If you have been having a bad posture since very long, it is high time you decided to correct your posture. Each one of you may be passing through one or the other problems with your body, be it major or minor, even if that has not prevented you from carrying out your daily routine tasks. But, when it comes to bad posture, things may not be that simple as you may have imagined.
When we maintain a bad posture over a period of time, we may be required to undergo many problems in the long term that can include losing your balance, occurrence of lack of stability, pains occurring either in your back or neck area, suffering from constipation, including a few more problems.
Many of us may be used to sitting for longer periods in a day, which could be due to many reasons. There are plenty of individuals who have been doing jobs that require them to remain seated in a single place all through the day. Similarly, many of us may have been used to remaining seated at home for many hours, which could be either due to spending longer hours watching television or the computer or a laptop. In such cases, there are a lot of chances for many of us to develop habits that can affect our posture severely. For instance, you may have been sitting in a slouched position that might place a strain on your discs or it might be that you may be sinking onto your sofa that may cause some back problems for you at a later stage in your life and many other wrong postures that might lead you to develop back pain in the future.
In view of the problems faced by several individuals, we recommend some exercises that you can start doing which can help you to keep some of your body muscles that are helping you to stay in an upright position stronger, in addition to rectifying your body posture.
1. Cat-Cow Pose:
The Cat-Cow pose is an exercise in which you would have to shift between two positions repeatedly. While you curve your back inwards as well as outwards, it helps in freeing up of the muscles surrounding the backbone and abdomen area of your body.
How to do this exercise?
• Place your hands and knees on an exercise mat or the floor by positioning both your knees and palms firmly grounded to the floor. Your knees and feet must be placed hip-width apart.
• Your back has to be kept straight, which should be similar to that of a bench top. Subsequently, your back must be raised in an upward arch position in order to assume the position of a cat pose. Now, keep your head bent towards your chest. Stop for a few seconds and carry on with your breathing as usual.
• Now, start by bringing your abdomen to the bottom of the floor and twist your back inwards to move into the cow position.
• Raise your neck up and start breathing in. Relax for a few seconds.
• You can try to complete about 3-4 repetitions in the beginning and later increase the repetitions after getting a good practice by doing this exercise frequently.
2. Baby Pose:
This is an excellent exercise that can be done by individuals for protecting the lower back region of their body. In case you have been sitting for longer hours, there are higher chances that your spine might have become compressed over a period of time. However, to tackle this problem, you can start doing baby pose exercise that helps in extending the spine that had become compressed. By doing this exercise, the hips, shoulders and your back are stretched adequately.
How to do this exercise?
• Start by coming down on your hands and knees by placing them on a mat. Now, bring your hips back, in order to sit on your feet.
• Rest your hips between the feet. You must broaden the position of the feet, in case it has become highly impossible for you to do it.
• Now, start stretching the arms out a bit more on to the front and touch the head on to the floor in front of your knees.
• Stop for a few seconds and keep breathing.
• You can repeat this exercise again by doing it a few times.
3. Cobra Pose:
This exercise is primarily another extension of the lower spine, which helps in stretching out your muscles present in the abdomen part. These muscles may become huddled together, if individuals keep sitting for longer number of hours on a daily basis. You must include this exercise as part of your daily routine, while doing the other exercises, since it will yield effective results by helping strengthen the midsection of your body.
How to do this exercise?
• Start by lying down flat on your stomach by keeping your palms placed on the floor next to your shoulders. Your legs must be kept straight. Now, relax by keeping the top of your feet on the floor.
• Raise the upper portion of your body by fastening your hands on to the floor, while the lower body is firmly planted.
• Now, the upper body must be stretched upwards as much as you are able to move it easily.
• Make sure to breathe normal at this point and do not hold your breath at any point. Stop and wait for a few seconds.
• Now, you can come back to the relaxing position.
You can repeat these steps at least 8-10 times.
4. Bridge Pose:
Bridge Pose is one such exercise, wherein, you will have to raise the midsection of your body, in order to stretch the muscles present in the lower back region, including the abdominals and the chest. This exercise is also referred to as Setu Bandhasana in yoga and is considered to be a great exercise, especially for individuals who experience pain in the lower back area of their body.
How to do this exercise?
• Begin by lying down on your back. Place a mat on the floor and then lie down on the mat.
• Your knees must be kept bent and your feet should be placed solid onto the floor.
• Place your feet hip-width apart.
• Your arms must be kept straight by placing them on both sides, at a distance that is a bit beneath the hips.
• Raise your hips by driving your glutes on to the top.
• A straight line must be formed by you that starts from your knees and will go all the way up to the shoulders.
• Stop and wait for a few seconds.
You can repeat this exercise for about 8-10 times.
All the above mentioned exercises can be done literally anywhere, whether it is at your home or any other place. Further, they also serve to benefit those individuals who have been suffering from back pain that has arisen due to the maintenance of a bad posture.
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Disclaimer:
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a health advice. We would ask you to consult a qualified professional or medical expert to gain additional knowledge before you choose to consume any product or perform any exercise.
