Good Posture

Often times I will tell my patients to sit or stand up better. We say two things in our office, good posture makes you healthy, happy and smart. Poor posture makes you sick, sad and stupid.

The interesting thing about posture is that it will direct your day. Think of something that makes you happy and you will notice that you feel taller and more stable. Try thinking of something sad and you will notice you are shorter and closed in. Your posture reflects your mood. An awesome tool is knowing that your mood can reflect your posture. Yep, change your posture, change your mood.

The neurology behind good posture.

In each joint of your body there are little nerve endings called proprioceptors. Basically, they tell the brain what position you are in. This comes in handy when trying to stay standing or sitting. As you stand or walk, your brain needs to know what every part of your body is doing. This will keep you balanced and safe.

The nerves in charge of telling your brain about body position, are the strongest and fastest nerves of your body. They have to be. Otherwise, you fall over and hurt yourself.

An awesome fact about these nerves is that they can actually calm your body while stressed. That is why exercising helps relieve stress. The constant changes of motion and position fire up these strong nerves and calm the brain down. 

When the brain is calm, you go into a healing mode. Your body is focused on re-building itself, digesting food, cleansing toxins, fighting germs, learning, socializing, and thriving. Position nerve stimulation can help bring you into this healing mode.

Posture and stimulating the brain.

Either way, good or poor posture, has an effect on the brain. You get to choose which one.

Good posture supplies the brain with its most needed nutrient: proprioceptive input.

Poor posture supplies the brain with nerve information called nociceptive input. Essentially, this is negative information to the brain. Your brain does not like this. Picture mom not knowing what her kids are doing. She gets panicky and stressed. That is exactly what your brain does.

When the brain is stressed, your immune system falters, your mood flops and your learning fails. If we can restore balance to the body, the brain (mom) then becomes aware of what’s happening. Your brain will then relax and allow for healing, happiness and learning.

So, before you take a test, sit up straight. Want to impress the boss, stand up straight. Have to make a big presentation, look like a winner with awesome posture.

What if good posture makes you uncomfortable?

If good posture is painful, then you are having structural issues. Your body has adapted to the poor posture. If you look in the mirror and see your head is tilted, one shoulder is higher than the other, your hips are un-level, your arms are rotated, a foot flares out. You are out of balance. Your brain is not aware of what your body is doing.

Call us at the Atlantic Spine and Health Clinic if you are interested in speaking with one of our Chiropractic Physicians today!!