Fixing Bad Posture Can Increase Positivity

Throughout your life, you’ve probably been told to sit or stand up straight. Although most of us are told to keep our back straight for the purpose of better appearance, there is more to having good posture than just how it makes us look.

Numerous studies have revealed how bad posture can have devastating effects on our physical health. Having bad posture not only affects our body but your mental health too.

If the thought of looking taller along with all the physical health repercussions aren’t enough for you to straighten your back then maybe knowing how it can have a positive impact in your day to day life, will.

Once you realize how your bad posture affects you mentally, you may have a little more motivation to fix it:

Here are a few ways bad posture affects your mental health:

1)      Causes headaches

Medical experts claim that bad posture is the leading cause of back and neck pain. Constantly hunching down and disrupting your spinal alignment strains the muscles at the back of your neck as they prevent your head from falling forward. The unnecessary stain on the posterior muscles of your neck leads to headaches.

Popping pills to deal with headaches is just a temporary fix, correcting your posture will be a much better solution.

Take into consideration exactly how much time you spend hunched over during the day. Staying in one position for hours a day is unnatural for us and takes a toll on our bodies. If you do have a job that requires you to stay stagnant for several hours a day then consider using a waist-trainer to help you keep your back straight. These realign your spine by supporting your lower back and ease you into correcting your posture over the course of a few weeks.

2)      Obstructs sleep

Believe it or not, your poor posture interferes with your sleep. According to medical practitioners when our muscular system is not relaxed, we aren’t able to fully relax. Those who have bad posture during the day are likely to sleep with bad posture too. Sleeping with the wrong posture leads to a condition called Obstructive Sleep Apnea which can lead to serious problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and even depression.

To ensure that you are sleeping with correct posture you need to keep your back and neck leveled. Don’t make the mistake of using a pillow that is too high or too low. If you’re someone with bad posture, you need to lessen the stress on your lower back by placing a pillow between your legs. For more extreme cases, your doctor could recommend you use a sleeping wedge to provide your back with support.

Once your body is able to relax, you’ll wake up feeling more energized and find yourself in much better spirits.

3)      Worsens mood

No one wants to be in a bad mood, right? The moment you fix your mood, everything just goes that much more smoothly. When you’re in a good mood, challenges you come across in life don’t seem like such a tall order and you face them with more optimism.

A study published in the Journal of Health Psychology found that participants with slumped postures exhibited negative behavior and had lower self-esteem compared to participants that walked upright. The study reinforced the theory that posture impacted moods and linked hunched postures with poor self-esteem and a negative outlook on life.

4)      Reduces motivation

It’s strange how our body language has such an impact on our mind. Researchers have found that people with bad posture generally had less motivation in life. A study conducted by Ohio State University revealed when people were more inclined to believe positive statements that they wrote down about themselves when they were sitting upright rather than hunching forwards.

With an upright posture, you instantly feel more confident. The next time you have to present something to a client or have to go for an interview, stand up straight with your arms and legs wide open for 2-5 minutes. Within a couple of minutes, you’ll feel a rush of positivity and an instant boost in your confidence. Now imagine what having an upright posture, with your shoulders all wide, can do for you.

By just straightening your back and walking upright, you’ll feel much better about yourself.

5)      Fatigue

Are you always tired? There are many reasons to why people suffer from chronic fatigue but having bad posture plays a big role in it. When you have bad posture, your body weight isn’t distributed evenly which makes it harder for your muscles to hold yourself up. In order to function optimally, your central nervous system (CNS) needs your muscles to be able to carry your body weight with the least amount of pressure on your muscles. When the center of your body changes, more muscles need to be activated too and this leads to exhaustion.

There are many ways to fix your posture. With a combination of exercises and with the help of waist-trainers or posture braces, you should be able to realign your back in a matter of a few weeks.

You need to look after your spine to be at your best, both physically and mentally. Go ahead and take the necessary steps to change your life for the better!