2-Minute Posture Reset to Embody Your Best Self!
It can be hard to maintain good posture throughout the day. Whether you’re sitting at your desk or standing for long periods, it’s easy to forget about proper posture. Even though most of us know that slouching is bad for our health, it can be hard to break the habit.
Even if you have had poor posture for years, there is still hope for you! This Two-Minute Posture Reset will help you shift your body position and feel the difference that correct posture makes.
You can do this reset anywhere, anytime, making it easy to make it a new habit. Using this simple exercise with regularity, you can improve your posture and reduce pain in for years to come!
Benefits of Good Posture
1. Improved physical health: reduce the strain on your joints and muscles, helping to improve circulation and alleviate fatigue.
2. Reduced risk of injury: When your body is in proper alignment, it’s easier to move around without putting unnecessary stress on any one part of your body. This reduces the risk of developing musculoskeletal injuries due to overuse or overexertion.
3. Improved breathing capacity: sitting or standing upright opens up the chest cavity, allowing more oxygen into your lungs and aiding better respiratory function overall.
4. Better concentration and focus: Keeping a balanced stance encourages alertness by stimulating blood flow throughout the body which leads to improved mental clarity and concentration levels when engaged in tasks such as reading or studying for long periods of time.
5 . Increased energy levels: Good posture has been linked to increased energy because when you sit up straight with shoulders back , this opens up spaces within the body that allow for airflow thus improving oxygen supply which directly affects our energy levels.
6 . Mental wellbeing: Not only does good body position have a direct impact on how we feel physically but mentally too – feeling confident about our appearance through maintaining an upright stance contributes towards
How to Reset Your Posture in Two Minutes
…doing this can help you feel balanced and centered.
Head posture
Face straight ahead, and lift your head upwards as if there was a string pulling you up from the center of your head. Your head should be over your shoulders, rather than in front of them. This is important because it takes strain off of your neck, spinal cord, and brain, helping you have the most clarity.
Neck Posture
Bring awareness to your neck by gently lifting it up while keeping the chin parallel with the floor — this will help open up the chest and take pressure off of the shoulders. It will also help you breathe freely.
Tongue Posture
Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth. The tongue is an enormous, powerful muscle that, because of its close relationship to jaw function, can negatively influence heart rate and blood pressure via the trigeminocardiac reflex.
The simple act of placing your tongue on the roof of your mouth helps promote jaw relaxation and an overall sense of alignment in your body.
Back Posture
Sit or stand tall, lengthening your spine. This will help you reset your spine into a neutral position and establish a balanced stance.
Shoulder Posture
Roll your shoulders back and down, bringing them closer together at the center of your spine.
Doing this can help you feel balanced and centered, and prompt you to release any tension in your upper trapezius muscles that you may have been carrying without noticing.
Ribcage Posture
Lift your ribcage up and out to the side, creating a gentle arch in your back. This motion will help you open the front of your chest, allowing you to take deeper breaths.
Hip Posture
Level your hips, so that your weight is equally distributed on either side. Often when sitting, we tend to lean to one side or another. If you are working at a desk, you might need to rearrange things so that you can stay balanced during your tasks.
Feet Posture
Uncross your legs, and place your feet firmly on the ground and spread your toes. This will help you evenly weight your feet, which will provide a stable base for your entire body.
Take A Moment for Mindfulness
Once you have established this base, notice any areas of tension in specific parts of the body where you may be holding excess stress such as the neck, shoulders, and lower back. Take a few deep breaths into those areas while continuing to maintain an upright position with shoulders rolled back and chest open. Make sure not to overstretch; instead focus on releasing tension.
After Your Posture Reset
Once you have completed your reset, take notice of how your posture has changed. Notice the difference between slouching and sitting upright or standing tall. Keeping the above tips in mind will help you stay mindful of your posture throughout the day and make a positive impact on both your physical and mental health.
Even if you choose to shift your posture by crossing your feet at your ankles after doing this posture reset, just spending two minutes in a neutral posture will help you release any tension building up in your body.
Make This Posture Reset a Habit
Your posture reset is like a pressure release valve for any tension mounting in your body.
To ensure that you are consistently practicing good posture and reaping all the benefits, try to make this exercise a habit. For example, after sitting for 20 minutes, take two minutes to stretch and reset as described above. You can also do this while standing in line or at a meeting or before taking on any new task.
To remind yourself to do this exercise, you might want to set an alarm on your phone to notify you when to do this exercise. Just be sure that you choose an alarm that is soothing to hear, so that you will have only positive associations with correcting your posture!
By following these simple steps and resetting your body position every few hours, you can make it a habit. And since this exercise is like a pressure release valve that relieves tension, this habit will help you stay out of pain.
Conclusion
Keeping good posture isn’t always easy but it doesn’t have to be hard either! By taking just two minutes to reset your body position, you can quickly feel more grounded and reconnect with yourself. You’ll be able to move through the day with less stress, and by releasing any postural distortions you might have taken on, you’ll decrease the likelihood of having pain in your body at the end of the day.
Sources
Bordoni, Bruno, et al. “The Anatomical Relationships of the Tongue with the Body System.” Cureus, vol. 10, no. 12, 2018, https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.3695. Accessed 12 Jan. 2023.
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