Practice makes good posture easier.
Listen. Listen closely. You may be surprised at all the things your body is telling you. While you balance your mind and spirit during your yoga practice, you also become more in tune with your body.
A regular yoga practice gives you the time to be with yourself, to learn about your strengths, to push yourself to the edge of your limitations and to make peace with where you are right now. Yoga is not about being better; it’s about being present.
Yoga Delivers Good Posture
Start by becoming conscious of your posture — as you stand, walk and sit. Everyone slouches from time to time; it’s a natural response to the weight of your head or if you’re feeling tired. The trick is to notice when you’re slouching. As you go through your yoga sequence, become more aware of your body — what its tendencies are, where and when you overcompensate, how you hold yourself. Use this information to your advantage throughout the day.
Good posture, like a lot of things in life, takes practice. Check your alignment when you’re in your yoga poses, especially noticing the position of your head. Remember that continual, even if small, improvement over longer periods of time is the goal, not perfection.
Yoga Poses to Improve Your Posture
We can recommend a number of asanas that help you align your spine and maintain good posture. These are poses you will likely come across in a yoga class and are usually best when practiced in a full sequence with the guidance of a good yoga teacher. You can do all of these poses with your Three Minute Egg ® yoga props.
Here are the asanas and how they help with good posture:
- Mountain Pose (Tadasana) is all about standing in the present moment. It is an opportunity to look at your posture with compassionate eyes and notice any patterns in your body that might be creating imbalance. From there you can begin cultivating new patterns and balance in your body. And once you know what it feels like to stand in proper alignment, you will have that experience as a reference when you’re off the mat.
- Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) lengthens your spine and stretches your back muscles, gluteals and hamstrings. Freedom from tightness and healthy range of motion are necessary to attain good posture.
- Warrior II (Virabhadrasana) and Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana) These poses strengthen the legs, arms, and back muscles and improve stamina to support healthy alignment and combat fatigue. Extended Side Angle Pose also provides a lengthening stretch on the side of the body.
- Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) and Upward-Facing Dog Pose (Urdva Mukha Svanasana) open your chest and strengthen your back. They are the ultimate anti-slouch!
- Hero Pose (Virasana) Stretches the quadriceps and tops of the feet. Also, it is often easier to feel what a neutral position of your pelvis is and what your natural lumbar curve is in this seated position. That insight can prove extremely helpful in creating new, healthy posture habits.
