Most people look at posture in a binary or 2 dimensional way. You either have good posture or you do not. In this model, there is not much you can do to improve your posture except to try and stand straighter (a lot of effort goes into this). As a side note, most people we have met in the office during initial appointments identify as having “bad posture.”

In reality, a lot effects your posture including: the health of Autonomic Nervous System (subconscious), the health of your emotional state (happy and angry have different postures), physical stress, rest, and even things like the weather.

Posture can and should fluctuate throughout the day with “good posture” meaning that your posture is pretty good most of the time.

Said more complicated, posture is an external representation of the sum of your internal world (thoughts and emotions).

Here is a closer look at how stress affects posture:

Stress activates the fight, flight or freeze nervous system. Your body automaticity assumes a posture ready to fight, run or curl into a ball. This is the most common reason for “bad posture.” Once again, said another way, if you are stressed for ANY REASON and your body doesn’t have strategies to use that stress for positive gains, your body assumes a stressed/hunched over/shoulders rolled/head forward and down posture. This automatic response to stress is so powerful that an armadillo will freeze even when it means certain death.

So how do we attain “good posture?” Improve your internal sate. Some examples of how to do this are-Help your body take on stress in more effective and useful ways; exercise, talk therapy, meditation, long walks, 20 second heart to heart hugs with someone we love, and our personal favorite getting a Network Spinal entrainment.