4 Easy Ways To Correct Standing Posture With The Help Of Yoga Poses

Having proper posture is important to avoid injury and muscle stiffness. Sometimes a work environment or lifestyle can contribute to muscle fatigue and pain. Yoga can help you master correct standing posture as well as improve your balance, reach, and flexibility.

Before we get to the 4 easy ways to correct your standing posture let’s first discuss why a bad posture isn’t great.

What does bad standing posture look like?

Many things contribute to bad standing posture and a sore back including:

• Slouching of your back and shoulders
• Hunched shoulders
• Carrying a heavy bag on one arm only
• Wearing high-heeled shoes
• Craning your neck to look downwards

To correct this, you can do a couple of easy yoga poses to help align your spine. Standing posture in yoga will help you improve your wellness, balance and stance.

What are the benefits of a good standing posture?

When your posture is good, you’ll save yourself the trouble of enduring back injuries and muscle fatigue, especially of your spine. You’ll also decrease the wear and tear of the bones inside the spinal column. Practising the right standing posture will avoid pressure on the ligaments resulting in fewer chances of injury to your back.

Try these poses for better standing posture in yoga and everyday

1. Child’s pose

Excellent for beginners

• Kneel with your toes and shins touching the mat on the floor
• Your knees must have a hip-width apart
• Extend your arms on the mat in front of you with your forehead touching the mat

2. Forward fold

This pose forms part of the “Sun Salutation” and may be a bit harder for people with tight hamstrings. You can bend your legs until you feel more comfortable in the yoga pose “the forward fold”.

• Stand up straight with your shoulders back and arms beside you.
• Place your feet together
• Bend your hips forward bringing your hands down towards your shins
• Allow your head to hang loosely towards the floor in the forward fold pose.

3. Cat/Cow

The Cat/cow yoga pose is good to help ease the back muscles. This and the “child’s pose” is helpful when you have a sore back.

• On your knees and hands evenly balance your weight on the floor
• Upon the inhale, curve your spine to lower your abdomen toward the ground and gaze toward the ceiling. This is the “cat” part of the cat/cow pose.
• Move into arching your back up and extending your spine toward the ceiling, do this with the exhale with your head tucked in. This is the “cow” pose of the cat/cow yoga pose.

4. Plank

The high plank is excellent to help tone your stomach and strengthen your arms. At the same time, it is also great for standing posture correction.

• Be on all fours but straighten your legs so that your toes are touching the mat on the floor
• Straighten your back without dipping your lower back of the spine
• Look with your head and gaze just above your yoga mat keeping your chest open and your neck and back lengthened, with your shoulders in line with your hands.

Try these yoga poses regularly to improve your back and avoid bad posture for the spine.

Book your appointment with your chiropractor and get great tips to help improve your standing posture.