Correct sitting posture is a very important, but often overlooked posture.
Below you will learn how to implement correct sitting posture into your daily lifestyle.
First, sit on your chair so that about half of your thigh is on the chair and about half of your thigh is off the chair.
"Scoot" forward if necessary.
Additionally, you want to make sure that both feet are positioned firmly and flat on the floor.
This position will distribute some of your body's weight through your feet, keeping all of your weight from going through your spine.
Moving forward in the chair may move you away from the backrest on the chair and leave you without a back support.
Depending on your chair, there are a number of things you can do to solve this problem.
Some chairs have a back rest that adjusts forward or backward to give you support.
If you have a chair with a fixed back, or a back that does not move far enough forward, your best bet is to do one of the three following things.
oRoll up a towel so that it forms a roll approximately 6 inches in diameter.
Simply place this in the space between your low back and your chair, at about the same level as your belly button.
oTake a pillow and fold it in half.
Then, just as you would do with the towel roll, place the pillow between your back and the chair at about the level of your belly button.
oPurchase a lumbar support roll.
However, most of these do not provide much more support, or give you a different type of support, than either of the other two methods we discussed.
The advantage of purchasing a lumbar support roll is that many of them have straps that can be attached to the chair so that it stays on all the time.
There is one more thing that is important to make sure you do to position yourself properly on your chair.
That is, you want to make sure you adjust the height of your chair so that your knees are either level with, or slightly below your hips.
This is very important because if your chair is too low, your knees will be higher than your hips.
This promotes a slumped sitting posture and increases stress on the ligaments, discs, and muscles of your low back.
On the other hand, if your knees are level with, or even slightly below your hips (which I prefer), it is easier to sit up straight.
This promotes a better posture in your low back, which makes it easier to have better posture in your upper back and neck.
Once your legs are positioned, you have to find your neutral spine.
Do this by rolling your hips and pelvis backward to round out your low back.
Then, roll them all the way forward, arching your low back.
In this position, your low back is probably very arched, and you are sitting up really straight.
From here, slightly roll your hips and pelvis back a little bit, so that you are still sitting up straight.
But, instead of your back being in an arched position, it is simply in a nice, upright posture between all the way slumped and all the way arched.
From here, position your shoulders by raising your arms with your elbows bent (like in the "stick up" position).
Next, bring your elbows back so that you are "pinching" your shoulder blades together.
Once your arms are back as far as they will go, slowly lower your elbows to your sides.
One thing I want you to pay special attention to is that you are not shrugging your shoulders up toward your ears.
Instead of shrugging the shoulders, make sure you pinch your shoulder blades together while keeping your shoulders down, like you are trying to pull them down toward your back pockets.
Lastly, pull your ears back over your shoulders.
This may feel awkward for you, but that is understandable.
Rest assured, if you make a commitment to working on your posture, it will feel more natural as the body becomes more accustomed to a correct sitting posture.
Do you want to learn more about what I teach my patients with lower back pain at The Back University regarding posture, ergonomics, and workstation setup? Learn more here: Back Posture