Vibrant Habit #4

During my adolescence, my aunt took it upon herself to teach me the importance of having good posture. She showed me exercises that would help me keep my shoulders back and head upright. Unfortunately the movements were done to the cadence of a song. And that song went like this… “We must. We must. We must increase our bust. The bigger the better, the tighter the sweater. The boys depend on us.” That is the sole reason I spent the next few decades of my life perfecting the posture of whatever lifeform came before Homo erectus. I knew I needed to correct my posture when my chiropractor looked at me and told me that I was hunching over while I was sitting. I wanted to ask him, “Does it make my bust look smaller?”… but I refrained because he had 123 five-star reviews on google and I didn’t want to offend him.

So I went home and looked up some exercises, starting with ones that could improve my upper back and neck posture. I found the YWTL exercises that would strengthen the rhomboid muscles between my shoulder blades. This would in turn help improve my posture by holding my shoulders back as well as stretch my pectoral muscles and open up my chest (my aunt would have been so proud of me). I made it a habit to do these exercises each morning as my coffee was brewing and found that my posture was improving and I had less neck and shoulder pain to boot! Now most of my posture exercises are part of longer exercise routines I do throughout the week (many yoga exercises improve posture too).

So, your next vibrant habit is to start working on your posture. You can look up some exercises on your own or try the YWTL exercises that are explained in the link below (be sure to ask your doctor if these are safe for you if you have any troubles with your neck, shoulders or back). By starting this habit and making it a part of your routine a few times per week you can avoid the negative affects of poor posture which can range from spinal issues; back, shoulder and neck pain; knee problems; headaches; breathing difficulties; low energy levels and long-term stress patterns that impact the body and its form (we already deal with this just being women over 50!) So what are you waiting for… WE MUST! WE MUST…

YWTL Exercises (feel free to make the “Y” a “V” for VIBRANT!)