Use a Posture Cushion to Relieve Stress

A posture cushion is a great way to relieve stress, especially the stress in your upper body.

It is estimated that over 85% of modern people suffer from stress-related problems. If you are under continual stress, it is likely that your brain, via your HPA axis, cannot reestablish equilibrium in your body (we refer to this as a state of homeostasis). It is thus likely that your body will be in a constant fight-or-flight state. Over time, this will create enormous wear-and-tear on your mind and body.

The Ideal posture cushion - Posture Pal - has special contours to reverse bad and forward head posture, and will provide the utmost relief from upper body stress

If you suffer from bad posture, this will only add to your stress levels. If you have bad posture and you are under constant stress, it is likely that your natural healing ability will be severely impaired.

When you use your posture cushion each evening, this is the perfect time to calm down and empty your thinking mind. Here are a few tips to help you reduce stress while using your posture cushion:

• Let go – purge yourself of your everyday thoughts and worries

• Be positive - think happy, pure, and loving thoughts

• Breathe - practice deep breathing. Your breathing should be automatic, deep, easy and balanced.

• Get in the mood - play some appropriate, soft music in the background, music that will help you relax.

• Get visual – imagine yourself relaxed, happy, healthy and with good posture.

The time on your posture cushion should be devoted to relaxing and changing your brain vibration so that it can attain a normal frequency after a tough, stressful day at the office.

Is it not time to empower yourself? A posture cushion can help release those blockages and increase your energy and blood flow. Feel the difference. Tackle life with zest and energy.

But be warned – not all posture cushions are equal.

To find out more about how to improve posture, please visit http://www.posturepal.com/

Can Bad Posture Make You Retarded?

If it is true that oxygen deprivation can result in brain damage, does it not follow that bad posture can lead to retardation? No, it is not true. Bad posture cannot lead to brain damage, but bad posture can affect your breathing and resultant oxygen intake, with some very serious consequences.

See my blog post “Bad Posture: How it Affects Your Breathing” for an explanation as to precisely how bad posture can play havoc with your breathing.

We all know that we will die if we do not breathe, but exactly what is it that oxygen does for us?

Quite simply, your body requires food (in the form of appropriate nutrition) to produce energy so that your body can function. These nutrients are “burned” by your cells and in the process, the cells produce carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is toxic and needs to be expelled by the body.

Oxygen plays a critical role on this “cycle of life”. This is how it works.

When you inhale, the oxygen in the air is absorbed into your bloodstream through alveoli, tiny sacs in your lungs. When the oxygen enters your blood, a passing protein molecule (called hemoglobin) collects the oxygen. Each molecule of hemoglobin can transport four molecules of oxygen. This oxygen is then transported to all parts of your body and is used by your cells to make water, an essential requirement for life. Your cells make two molecules of water out of every molecule of oxygen that is delivered to it by the hemoglobin.

When this conversion process occurs, energy is released. Your cells then use this energy to perform the everyday functions that your body needs. The toxic by-product of this conversion, the carbon dioxide, is then removed from your body by the oxygen.

As you can see, oxygen is critical to your health and the smooth-running of your body. Proper breathing is essential to get the oxygen to your lungs and to expel the toxic carbon dioxide.

Bad posture can easily hold your breathing hostage and seriously impede the amount of oxygen you get and this is bad for your health. Improving your posture will vastly improve your health, increase your energy levels and improve your productivity.

To learn more about improving your posture, please visit http://www.posturepal.com/

Bad Posture: How it Affects Your Breathing

Bad posture can negatively impact your life in so many ways, including your breathing. And breathing, as you know, is absolutely essential for human life. Before we examine how bad posture affects your breathing, you need to understand how abnormal posture arises in the first place.

Bad posture arises because of two main reasons:

1. Your tonic muscles, responsible for holding your posture, constrict and tighten over time if you do not stretch them periodically.

2. Your phasic muscles, used for dynamic movement, weaken and lengthen.

Our bodies were not designed for sitting for long periods. Nowadays, we spend so much time crouched over a computer either at work or at home on the Internet. Before you know it, you develop a slouch. Over time, the slouch gets worse.

