Join me for my online MFR Lower Back Love Workshop to learn techniques to support lower back health.
POSTURE STACKING
Last month I looked at lower back pain. This month's theme is a natural progression, as poor posture is the most common cause of lower back pain. Tiredness, ageing, illness, lack of exercise, asymmetry in muscle strength, chronic pain, and unresolved injuries are some of the main causes for poor posture. Good posture takes effort. It is much easier to let gravity press you down - slumped your shoulders and let your pelvis tip back when standing, sitting and moving. But the long term effects of poor posture include spine, shoulder, hip and neck pain, and make you more prone to injuries. It can even affect your breath, digestion, energy levels, confidence and mental health.
Posture stacking checks throughout your day will build strength in your posture muscles and help them to hold you up against gravity. You can even set a reminder on your phone throughout your day to make sure hours don't go by in a slumped position. From a standing position stack - ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, head an extension of the spine. If you are inclined to jut your head forward, place your first two fingers on your chin, tuck your chin slightly and slide your head back onto your shoulders. This will create nice length in the back of the neck. From a seated position stack - hips, shoulders, head an extension of the spine, knees hip height or slightly lower, feet squared with your hips and on the ground. If, like me, your feet don't reach the ground, you can place a prop under your feet. I place a yoga brick at its lowest height under each foot, with a bit of space between them. Place your hand on your lower back and check for the natural curve of your lumbar spine. When we slump in our seats the shoulders roll forward and the pelvis tip back. This repeated poor posture will cause shoulder, lower back and neck pain if held for long periods of time. Consider taking standing breaks throughout the day too, this will bring circulation back into the hips and lower body. When you are doing your posture checks, notice if you have any areas where you hold habitual tension or gripping. Shoulders, glutes, neck, jaw, or even your expression, are common areas we hold tension. Check if you favour one foot, tilt your hips forward, back or to one side when standing or cross your legs, lean your upper body or tilt your head to one side when sitting.
5 STEPS TO GOOD POSTURE
Although types of poor posture can vary, I have focused on the most common one, which is shoulders rolled forward, flattened lower back and pelvis tilted back. The following are 5 areas to work on, if this is your inclination which are all covered in my sequence:
1. AROM (active range of movement) - adding hip, shoulder and spine movement practises into your routines will reduce mobility loss which can lead to stiffness related poor posture.
2. Strengthen the upper back (thoracic), lower back (lumbar) and the posterior shoulders - basically strengthening the whole posterior chain to prevent the front body from collapsing against the weight of gravity.
3. Strengthen the side of hips (gluteus medius) and the core (TVA, rectus abdominis) - strengthening the gluteus medius will stabilise the pelvis and prevent it from tipping sideways, while core strength will support the curves of the lower back. When the hips are weak or asymmetrical it can shift the whole posture stack.
4. Stress relief - mental stress can manifest as physical tension with muscle tension and gripping - pulling the shoulder up around ears, tension headaches or lower back pain which can all affect your posture.
5. Balance drills - the natural curves of our spine absorb impact and facilitate the ability to react, recentre and balance. Often in poor posture one or more of the natural curves of the spine are flattened or overarched throwing this delicate balancing act!
EXPLORING POSTURE RESET IN YOUR PRACTICE
Yoga does two things - it makes us more aware of our posture and builds strength in the posture muscles. The sequence starts with MFR on the feet to build a strong platform of support to create your posture awareness from. For more details on these techniques go to MFR + yoga. The first row works on strengthening the spine, core, outer hips, stretches the front of the chest and mobilises the shoulders. The start of each standing flow starts with arm extension to help stretch the front of the chest and hug the shoulder blades together on the back.The first standing flow gives into three mini flows working on side bends, twists and standing balance. In the second standing flow you are facing the side of the mat in Warrior style legs and goddess legs with lots of upper back and shoulder work. The start of the cold down has a last bit of work on the core. In this one you don’t hold on to the leg, you use your core to pull the bent knee towards your chest while also using your core to slowly lift and lower the straight leg. It finishes with a nice restorative bridge pose using a brick with a blanket over it to lift the hips.
ALIGNMENT CUES
Have a read of the tips below and either print out the sequence or save it onto your device:
Move through the sequence slowly, particularly when transitioning from pose to pose.
This sequence is intended to be part of your posture rest routine not as a once off practice. Add it into your weekly routine.
Practise the full sequence once or twice a week or even better take sections of the sequence and do a little each morning to reset your posture for the day ahead.
Use the breath guide in the sequence to help you link breath with movement in the flow. Inhale is indicated with a ‘+’, exhale is a ‘-”.
To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.
Ruth Delahunty Yogaru
