Did you know poor posture can lead to bad health, depression and even bad skin?
According to some of the world’s leading yoga instructors, yoga is key to cultivating not just general health and well-being, but help promote better posture to help support the body throughout the day.
Here are five yoga positions to help combat bad posture:
Warrior One:
This pose helps to lengthen the hip flexor muscles, which is a very common tight spot if you sit down all day at a desk. This is because when you sit for prolonged periods, the muscles around your hips tense from stress and tighten, which causes increased pressure on the lower spine. This pose will decompress those muscles whilst helping the blood and oxygen to flow more freely around the hips.
Warrior Three:
This is a great all-rounder position which helps to strengthen the upper back and shoulders, whilst also lengthening the hip flexors and hamstrings. It is a challenging pose to balance, but once mastered it’s perfect for stretching out the spine and hip flexors after sitting down for too long. Especially if you do a lot of driving.
Boat Pose:
Although another challenging pose for balance, boat pose is useful for strengthening the abdominal muscles, which help support the lower back and spine, particularly in the lumber area, as it helps to create a more stable spine for supporting the rest of the body. If you spend a lot of hours standing in the day, this is the prefect pose for you, as it helps keep the muscles supporting your upper and lower back to strengthen and stay strong.
Camel Pose:
Another great pose if you spend way too much time sitting down. This is a counter balance pose, which is designed to help create space in the front of the body after spending a day hunched over the computer. It also helps to open the lung area when recovering from a cold or flu which has infected the lung area, as it promotes blood and oxygen through the area to help dislodge any mucus that needs to be cleared.
Cat and Cow Pose:
This is the perfect pose both before a yoga sequence and after. Before is great, as it warms up the spine, creating flexibility and movement in the back. But, is also great after the Camel Pose to help counter the back bend and bring back oxygen flow to the lower back. Cat and Cow is also perfect for those of you who spend a lot of time standing, as it’s stress relieving for the lower back after supporting the body all day standing.
