Importance of good posture

One of major reasons why good posture is important for the human body is to ensure
that bones and muscles grow and continue to flourish in the healthiest alignment
possible. Particularly for children and young people who have not reached their
maximum height or finished the growth stages of development, it’s vital to maintain a
healthy posture, especially in the spine.

Think of it in terms of a bone fracture or break – in order to ensure the break or
fracture heals correctly, it must be held in place, aligned, and maintained in a
particular way to ensure it doesn’t heal badly. The same can be said of bones and
ligaments which are not yet fully-formed (and even the whole body in general, as cell
regrowth and repair is a constant bodily function).

Positioning the body in it’s optimum state with regard to gravity and the forces
working against it is ultimately what ‘posture’ describes, and it’s key to helping us to
heal, grow, and manifest in the healthiest way possible.

Similarly to ensuring that bones develop and strengthen in the most aligned and
positioned way, healthy posture is vital to ensuring the continued growth and
development of muscles, too.

Our muscular composition is continuously changing as we fluctuate between periods
of engagement and non-engagement, and the more they are cultivated in a certain
movement pattern, the more they grow to inhabit this place in space.

Thus, it makes sense that repeated muscular engagement in a certain way will
cultivate habitual movement and posture, and if this habitual posture is not correct –
it can cause lasting damage.

The correct alignment of muscles has a direct correlation to the correct alignment of
bones and the skeletal system, as if the skeleton is misaligned in some way, the
muscles surrounding them naturally will be, too.

That’s why it’s important to start looking at postural correction from a place of
functional skeletal movement and not just the muscles themselves being realigned.

The muscles can assist with maintaining proper skeletal alignment as their
engagement will ensure the safe positioning of bones, but it does not work the other
way around (i.e, muscles cannot be re-positioned independent of skeletal
realignment).

A great example of this is yoga. Yogic movement and exercises strengthen the
muscles which surround and protect the spinal column. It has no direct influence over
the spine itself – but it has hugely beneficial effects on the muscles which support and
protect it. As these muscles strengthen over time through repeated and properly
aligned movement, they form a strong layer of protection around the spinal column,
helping to to stay in its optimum postural alignment.

Poor posture can be responsible for or at least a contributing factor to the following
complications:

SHOULDER/BACK PAIN: If your poor posture habits come in the form of upper back or
shoulder pain, the cause could be more straightforward to fix than you might think.
Tensing the muscles in the upper back for prolonged periods of time can lead to pain
and discomfort in this area, especially for those accustomed to sitting at desks or
being hunched over for long periods of time.

GASTROINTESTINAL AND DIGESTIVE DISCOMFORT: If your poor posture involves the
leaning of the head too far forwards, it could have a direct effect on your digestive
health. The compression of the stomach and intestinal area which occurs during long
periods of sitting can ultimately mess with your digestion and make bowel movement
difficult. This is why it’s recommended to move your body as much as possible and
also why the typical ‘office-setting’ of desk jobs are becoming less popular.

SHORTNESS OF BREATH: Another complication resulting from over-compression of
the rib cage and lung cavity, many people who suffer from shortness of breath would
benefit from improving their overall posture.