthy spine has a soft “S” shape. The lumbar (low back) and cervical (neck) curves are anterior, meaning they curve in toward the front body. The thoracic (mid-back) curve is posterior, it curves out, away from the front body.
When we spend a significant portion of our day seated, the healthy “S” shape gives way to more of a “C” shape. The consequences of this round-shouldered, slouched posture resonate throughout our body. It literally makes us a smaller vessel for the breath, so we are forced into a rapid, shallow breathing pattern. When the natural curves of the spine are not maintained, the spinal cord and nervous system are compromised. Poor posture can result in everything from chronic headaches to leg pain. I would even argue that it can increase stress, anxiety and depression.
While the bones (vertebrae) form the shape of the spine, muscles have the job of maintaining these curves by holding the bones in place. The best way to strengthen the muscles of posture is to hold good posture.
Practice Tadasana several times a day. Be extremely mindful of your alignment.
When you have to sit, be aware of your posture. Your feet should be flat on the floor, hip distance apart and facing forward. Your heels should sit directly under your knees. The knees and hips should be at right angles. Sit tall, near the edge of your chair. Lift your ribcage and roll your shoulders back. The base of the chin should be level, not lifted or lowered.
The wonderful Katy Bowman, of the Aligned and Well, made this video to illustrate how to get off your sacrum. Watch and do.
Don’t forget, a full yoga class and two yoga break videos designed specifically to help strengthen the muscles of posture are now open in the Yoga for Desk Jockeys series over at Stay-at-Home Yoga!