The problem with bad posture is that your body seeks to maintain some kind of balance, so it compensates for your bad posture by making it worse. For example, if you have forward head posture, your hips move forward to compensate for the added weight of your head and eventually you get bent out of shape.

So exactly how does bad posture affect your breathing? Have you ever tried sitting in your chair, leaning forward and breathing?

Poor posture results in restricted, shallow breathing and affects your energy levels and productivity. Add to this the stress that we all have to endure nowadays and you have a recipe for disaster. The resultant tight muscles in your upper body are like a giant elastic band around your chest. To breathe correctly, your diaphragm has to more upwards and outwards. The tight muscles restrict this movement and prevent you from breathing effortlessly. This is not normal – breathing is supposed to be automatic.

Not breathing correctly can upset your normal body chemistry. Your blood oxygen and blood carbon dioxide levels begin to fluctuate under stress and certain organs systems become affected. This manifests itself in panic, anxiety and stress.

Breathing badly can lead to an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, muscle pain and blood circulation. Some of the symptoms associated with bad breathing are pains in your hands, feet and muscles, dizziness, shortness of breath, pins and needles, pain over the heart and shaking. The list goes on.

Fortunately, you can correct bad posture. One way is to stretch, and one of the best ways to stretch is to use a posture cushion specifically designed to reverse bad and forward head posture.

There is an old proverb: "Life is in the breath. He who half breathes, half lives." So improve your posture now – live life to the fullest!

To learn more about improving your posture, please visit http://www.posturepal.com/

How to Improve Your Back Posture in the Workplace

You spend so much time at work, it is absolutely imperative that you maintain good back posture habits at all times. Failure to do so can result in bad posture with painful consequences. Back pain is one of the most common work-related injuries and is often caused by ordinary work activities such as sitting in an office chair or lifting heavy items.

There are typically two types of situations that cause people to start having back pain or to sustain a back injury while on the job:

1. Non-accidental injury, where pain arises as a result of normal work activities. People who sit for most of the day (such as those who work at a computer while sitting in an office chair) and who do not pay careful attention to good back posture, are at high risk for non-accidental back injury.
   
2. Poor body mechanics (such as slouching in an office chair or not sitting correctly).

Prolonged activity, repetitive motions, and fatigue are major contributors to these injuries.

If you want to improve your back posture in the workplace, you should pay particular attention to:

• Your sitting posture while working at your desk
• Your computer posture if you work at a computer for long periods
• Your standing posture if your work demands a lot of standing. Have you noticed how many postal workers have developed bad forward heard posture from looking down all day long?
• Posture and ergonomics while lifting and carrying boxes and heavy loads
• Taking periodic breaks
• Wearing the correct shoes (high heel shoes contribute to bad posture)
• Stretching regularly – this is the key to posture improvement

One of the best ways to stretch is to use a posture cushion. They improve your back posture and slouching, reduce forward head posture and they stretch the front upper body tissues. A good posture cushion will also increase blood circulation and respiratory functions, relieve muscle tension, and improve posture by aligning your head, neck and upper body.

Remember that there is a direct correlation between bad posture and poor health. Good posture in the workplace has enormous benefits for you. It will lead to improved energy levels, increased productivity and a decrease in bodily aches and pains.

For more information on how to improve your posture, please visit http://www.posturepal.com/

The Correct Sleeping Posture is Important

The correct sleeping posture is important if you want to develop good posture in general. We sleep for approximately one third of our life. Obviously, the way we sleep will have an effect on whether or not we end up with good or bad posture.

Have you ever woken up in the morning with a stiff neck, back pain or a headache? If you have, then it is probably due to poor sleeping posture.

Even gorillas understand good sleeping posture

The correct sleeping position is on your back. While sleeping, your spine should be in a normal curve. Sleeping on your side is your next best position. Sleeping on your stomach is the worst position and is not recommended.

Sleeping on your stomach can damage your spine and nervous system. It turns your head in an extreme rotation and it puts your head back in extension. This interferes with the blood and oxygen flow to and from your brain.

Sleeping on your back is the best because it provides the most neutral position for your spine. To achieve the best sleeping posture while on your back, use a pillow or pillows, but ensure that they are not too high. You want to keep your head in a neutral position. You also want support under your knees.

