There is a multitude of ways that a good upright posture can help you this holiday season, and here’s just a handful to get you on track to standing upright…
#1 Your Best Christmas Carol Yet
If you really want to impress your family this holiday season, get practicing those Christmas carols, but this time with a tweak — stand upright.
But how can an upright posture help you ask?
Paying attention to singers, you’ll notice that the majority when performing stand with a very good upright posture. This is no coincidence, as a good posture can physically increase breathing capacity by making the largest space possible available in your chest. This allows singers to fully expand their lungs and to hold much longer notes. Pushing the chest out high by pressing the shoulders back, helps singers to hold notes much longer, without it seeming like they are gasping for air at the end (think Celine Dion). So put those shoulders back and get ready to not suck (as much) when singing carols this Christmas.
#2 A Strong Back for Heavy Lugging
A healthy back is important for all aspects of life, but particularly during the holiday season where you’ll be schlepping heavy trees into the house, attempting to awkwardly carry a whole turkey, lugging heavy shopping bags filled with presents or even dressing up as Santa for the kids (Santa’s bag seems to be getting heavier by the year — come to think of it, how does he carry that thing around?). Back pain is the second most common reason that people visit their doctor every year, and having a poor posture is directly related to the increase in back pain, particularly for those who spend much of their day sitting down. You can prevent all of this pain by strength training your back at the gym and simply adopting an upright posture, the sooner you start practicing the better.
#3 Look Slimmer and Younger
A good posture is not just good for your health, but appearances too, it will instantly take 3–5 lbs off of your appearance making you look slimmer and younger. Not only that, but your clothes will sit better on you too. Everyone wants to look their best over the holiday season, with all those work Christmas dos and seeing family and friends you perhaps haven’t seen all year. We all want to indulge over the holiday period, so rather than restricting your diet too much (we can all cut back after the New Year after all), simply adopt an upright position and you’ll take inches off instantly.
#4 Digest Food More Easily with Correct Posture
Without going into the gritty details, poor posture can cause some irregular and nasty bowel movements. By standing upright and adopting a good posture, your stomach and intestines can push food through easily — a poor posture, on the other hand, can lead to…let’s call it clogging. Something you definitely do not want to experience after a big Christmas dinner, that’s for sure. Slouching will cause your internal organs to experience more pressure which also makes for poor digestion. With all those mince and pumpkin pies, Christmas puddings an extra food layer is inevitable this holiday season (for winter warmth reasons of course), may as well give your body a helping hand by sitting and standing upright.
#5 Spread the Love & Good Posture
The Holiday season is all about spreading love, jollying around and enjoying a happy time with the family. So stop being a grinch and sit upright, if not for you but the sake of the family. Did you know, that an upright seated position has been shown to reduce negative mood and actually increase positive mood when compared to a slumped posture? According to one study, sitting upright can genuinely reduce the self-focus of an individual. And when better to be selfless and positive than the holiday season?
Why not give yourself the gift of a good posture this holiday season? If you’re finding it hard to accomplish on your own, why not try the UPRIGHT GO to push you in the right direction.
Originally published at UPRIGHT.
