Creating a life without physical pain – PART 1/3

Creating a life free of physical pain – PART 1/3

Anyone who has sustained an injury or has experienced lingering aches or pains will attest to the fact that living with pain becomes a debilitating burden on your body and spirit.  It’s not until we have a disturbance come up in our life that we realize the importance of pre-habilitating our bodies to ensure we don’t create pain or physical disturbances.  There are many things that go into creating a pain free life, so let’s dive into 3 things that you can work on in order to live your happiest and healthiest life!

POSTURE:

Postural Correction is not only key in keeping yourself injury free and pain free, but it also has MANY more effects on your life, such as:

• Poor posture can amplify the effects of depression – According to a study conducted by the San Francisco State University, the connection between our posture and depression stems from the effects of body language on our emotional health. If we slouch, we feel week and helpless. In contrast, if we walk with our head held high, we feel better. Nevertheless, slouching may cause us to burrow further into depression.
• According to Dr. Jonathan McClaren and a study conducted by Harvard, a powerful posture (properly aligned spines and open chest) can increase testosterone levels by 20% and decrease cortisol levels by 25%.  In contrast, people who slouch or walk with a closed stance have a 10% decrease in testosterone and a 15% increase in their cortisol levels. This results in low self-esteem and higher levels of stress.
• Nerve Constriction – One of the MANY side effects of poor posture is nerve constriction. As the spine changes in shape, the resulting movements or misplaced vertebra alignment which will potentially put pressure on spinal nerves.  This can be the cause of much back and neck pain, so correcting rounded shoulder posture is also key.  
• Low Back Overwork – Poor posture can cause your lower back to overwork throughout the day. As you slouch, the back extensor and flexor muscles MUST work harder to keep your spine stable and safe. Adding unnecessary work on these muscles throughout the day will cause them to tighten and become tired. 
• More issues – digestive issues caused by restriction of the intestines by squeezing over on them, tension headaches, poor breathing. All of this causes too much unnecessary stress on the body, and as we know… stress kills.

Becoming more aware of posture is a key to living a long healthy life.  When you’re sitting in a chair, when you’re walking around, scrolling on your phone…make a habit of becoming more aware of your posture and correcting it when you can.  

To get into the details on proper seated, standing and lying posture, check out the tips HERE from the American Chiropractic’s Association on how to properly align your body. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the series!