Postural Problems are a Silent, Unspoken, Unnoticed Epidemic in our Society

Cosmetic Surgery Will Not Fix The Problem.

Apart from physical problems that come from poor posture it’s also a strong indicator of aging. You could spend thousands of dollars on cosmetic surgery, but if you have bad posture, you will still age badly and look older than you may actually be!

1. The problem lies in our lifestyle today. Compare ourselves with hunter gathers or indigenous peoples who pursued a variety of tasks to maintain good posture naturally through movement. Now, as a result of the industrial revolution we specialize, leading to repetitive tasks, often sitting at a chair. This sedentary lifestyle ruins good posture.

2. This is made worse with video games, laptops, smart phone, which all require a sedentary life with little movement. And this has a big impact on our hamstrings, quads, upper back, heart lungs, wrists and arms. The body becomes tight, off balance and mechanically stressed. No immediately obvious symptoms except perhaps fatigue, sense of heaviness and tightness. And then after many years it’s too late to change.

3. This is compounded by modern forms of exercise ignore posture. Our image of fitness is one of strength, endurance and stamina. But this does not consider the advantages of a body with all the joints free and balanced, operating with minimal strain. Our sports are mostly one sided, such as tennis, golf, badminton, pickleball and squash, which encourage over development of one side of the body.

4. All this is made worse by fashionable ways to stand, begun by the Hollywood flappers of the 1920’s, with the weight on one hip. Compare that with our great grandparents who stood for early photographs with feet parallel and spine straight.

5. The result is that most of us have some structural problems, sore backs, tight shoulders and stiff knees.

I believe that only styles of yoga that focus on correct alignment, like an Iyengar-style yoga, will really make a difference to your posture because:

1. It asks you told hold stretches for a longer period.

2. Teaches you proprioception, or physical self-awareness, so you become used to standing and moving with correct posture.

3. Requires you to do the posture with correct alignment so old postural habits are broken with new awareness.

4. Uses props to allow stiff people – and that is almost all of us – to get the maximum functional benefit from the postures.

5. Focuses on balance, not just physical but metaphorically as well.

6. Teachers are often more highly trained to give you feedback and corrections, which you don’t get in other forms of yoga.

Be sure to enjoy a class focusing on posture on www.thenewyoga.offeringtree.com