At Natural Comfort Pillow, we’re obsessed with spine health and spine alignment. And although our Natural Comfort Pillow plays a major role in having a healthy spine, we’d like to share three additional healthy habits that can help keep your spine aligned. They all revolve around improving you posture — while sitting, standing and walking.
Please keep in mind, we’re not expecting you to incorporate all of these strategies into your life in one day. Pick a few at a time and master them. Then add additional healthy spine alignment techniques over time.
Sitting Posture
- Elevate your computer monitor to eye level
- Improve workspace ergonomics. Make sure chair height and keyboard height are promoting healthy posture, and that your back rests on the back of your office chair.
- Knees should be even with the hips, or slightly higher when sitting in an office chair.
- Keep both feet flat on the floor. Use a footrest if necessary.
- Keep shoulders straight while sitting — no slouching or leaning to one side.
- Check out this interactive Workspace Planner from Ergotron, which can help you set up your workspace components and furniture to support spine alignment.
Standing Posture
- Stand with weight mostly on the balls of the feet, not on the heels.
- Keep feet approximately shoulder width apart.
- Allow arms to relax and hang naturally at the sides of your body.
- Avoid locking the knees, instead keep them slightly bent.
- Keep your chin slightly tucked in, it helps keep your head level.
- Be sure your head is square on top of the spine, not jutting forward.
- Stand up straight and tall, with shoulders upright.
- Shift your weight when standing for long periods of time. Switch from one foot to the other, or rock from heels to toes.
Walking Posture
- Keep your head up, and your eyes looking straight ahead. Avoid the temptation to look down (unless you need to), which puts unnecessary stress on the neck, head and spine.
- Be mindful of holding your head squarely on your spine. If you notice that you’re leaning your head or neck forward, simply adjust it back to a place of balance.
- Keep shoulders properly aligned with the rest of the body. Looking at yourself in a mirror may help with this. People often fall into the habit of leaning to a particular side, which can make the spine unaligned.
Bonus Tip
As long as you’re physically able, perform exercises that promote core muscle stabilization. Strengthening the core muscles of your back and abdomen make it easier for your spine to achieve “neutral posture.” These types of exercises include squats, push-ups, planks and lunges, to name a few. A physical therapist can also be a huge help with core muscle strengthening. They often incorporate proprioceptive training, balance exercises and stabilization techniques in their treatment plans — which are all highly effective in improving core muscle strength.
Thank you for visiting Natural Comfort Pillow. We hope these tips help you improve your spine alignment!
Feel free to follow us on Facebook for more health-related tips.