Post: #1

This is Day 16 of Live a Healthier Life in 21 Days Challenge, Jan 2012 run. Subscribe to the free newsletter for lifetime access of personal development articles and future challenge announcements like this one.

Hello guys! Today is Day 16 of Live a Healthier Life in 21 Days Challenge! There are now only *5* days left before the challenge comes to a close.

21DHL Forums Will Close on 23 Jan!

Since 21DHL is a 21-day challenge, the 21DHL forums will be closed on 23 Jan, 10:59am (EST) / 7:59am (PST) / 3:59pm (UCT) / 11:59pm (GMT +8 / SG time). I've set aside an extra 2 days for everyone to regroup and create their healthy living plans ahead.

So, let us make the best out of our last week together! After the challenge is over, we will continue to be in the main forums, so don't worry about losing touch. Join in the other forums and post freely as you have here. Remember, this is our home to pursue our life in excellence.

Day 16 - Improve Your Posture

Today's task is another new task that was not in the 21DHL Jan 2011 run. Today is about improving your posture.



I've written before about posture, benefits of having a good posture, and how to have a good posture in Benefits Of Having A Good Posture (And 13 Tips To Getting One).

Quote:Why have a good posture? There are 5 key benefits from maintaining a good posture.

1. Facilitates breathing: A good posture naturally enables you to breathe properly. I started appreciating this after I started meditating regularly a few months back, coupled with a good posture. I found a really a huge difference in the amount of air I could inhale between sitting up straight and slouching. This is why yoga, pilates and meditation exercises pay so much attention on getting your posture and sitting positions right.
2. Increases concentration and thinking ability: When you are breathing properly, you increase your thinking ability too. Our brain requires 20% of oxygen to do its job properly. More air, more oxygen. More oxygen, more brain food. More brain food leads to more thoughts and ideas.
3. Improve your image: People with good postures look smarter and more attractive. Have you ever seen someone with a bad posture and felt the person seemed unkempt, even though the person has not said or done anything yet? On the flip side, someone with a good posture naturally exudes an aura of assertiveness and appeal.
4. Feel even better about yourself: When you have a good posture, it helps to make you feel more self-confident, without even doing anything else different. Try sitting in a bad posture now for 30 seconds. Now, switch to a good posture for 30 seconds as well. Is there any difference in how you felt?
5. Avoid health complications: A bad posture results in several complications over time, such as increased risks of slipped disc, back aches, back pain, pressure inside your chest, poor blood circulation. When I was studying in business school, I had a professor back who suffered from a slip disc when he was younger. Unfortunately, he can't straighten his back ever since the incident and he now walks with a permanent slouch.

So, what makes up a good posture then? As I shared in my posture article, having a good posture does not mean keeping your spine totally straight:

Quote:I used to have that misconception and it deterred me from keeping a good posture since it was just so tiring having to keep my back so straight all the time. If you feel it is exhausting whenever you try to maintain a good posture, it's probably because you are trying to keep your back fully straight. Trying to keep your back/spine fully straight is actually as detrimental to your back as a slouched posture. By constantly tightening your back muscles, you end up straining it in the process.

A good posture means maintaining the two natural curves at your back - (1) the concave curve from base of your head to your shoulders and (2) the concave curve from your upper back to the base of your spine. It's like the shape of 2 C's on your back. Refer to the image on this page for an illustration.

When you are in the right posture, it should feel almost effortless to maintain the position. When you stand, your weight of your body should be evenly distributed across the balls of feet (not the heels or the front).

For the whole of today, see if you can maintain a good posture. Report in your 21DHL journal on your progress. After that, be sure to keep up with this habit for the remaining 5 days of the 21DHL challenge.

Be sure to check out the 13 tips to improve your posture at the end of the posture article to make it easier to cultivate this habit!

Day 16 of Your 21-Day Healthy Living Plan

What are your tasks listed for today? Do them with excellence and report them in your 21DHL Journal.

Also, read your group mates' 21DHL journals and cheer them along! Pick a few members' journals and make it a point to post meaningful replies there.

Update Your 21DHL Journals

Once you are done for the day, update your 21DHL Journal. You are also welcome to update your 21DHL Journal multiple times throughout the day. Post all your results for today's task and your 21-Day Healthy Living Plan directly in your journal.

If you have any questions specific to today's task, post them here.

"If you want to get something you have never gotten before, you've to do something you've never done before."
Personal Excellence - For people passionate about achieving excellence in life

Post: #2

How important is having a chair for this? The one I have in this rented room is useless for sitting on purposes, so I sit on my bed instead. I haven't found myself slouching too much, so a chair is not really necessary?

On a lighter note, here's a screenie of a prank Clippit on the topic of posture

"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable."

Post: #3

My posture can be pretty bad. I have been pretty much ignoring my posture thoughout 21DHL until today. I find that using a back cushion and adjusting my computer chair at work and home so it won't lean back does help.

I have read poor posture can also come from poor muscle tone. This may be, at least partially, why people of old age often have hunched backs. Abdominal and core exercises can help this though.

Post: #4

Practicing good posture is important. I speak from experience. When I was in my early 40's (over 10 years ago) I had a bulging disc which impinged in my sciatic nerve (painfully) and made me walk like an old man. It didn't happen because of a specific injury, but years of neglecting to watch my posture. One day I tried to get up from my desk and was nearly incapacitated. Fortunately my doctor was able to bring it under control with a series of epidural steroid injections which brought the inflammation down to the point where I could get into physical therapy. Since then I do daily core strength exercises and stretch to maintain flexibility. I've improved my fitness to he point where I have no restrictions on my physical activity. It took a long time (several years) to fully recover, but now I pay much closer attention to my back. I'm happy to share with anyone who will listen, when your mother told you to sit up straight, she knew what she was saying!

servus
ChuckA
Getting younger in 2012

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