Let’s face it, a lot of us, including myself, have or have had poor posture at one point or another. I mean, slouching is so much easier, right? But the truth is that slouching, as comfortable as it may seem at the time, can lead to many back and other physical problems.
Luckily, Evie Fessenden, who teaches yoga at the Council on Aging, has an exercise that can improve your posture in no time, and potentially help alleviate some of that nagging back pain.
Fessenden demonstrated a sitting back stretch that can be done either on the floor or in a chair. In a chair, she said to sit with your feet hip width apart, the knees over your ankles, and to sit up tall.
“What I talk about is moving down through the six bones, lengthening up through the spine, and all the way up through the crown,” she said.
After that, she says to bring the shoulders back and down, and to focus on your breathing, which is an essential part to any yoga practice.
“We move with the breath in yoga,” she said. “Breath initiates the movement.”
Then, she said to inhale while “lengthening up,” before exhaling and hinging forward from the hip crease. Fessenden said to focus on keeping the spine from rounding and to “lead with your heart.”
When you get to where you need to pause, she said to hold the position, exhale, and see if there are any micromovements you can do to continue to push forward.
“You’re lengthening muscles along your spine, you’re engaging your hip flexors here, and then slowly coming back up,” Fessenden said.
The exercise is similar when doing it on the ground.
Sitting on a foam block on a yoga mat to get better spine alignment, you will extend your legs, focusing on the same movements Fessenden discussed earlier. This version also engages the hamstrings. To improve the exercise, you can place a band or belt around the balls of your feet, grabbing the sides while pulling toward you.
If you have tight hamstrings, Fessenden said you can bend your knees to make it easier.
She commented on the importance of good posture and how it can improve back pain.
She said when “sitting in a chair, to bring your shoulders back and down and to try and maintain that posture wherever you are.”
Fessenden even said during one of her classes at the COA, a participant was experiencing lower back pain before the class, and by the time they had finished, she said it was gone.
“It’s a very gentle stretch that is helpful,” Fessenden said.
She added that the exercise can be done every day for up to 10 minutes, and it helps to strengthen muscles along the spine, the hamstrings, and the hip flexors.