Sit tall! How meditation can improve your posture.
At some point as a child or teenager you were probably told to sit up straight, but how often do you think about it nowadays? In a world of staring at computer screens and busy lives, posture is often a low priority or completely forgotten.
Peach Mindfulness has a strong focus on posture in meditation practice and is designed to help you keep good posture throughout the day. Why is this so important? We want to start by listing out the specific benefits of good posture because they may be a lot greater than you think!
Benefits of good posture:
- Improves concentration. A good posture is where your back and neck are straight and relaxed (either while sitting or lying down) and your limbs are placed on your lap or by your sides. It gives you a nice airflow in the body and reduces tension on other parts of the body so you can concentrate longer.
- Reduces pain in other parts of the body. Lower back pain is an especially common ailment among people who tend to slouch. By sitting straight, you will take the pressure off of the spine which can greatly reduce this type of pain. Tension in your neck and shoulders can also be alleviated by straightening out the upper back and neck and in addition, you will most likely have fewer headaches. Good postural alignment can also relieve hip pain because you are lifting and lengthening out of the hips.
- More energy throughout your day. Good posture allows your joints to align and your muscles to work correctly. Therefore, your body will be less tired and strained to leave you with more energy to be productive throughout your day.
- Improves digestion. By stretching out the spine you are giving room to your organs which may have otherwise been crunched and unable to work efficiently–so providing your body space will help to ease digestion.
- Improves breathing. By giving the trunk of your body more space your lungs are able to breathe in and breathe out the air more easily. The extra energy you may have been using to breathe can then be expended in other areas, giving you more energy throughout your day.
- Stronger core. Sitting up straight naturally engages your core without having to actively try. In this way, by keeping good posture, you are actually getting a little ab workout all day long. Effortless six-pack—here we come!
- Injury prevention. Good posture will help to prevent injury in your workouts or physical activities because you will have better form and alignment of your bones and muscles.
Sounds pretty good, right? The hard part for many of us is that slouching has become a habit and the status quo for how we sit. Strong habits such as how we sit can be difficult to sit, but not with Peach Mindfulness. Peach incorporates good posture into meditation sessions to help you create a habit of sitting up straight without having to think about it. You will notice over time that keeping good posture becomes easier and easier during your meditation practice. On top of that, you will notice yourself sitting up straight more often in your daily life as well.
Having trouble keeping your posture while meditation? Keep scrolling to get personalized advice from our Buddhist advisor Venerable Thich Hanh Duc!
Like a peach, life is sweetest when you take a moment to appreciate it.
Let’s go on this journey together.
Are you struggling with something in your mindfulness journey? Need some advice and support?
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Submit your questions in the comment section below and we will respond to it in a future post. You may even hear from Venerable Thich Hanh Duc himself, who has graciously offered to provide advice to our network.
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