You may already be aware that sustained poor posture can affect vertebral alignment and cause pain and nerve damage, but it can also cause mood changes, poor digestion, poor circulation, exhaustion, respiratory problems, cardiovascular health problems, and teeth grinding. All of the aforementioned issues, in addition to the obvious signs of bad posture, may be caused by inappropriate compression and constriction along your spine.
In addition to enhancing respiration, digestion, and circulation, good posture also helps to maintain healthy muscles and joints. But keeping your body aligned is difficult. Long commutes, desk work, TV, smartphones, and TV often cause us to slump and slip up. Poor posture can cause stiffness and pain over time, as well as tissue damage and early joint ageing.
Exercise can help you change this for the better. Strong core workouts and weight-bearing exercises are excellent places to start, but one of yoga's numerous advantages is its potential to truly improve posture when done regularly. There are several yoga postures that can even improve and even reverse poor posture over time. These postures develop awareness of the spine, which helps with alignment correction overall.
Some benefits of good posture are-
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Breathing Becomes Simpler and More Profound
Breathing becomes easy when your body is properly oriented. Leaning forward reduces lung capacity and can cause breathlessness. Try correcting your posture to infuse more air into your lungs.
A proper posture enables the abdominal organs to retain their natural position without confining. Also, since nerves flow from the brain through your spine and out to your organs, proper alignment is required for good communication.
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Helps Your Muscles and Joints.
A great stance assists us with keeping our bones and joints in the right arrangement. This ensures our muscles are utilized accurately, subsequently diminishing the unusual wearing of joint surfaces, which could bring about degenerative changes and joint pain. It likewise lessens the weight on the tendons, limiting the probability of injury. It permits the body to utilize less energy and, thus forestalls muscle weariness.
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Promoting spinal health and preventing pain
Back help is particularly significant for individuals who go through numerous hours sitting in an office seat over the day. Muscle strain and spinal stress can increase if proper posture is not maintained. When you slouch forward at your desk, your muscles are dragged into odd positions. This weakens your muscles and you experience constant neck and back pain. Sitting up straight is the best defence against these aches.
Let us discuss few yoga postures which can help improve your postures
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Tadasana
Tadasana is also known as the Mountain Pose. It is the foundation pose for all the standing poses. It improves body posture making you more aligned and opening your chest. It is a basic but effective pose for correcting your posture. It will also help you find your most neutral position.
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Chakravakrasana
Modelled by the cat-cow stretch, it helps you learn your neutral position by shifting your spine from flexion (cat) to extension (cow). This posture helps warm up the spine providing a gentle massage to the spine and abdominal organs. It enhances your posture by extending your spine, torso, and neck and mitigates the negative effects of prolonged sitting. It offers significant relief for back discomfort.
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Plank Pose
Plank is a great exercise to develop core strength and reduce spinal strain. They help in strengthening the core and the muscles that run along the spine. It also helps in enhancing strength and posture.
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Bhujangasana
Bhujangasana is derived from the word ‘Bhujanga’ which means Cobra and ‘asana’ means posture. Also known as Cobra Pose or Cobra stretch. This asana improves posture and equilibrates the effects of prolonged sitting. It works wonders for back muscles, relieves lower back pain and strengthens the spine.
To maximise the benefits of any asana or prevent injuries, proper alignment is essential. Poor posture will block the flow of energy and will have a detrimental effect on your emotional, physical and spiritual well-being while a proper posture will have a positive impact on your health.