{"id":5976,"date":"2015-08-16T13:22:58","date_gmt":"2015-08-16T10:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/?p=5976"},"modified":"2015-08-16T16:41:36","modified_gmt":"2015-08-16T13:41:36","slug":"the-basics-of-posture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/the-basics-of-posture\/","title":{"rendered":"The basics of posture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Posture is the way you hold your body while standing, sitting, or performing tasks like lifting, bending, pulling, or reaching. If your posture is good, the bones of the spine \u2014 the vertebrae \u2014 are correctly aligned.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"CToWUd alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/proxy\/l0eZIE_HlUdkfCGJ4QAKGhU9AsZowTQjoIXEJFNVr8RqJQqBfUpypP6XM-Yr09jRkiQx7UqAJpD6WF14unE=s0-d-e1-ft#http:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/media\/2145\" alt=\"\" width=\"455\" height=\"379\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"CToWUd\" src=\"https:\/\/ci6.googleusercontent.com\/proxy\/WL3UDeMxhnHBYXAdMNUEM5_K_Fp6IvWLrcSv53J1RYlm6aZnG14b_Rxy4E_UFgTmXuTeoDgjnFAI7lFem2Q=s0-d-e1-ft#http:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/media\/2146\" alt=\"\" width=\"504\" height=\"393\" \/><\/p>\n<p>4 steps toward good posture<\/p>\n<p>You can improve your posture \u2014 and head off back pain \u2014 by practicing some imagery and a few easy exercises.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff00ff;\"><strong><em>Imagery.<\/em><\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture-power-how-to-correct-your-bodys-alignment-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5984 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture-power-how-to-correct-your-bodys-alignment-1-280x300.jpg\" alt=\"posture-power-how-to-correct-your-bodys-alignment-1\" width=\"280\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture-power-how-to-correct-your-bodys-alignment-1-280x300.jpg 280w, https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture-power-how-to-correct-your-bodys-alignment-1.jpg 714w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 280px) 100vw, 280px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Think of a straight line passing through your body from ceiling to floor (your ears, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles should be even and line up vertically). Now imagine that a strong cord attached to your breastbone is pulling your chest and rib cage upward, making you taller. Try to hold your pelvis level \u2014 don&#8217;t allow the lower back to sway. Think of stretching your head toward the ceiling, increasing the space between your rib cage and pelvis. Picture yourself as a ballerina or ice skater rather than a soldier at attention.<\/li>\n<li>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff00ff;\"><strong><em>Shoulder blade squeeze.<\/em><\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5982 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture-260x300.jpg\" alt=\"posture\" width=\"260\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture-260x300.jpg 260w, https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Sit up straight in a chair with your hands resting on your thighs. Keep your shoulders down and your chin level. Slowly draw your shoulders back and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Hold for a count of five; relax. Repeat three or four times.<\/li>\n<li>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff00ff;\"><strong><em>Upper-body stretch.<\/em><\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5983 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture3-300x296.jpeg\" alt=\"posture3\" width=\"300\" height=\"296\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Stand facing a corner with your arms raised, hands flat against the walls, elbows at shoulder height. Place one foot ahead of the other. Bending your forward knee, exhale as you lean your body toward the corner. Keep your back straight and your chest and head up. You should feel a nice stretch across your chest. Hold this position for 20-30 seconds. Relax.<\/li>\n<li>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff00ff;\"><strong><em>Arm-across-chest stretch.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5981 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture-1-300x175.jpg\" alt=\"posture (1)\" width=\"300\" height=\"175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture-1-300x175.jpg 300w, https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/posture-1.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Raise your right arm to shoulder level in front of you and bend the arm at the elbow, keeping the forearm parallel to the floor. Grasp the right elbow with your left hand and gently pull it across your chest so that you feel a stretch in the upper arm and shoulder on the right side. Hold for 20 seconds; relax both arms. Repeat to the other side. Repeat three times on each side.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Practice these imagery and posture exercises throughout the day. You might try to find a good trigger to help you remember, such as doing one or more of them when you get up from your desk, or right before scheduled breaks and lunch. Soon it will become a habit.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Posture is the way you hold your body while standing, sitting, or performing tasks like lifting, bending, pulling, or reaching. If your posture is good, the bones of the spine \u2014 the vertebrae \u2014 are correctly aligned. 4 steps toward good posture You can improve your posture \u2014 and head off back pain \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[427,444],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-427","category-444","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5976"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6038,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5976\/revisions\/6038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seragpsych.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}