The chemistry of posture
How we stand, sit, workout, drive, eat, text, chat, wait and work - these are all times when we are creating and training our spine and whole body into favouring certain positions, known as posture.
We might not think about it, but certain parts of our brain are always in tune with where our body is. The more we tend to favour one position, the more our brain sends signals to all our muscles to go towards that position when at rest or during movement. This is how our posture is created and maintained.
The more we do that helps us stay aligned and promote proper breathing and stature, the more likely we are to have “good posture”.
Why is posture important?
Our posture may well have an effect on whether we get back pain, neck pain or other issues that most people know about. But it can also affect things like…
Digestion
Confidence and self-esteem
Happiness hormones
Organ function
Pelvic floor strength
Immune system
Bone shape
Happiness:
There’s a great TedTalk by Amy Cuddy that discusses power posing and how to use posture to feel more confident before big events or meetings, which I would highly recommend watching, but the short version is this: good, powerful posture poses make us release endorphins and other happy hormones, giving us confidence and contentment.
Digestion:
When we sit with our spine curved over like a banana and eat a sandwich, that sandwich can get a bit stuck in the stomach, instead of flowing on through to the next stage of the digestive system. This can make us more likely to get heartburn and reflux, or to fail to read our “full” signal, making it tricky to maintain a healthy weight. The food that’s already further along also stops moving, and can stagnate or ferment, leading to discomfort and bloating in the lower abdomen.
Other organs:
Our organs do a lot of work by themselves, but they get a little help from our diaphragm. As we breathe air into our lungs, our diaphragm moves into our abdomen, and as we breathe out, the opposite happens. This rhythmic squeezing of our insides creates an additional pumping action that helps us digest food, and also is likely to help in the functioning of our kidneys and liver in filtering the blood.
Pelvic floor strength:
The movement of our diaphragm also creates an opposing force in our pelvic floor, so that when the diaphragm pushes downwards, our organs don’t just squish downwards with it. This keeps our pelvic floor strong and activated, but when it doesn’t have a reason to switch on as often, it becomes lazy and weak just when we need it the most.
Immune system and lymph:
This changing of pressure in the abdomen through the work of our diaphragm and pelvic floor, squeezing and then relaxing, acts like a sort of sponge to help drain our lower limbs upwards. As the pressure in our abdomen changes, it makes a pump-like action to help pull fluid upwards from our legs.
When we sit or stand with a hunched over posture, the diaphragm doesn’t have the luxury of using our lower ribs to pull on, so we stop using it. This then means we don’t digest as well, our liver and kidneys don’t have optimum conditions, and the fluids in our legs can’t drain back to the heart and lymph very well. This means our immune system cant work as well as a whole, and we become more prone to slower healing in the lower limb, swollen ankles and feet, and heaviness in the legs.
Bone shape:
When you apply forces to a bone over time, it changes its shape to fit those forces. Bone is a living, juicy tissue that responds to the demands we ask of it, just like muscles can, though a little more slowly.
If we load our spine into a curved shape for prolonged period of time, eventually that will change the shape of our vertebra, making it very, very difficult for us to stand up straight and sort out our posture in the future.
Posture isn’t just about your back. Look after your posture, and you’ll find you benefit in a whole range of ways. When you come in for an appointment, I assess all aspects of your posture, with a view to helping your body create an environment that makes health the easiest option for your cells.
If you would like a treatment to discuss your postural needs, or advice on setting up your workstation, car or home to help make them healthy places for your spine to be, book an appointment below or call 0483 802 208 to find a time that suits.
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