8 Yoga Postures to Improve Posture in 30 Days
Why improving your posture can improve back and brain health
Back pain is a complex, common issue that affects adults in an often chronic fashion.
Spine pain or back pain can result in a neural issue, as the spinal cord is a member of the nervous system. It travels up our back and into the cerebral cortex of our brain where we process sensory information including pain.
Pain is really a response to something going on physiologically that gets relayed through your body and gets processed by this specific part of your brain. So, all pain is in your head to a certain extent, and there are pain modulation therapies that work by virtue of confusing those signals as they get to your brain.
There's a very strong correlation between the way we experience pain and people’s own sense of psychology and well-being which I think is part of the reason why meditation therapy tends to work in conjunction with movement therapies.
Therefore, it is imperative not only for the entire structure of our bodies to keep a strong and flexible back, but our brain health as well.
Chronic back pain has been associated with long-term psychological issues and an overall sense of well-being. One can even draw a correlation between an increase in sedentary lifestyles with desk jobs significantly outnumbering manual labor, and an increase in mental health diseases.
So what is the resolve?
Reduce hunching, reduces back and neck pain, reduces trips to the bone doctor or neurosurgeon…with an increase in the regiment of yoga.
Getting people moving in general is a natural resolve however, yoga has proven to involve key postures that strengthen the particular muscles involved in better posture and provide the practitioner with an overall sense of well-being and peacefulness to aid in mental health as well.
A lot of posture requires a strong core, this entails strengthening the muscles that support the spine including the paraspinal and pelvic muscles.
People tend to have a misconception that core strength means abdominal strength. However, that is not the case, it really involves the entire spine and pelvic girdle. It is this whole support structure of the center of your body that holds up your pelvis and your spine.
Yoga allows you to be preventative against these sorts of issues and also, helps maintain them when they come about.
Let’s get into some yoga poses you can incorporate into your daily routine. If you can commit to some or all of these poses for around 10 minutes a day you will begin to see a big difference in your posture, making you feel taller, healthier, and more confident.
Yoga Postures For Posture
Child’s Pose (Balasana):
The resting pose of yoga this posture brings us back in the position our spine was when we were in the womb of our mother’s. It is a powerful pose to sink into and connect to the ground and your breathing. This post opens our back especially our upper back in our cervical and thoracic spine. You can add a pillow or your hands to your forehead if you feel any pinching in the back or severe discomfort.
2. Downward facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana):
This posture is commonly used in yoga for elongating the spine, as it allows for the lengthening of the space between vertebrae, supports both spinal and abdominal muscles, and also stretches the hamstrings. The strengthening of the spinal and abdominals together can help prevent us from slouching and losing integrity in our spine, without even noticing it. Ensure your elbows are pointed towards the ground and your heels are reaching for the ground.
3. Dolphin Pose:
In this posture, you will be doing a modified downward dog position, sometimes called dolphin pose, to strengthen core muscles. The upward extension of the shoulders away from the ears carries the muscular support that the pose gives to the shoulder girdle and side-ribs. In the full version of the posture, your tailbone lifts towards the ceiling. In a modified version, keep your knees bent. In this pose, you should be feeling lengthening in the spine, slight stretching across your back and hamstrings, and the shoulders and abdominals doing most of the supportive work.
4. Boat Pose:
A great way to build abdominal and overall core strength. Try your best to maintain a straight spine and relaxed shoulders, if you feel like you can’t stay straight, lower your legs closer to the ground. This pose can be modified to be easier by having both feet on the ground, one foot at a time, or more challenging my lifting your legs straight into a V shape.
5. Cat- Cow Pose:
This posture allows for the full range of motion of the pelvis, an often neglected part of our body that strengthens our spine. This posture includes three positions of the spine curved down, curved up, and neutral. In the rounded position, you should feel a stretch across your back, an inward engagement of your abdominal muscles, and softening of your neck. When extended, you should be feeling a stretch across your chest and abdominal wall, a tilt through the pelvic floor. It's a great way to start to gently move/stretch and strengthen your spine.
6. Seated Twist (Bharadvajasana):
It is important to move your spine in all different lateral planes including in a gentle twist. You can perform a twist either seated or lying down, as long as you are giving your spine it’s full range of motion and allowing it to open up as you breathe.
7. Plank Pose (Phalakasana):
Plank is one of the best ways to get a strong core all in one posture. It involves sucking your belly button towards your spine and maintaining balance with your arms and intercostal muscles that hold your lungs. You are squeezing every core muscle to maintain this posture and reaping tons of benefits.
8. Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana):
Cobra is a gently heart-opener pose. All the time we spend hunched over on our computers and cell phones, this posture counters those effects. Heart-openers and backbends are great for better posture and remove the side effects of all our slouching.
I hope you find peace, relaxation, and opening in these yoga postures as you continue your practice.
COMING SOON: Click here for my guided vinyasa flow for spinal support and core strength on my YT channel!