Do you ever come home from the grocery and feel tired as if an entire day passed by? Or have you experienced taking a break from working on your computer for a few hours and feel as if your day is endless and is draining you? This occurrence is quite normal in our lives. Daily activities take their toll on our bodies. We are often too caught up in working, doing household chores or even completing a short trip to the grocery, we seem drained and tired afterward. This is because we are too focused on doing those activities and oftentimes take for granted stuff like proper breathing, good posture or even doing things properly. And as time goes by, we slowly blame age with the change in our posture, our stance, our body. Unknowingly, we can make three small changes and the improvement becomes a domino effect. We take care of our breathing; we take care of our bodies and eventually our posture.
Looking at a bunch of people, many may observe the people with the best aura are those who stand up straight, who walk and sit properly. It all boils down to proper posture. You may ask “why?” This is because, when we slouch, or sit in front of our computers or drive our cars in a sort of comfortable position that does not necessarily promote good posture, we tend to adopt that position, that posture and develop a bad habit of doing things in that position.
Slouching is the culprit. When we slouch, our ribcage is positioned in a way where our lungs do not get to expand properly. We end up doing shallow breaths, and we get comfortable doing this. This is not good because eventually, we don’t breathe properly, our organs do not get enough oxygen it needs, our body becomes fixated in that position – making it comfortable for us, but destructive for our body.
Decompressed breathing is the best way to start treating this problem. Here are 3 simple ways or changes you can make to improve your posture through decompression breathing:
1. Decompressed breathing
Decompressed breathing is breathing deeply. There is a proper way of doing it those physical therapists or fitness and posture specialists usually ask patients to do. It starts by sitting up straight or standing straight, breathes through the nose by inhaling, holding our breaths for a few counts and then exhaling fully. This simple exercise stimulates the lungs and then helps the body formulate a “habit.” This habit once formed, helps promote good posture.
2. Be posture conscious
Good posture plays a big part in correcting one’s breathing and posture and habits. Having good posture when working, when walking, when watching TV or even while driving matters a lot. As mentioned above, we are all so busy we often take this for granted. Taking good posture for granted makes us develop destructive positions when we go about and do our daily activities. Being conscious of how our posture is, gives us a self-correcting switch in us that tells us to sit properly or stand up straight allows us to help ourselves in doing things properly daily.
3. Consistency
Spotting the problem is the start, working on changing how you do things, how you position yourself when you are doing things and being aware to always do them are just starters. What is difficult is being consistent. When we bring ourselves to make a change, we are taking the first step. They say the first step is always the hardest – it is to be consistent and follow-through is what is difficult. Having the urge to stay healthy, breathe properly, have good posture, these are what can make or break one’s will to improve posture through decompressed breathing.
Looking at yourself, observing your breathing, on your own you can improve this basic function. Sit up straight, stand up straight, walk properly. These are what our parents used to tell us. And even when we become parents and grandparents, these are the things we will always tell our children and grandchildren because these are not trivial matters, these are essential to our health. When we maintain proper posture, we breathe properly, our organs get their supply of oxygen they needed and our bodies function properly. Imagine what those three small changes you can make to improve your posture through decompressed breathing.
Need to improve your posture through decompression breathing? Tribeca Physical Therapy is officially reopened for in-person physical therapy sessions and continues to offer Telehealth PT or Virtual PT. Call us at 2124068080 or message us and book your first session free.
