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What are you doing right now? If you are reading my blog, 9 times out of 10 you are looking down. Can you close your eyes and think of a time where you saw people looking down at their cell phones? Silly question right? Everywhere you go people are looking down at their cell phones or tablet. Next time you go out, take a look around. Check out everyone who’s looking down: the forward head, rounded shoulders, elbows tucked into the ribs, pelvis tilted with sustained positioning of the hands to hold the phone. Every time I see this it makes me want to start a movement. Michelle Obama, maybe you will read this but the world needs to “Align the Spine and Free the Mind.”
The spine is the connection of the mind and body. It’s the highway of information: reception from the body to the brain through the senses, the motor output from the brain to the body through neurological activations to the muscles. These muscles include the heart, the peristalsis of the abdominal tract and more. It’s not just the common neck and back pain which is a plague in America causing the opioid crisis due to the need for pain control. Let’s prevent the pain before it’s too late!
I’m known as the posture police because I refuse to let my loved ones slump or stay in one position too long. Posture is soooooo important. It’s terrible for the body and even worse for the mind. I feel it is my calling to educate the masses for the children of tomorrow. We cannot let them sit all day and be on the computer or phone. I AM NOT SAYING TO TAKE IT AWAY OR EVEN LIMIT IT WHICH I DO ALSO BELIEVE IS BEST, but that’s not what this blog is about. This blog is about ways to align your spine while doing what you normally do. With just a couple of steps you can stop the radiating pain down the arms or wrist, strengthen weak abdominal muscles, loosen tight muscles, and more.
1. Tummy is Not Just for Toddlers: lay on your stomach and prop your forearms up in front of you. This way you are opening up the hip flexors and stretching them passively in this sustained position. You are also benefiting from cervical extension because you must look up to see your phone instead of down. Try this 20 minutes a day 2x per day!
2. Take a break and go cloud watching I miss staring at the clouds with my mother. It was a nice break from the electronics and the forward head posture. You just sit and watch the clouds go by. Try this every 20 minutes and if you work by a window, look outside and even better if you can get fresh air. Find shapes and create stories within your cloud search. It’s a fun and good meditative practice. Not only do you get a break from your same position, which is recommended to change every 20 minutes, you also get a break
on your eyes from focusing short distance to long distance with natural lighting.
3. Buy Adaptive Equipment
Pop socket to prevent nerve impingement in the wrist
Kickstand for your phone so you do not even have to hold it
Blue light glasses to prevent eye damage
Phone stand that elevates the phone to the natural height of your eyes when gazing forward
LumbarRoll if sitting to prevent slouching.
4. Minimal Exercise for your spine: MOST IMPORTANT (Watch Video Here.)
Head - chin tucks
Shoulders - rows
Elbows - complete extension of your elbows. Sustained positioning for 3 minutes.
Wrists - DB flexion/extension, pronation/supination
Abs - Bridge
Hips - Pelvic Tilts
Knees - Sit to Stand
Ankles - 30 heel lifts
5. Repeat. Make this a new habit in your life. If you have loved ones, make it a family affair because when you align your spine you can truly free the mind.
Keep reading to find out what poor posture does to your health.
Scary Facts:
The average human head weighs approximately 10 – 12 pounds in a neutral position. Nonetheless, when you hold your head down and forward, the force on your spine to hold your head up increases dramatically.
The 15-degree difference translates to your head weighing the equivalence of 27 pounds.
At a 60-degree tilt, your head weighs 60 pounds.
Pelvic floor dysfunction.
Digestion problems: Harvard health published a study where poor posture leads to incontinence, constipation, heartburn, and slow digestion.
Headaches- usually the ones that start in the base of your spine and travel up
Depression and low self-esteem
Fatigue and sleep issues
Hip, knee, and ankle pain. It’s not just the back. It’s all related
Stress
Impingement syndromes: thoracic outlet, carpal tunnel, Guyon’s tunnel
Arthritis: UK department of Arthritis research found poor posture is detrimental to your joint health
So, in conclusion, call 813-803-7070 to schedule a posture scan and exercise prescription to reverse the damage already put onto your body and just get stronger from here on out, mind, body, and soul! I look forward to seeing everyone’s faces and not their foreheads.
LOOK UP. MAKE YOUR CHILDREN LOOKUP. YES, I SAID MAKE THEM!!!! WE NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE FOR OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS.