Spine Wellness

When you think of proper posture – you may envision movies where the star is learning how to properly walk with a book resting on her head.  Although not entirely accurate, it does hold some merit. 

In this spine wellness blog entry on proper posture – we will focus on standing.  The goal of proper posture is to maintain the normal, or “neutral” position of your spine.  In doing this, hold your head up straight with your chin in.  Your feet should be shoulder-width apart and the pressure should be on the balls of your feet not your heels.  Hold your shoulders back, stand up straight - keeping your knees straight but not locked.  Additionally, hold in your stomach.

In Spine Universe, they describe a “wall test” to help you see how your posture is.  To test your posture and see how your back / spine is aligned - stand against a wall.  Lean your head, shoulders and back against the wall. Then put the heels of your feet forward about 5 to 6 inches.  Then hold in your stomach (lower abdomen), to decrease the arch in the lower back.  And finally, push away from the wall – and then try to maintain this position. 

For more tips on maintaining proper posture to help eliminate spine or back pain, go to www.spineuniverse.com – and for topic search enter “proper posture”.