If you choose to sleep on your side, make sure that you keep your knees bent and have your pillow at the right height to ensure that your neck is straight. Avoid tucking your neck and chin into the fetal position. Again, your neck should be in a neutral position.

Be sure to change your sleeping position throughout the night.

By following the suggestions above you will soon experience the benefits of the correct sleeping posture, waking up refreshed with fewer aches and pains.

To learn more about improving your posture, please visit http://www.posturepal.com/

Posture Support Braces do not Correct Bad Posture

Based on the number of Google searches for “posture correctors” and “posture braces” there is obviously an increasing number of people concerned about their bad posture. Unfortunately, posture support braces do not correct bad posture. In fact, they could do more harm than good.

Posture support braces are mostly cosmetic. Wearing them may make you look better, but they do nothing to help develop the muscles necessary for good posture.

Weaker posture braces are totally ineffective. Your body adapts to them in minutes and then assumes the normal posture slump to which it is accustomed.

Stronger posture support braces do not resolve the problem either because they inhibit free movement. This leads to muscle atrophy, the wasting or loss of muscle tissue, which can start within twenty four hours. More specifically, the condition is known as disuse atrophy and it occurs from a lack of physical exercise. Your muscles start to shrink. Disuse atrophy will create even bigger problems for you.

After wearing your posture brace for a while you will find that when you remove it at night, your posture slump will be worse that it was originally. This is because your muscles have become weakened and cannot provide adequate support. Apart from being uncomfortable, posture braces sometimes also cause rashes.

When it comes to posture correction, most attempts are directed toward the spine, shoulders and pelvis. These are important, but the position of your head is the most important. Your body follows your head. Your entire body can be aligned by first aligning your head. In other words, if you do not correct the forward head position, your attempts to improve your posture may amount to nothing.

Poor posture is the result of bad habits that end up weakening your core posture support muscles. Invariably, you end up with an element of forward head posture, a potentially serious condition that cannot be remedied by posture braces.

For every inch that your head moves forward, it gains about ten pounds in weight. Gravity starts pulling at your head and over time your forward head posture gets worse, placing an ever increasing strain on your body. The result is a significant deterioration in your quality of life with not only head, neck and TMJ problems, but also mid-back and low-back problems.

If you insist on buying posture braces, do so for the right reason. Do not expect them to improve your posture.

To learn more about improving your posture, please visit http://www.posturepal.com/

How to Improve Bad Posture

Bad posture does not happen overnight. It is a gradual process. Bad posture is a response to how you hold your body in various positions, such as sitting, slouching and standing. After a period of time, your posture muscles become weak and other muscles take over the work.

Perfect posture IS possible

If you want to improve your posture, you need to be aware of bad posture habits. Here are some examples of common behavior and poor ergonomics that need correction to improve posture and back support:

• Slouching with the shoulders hunched forward
• Cradling a phone receiver between the neck and shoulder
• Keeping the head held too high or looking down too much
• Sleeping with a mattress or pillow that doesn't provide proper back support, or in a position that compromises posture
• Slumping forward while sitting in an office chair and not making use of the office chair's lumbar back support

You can improve your bad posture as follows:

1. Identify your bad posture habits and take steps to prevent such habits. Check your posture throughout the day.
   
2. Pay particular attention to your computer posture.
   
3. Examine your sleeping posture. The correct sleeping position is on your back. Sleeping on your side is your next best position. Sleeping on your stomach is the worst position and is not recommended.
   
4. Most importantly, stretch regularly. Stretching will help lengthen both your muscles and tendons. This will increase your range of movement which means that your limbs and joints can move further before an injury occurs.

Stretching is the key to posture correction and one of the best ways to stretch is to use a posture cushion. A good posture cushion will allow your head to assume a neutral position in relation to your shoulders. The contours of the cushion should be such that it pushes your thorax forward, stretching the muscles in the front of your chest and relaxing the muscles in your mid and upper back.

It is never too late to improve your posture. Just because you have bad posture right now does not mean that you have to stay that way for the rest of your life. Follow the simple guidelines set out above and you will be well on your way to improving your posture.

For more information on how to improve your posture, please visit http://www.posturepal.com/