Yoga and posture?

pookiebear · Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:39 am

I have very poor posture. :P I try to improve it by exercising, being concious of sitting up straight and not slouching, etc. But it REALLY hasn't improved as much as I'd like it to.

I've heard practicing yoga helps. Has anyone noticed a difference? If it does, would you please note how often you practice and what type of yoga you do?

Also, if you know of any specific exercises you do that has helped your posture, would you please post that as well?

Thanks in advance. :mrgreen:

RedRox · Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:55 am

I think it can help, but so can simply being mindful of your body alignment through other means which it sounds like you already do in some form. To the extent that a physical yoga asana practice helps build body awareness and focuses on proper spinal alignment, that often does translate to how you "hold" yourself during the rest of your day as well. I notice I sit back in my seat in my car and at work a lot more and tend to roll my shoulders back in the car and throughout the day and take deeper breaths to expand the chest cavity. I probably still drop my head forward too much and need to bring it back over my shoulders more. But I'm more aware of these things now and have developed techniques to adjust body position.

Given some of our earlier discussions on yoga, I would think you would need to find a fairly non-spiritual oriented DVD or class to feel comfortable with it though.

bkro9 · Mon Oct 23, 2006 2:32 pm

I think what it's done for me is not even so much improved it physically, but has made me AWARE of my posture much more! I tend to think about it more when sitting and straighten myself up. I notice bad posture in others more as well. Like Red said, it helps increase our mind/body awareness. :)

santosha · Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:06 pm

Yep, I second and third what Red and bkro9 have said. But I'll also add - yes, the specific exercises in yoga *CAN* help with posture, beyond just bringing awareness to it. You can strengthen your erector spinae muscles, which, as their name implies, will help to hold you erect...(why is that that word *still* makes me giggle like I'm in 7th grade) All those belly-down backbends (cobra, locust, bow pose, upward facing dog) will help to strengthen the back muscles. As you strengthen the back muscles, you will simultaneously open the chest and the front of the body, which will also help in keeping you from collapsing forward (which is what most people w/bad posture do) Then the action of constantly pulling the shoulderblades down the back will also strengthen the muscles that attach to the scapula and then you'll be better able to activate the muscles and know what to do to bring you into good posture and alignment. It's like yoga both AWAKENS and then strengthens all the muscles you'll need for good posture.

But, also, as Red said, I know you can be put off by the spiritual parts of a yoga class, so you'll want to be careful selecting the right teacher or video. I'd recommend some, but honestly, I'm not sure that they'd work for you. If you want to run any names or titles by me, I'll let you know if I've heard of them, though.

I started yoga at age 24 or 25. By all accounts, I had stopped growing. Yet if you look at my height charts at the doctors office, I have "grown" almost an entire inch since beginning yoga. If that's not a testament to it improving my posture, I don't know what is!

pookiebear · Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:14 pm

Wow! Thanks for all the great advice, guys! :D

Yes, you're right. I'd rather incorporate my own spirituality in my exercise and not "follow" someone else's. (Does that make sense?) But as I said, I've heard that it helps, so I'm willing to branch out even if I don't enjoy all the experiences until I find one I DO enjoy. It's on my list of things to do... :lol:

santosha wrote: As you strengthen the back muscles, you will simultaneously open the chest and the front of the body, which will also help in keeping you from collapsing forward (which is what most people w/bad posture do)

You know, this make perfect sense. Yesterday, I tried out this new exercise that had you do center push ups... then move each hand to the left and do push ups to the left, then back to center, then to the right side. It REALLY opened up my chest and worked those muscles. I'm a little sore today and I'm noticing that naturally, my chest is opening up and my posture is a bit better today without me even having to FOCUS on it! :shock: I'm enjoying that. 8)

JerseygirlMP · Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:08 pm

Pooks: I think i was reading somewhere the other day (maybe in a magazine like shape or self or maybe it was somewhere else-- i really don't remember) about 'yoga for christians' i thought of you. maybe you could try a search on it. i don't remember if it was a DVD or a class they had somewhere but might be looking into for you. :)

pookiebear · Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:14 pm

JerseygirlMP wrote: Pooks: I think i was reading somewhere the other day (maybe in a magazine like shape or self or maybe it was somewhere else-- i really don't remember) about 'yoga for christians' i thought of you. maybe you could try a search on it. i don't remember if it was a DVD or a class they had somewhere but might be looking into for you. :)

:lol: Thanks JerseygirlMP! I'm sorry,... I don't mean for that part of it to be a big deal. I just want to feel comfortable in a yoga class. ;) I think yoga is so interesting and will probably learn so much more about it in my PT studies. There's even a class I will be able to take to become a yoga instructor! So, I know I'll learn more about it in the future... I just wondered in the meantime if people practicing noticed a difference in their posture.

JerseygirlMP · Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:42 pm

pookiebear wrote: :lol: Thanks JerseygirlMP!
pooks- it's me marn-marn- incognito. ;)

pookiebear · Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:47 pm

JerseygirlMP wrote: pookiebear wrote: :lol: Thanks JerseygirlMP!
pooks- it's me marn-marn- incognito. ;)

I THOUGHT it was you! :shock: I went to respond by saying "Marn Marn" (because of your avatar! :lol:) but I double checked the name and I was like, "Hmmm, how did they know I was a Christian!?" hahahahaha

How ARE you?

And, why are you incognito? ;)

JerseygirlMP · Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:50 pm

hehe :) i hoped by keeping the same avatar peepz would recoginize me. i'm incogito because i decided the the SN i use for EVERYTHING shouldn't be the one i use for the forum. heaven forbid someone google me ;)

i haven't really ventured outside the journal area much since changing my name so i guess i'm still confusing people :)

how am i- HA read my journal- my life is interesteing. ;) as always.

pookiebear · Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:25 pm

Ok! :mrgreen:

Kimboroni · Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:28 pm

If you can't find a fitting yoga class, you could also try Pilates. I don't know if you've thought of that or if you already do Pilates.

pookiebear · Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:04 pm

Kimboroni wrote: If you can't find a fitting yoga class, you could also try Pilates. I don't know if you've thought of that or if you already do Pilates.

Thanks Kim. ;) I do Pilates every once in a while. Some of the moves hurt my lower back/tail bone actually. :? But thanks for the idea!


Page 1 of 1