Posture At Your Desk: Why Does it Matter?

There’s a great saying that “your next posture is your best posture.” I can’t find who originally said it but what we can infer from this is that movement is best and moving from one position to the next is what great for our bodies.

That said, many of us will sit (or stand) for long periods at a time without moving very much at all. We will hold the position and actually keep coming back to it. This applies when we sit at desks.

As I always say, movement is best but what about when not moving and why does it matter?

There are a number of reasons why how we align ourselves when sitting matters, especially if we are there for long periods at a time. I’ve shared lots on how to sit/stand on here and also have tutorials on it on my membership platform/share in workshops, so I will leave that for now and focus more on why how you align your bones when stationary (posture) matters. So here are 3 reasons to be less croissant 🥐 all day and to mix it up with sitting on your sit bones:

1. Fewer aches & pains (particularly back, neck & shoulder pain). Stacking our bones well means fewer imbalances between the front and back of the body. For leg crossers, having feet flat on the floor means more symmetry between the left and right. At the very least more balance throughout the body lends itself to less tension & stiffness.

2. Increased energy! Better circulation and well aligned bones mean more balanced/efficient muscle function. Try it: when feeling low in energy have a little full body shake out and then change how you sit. See what happens.

3. Confidence enhancing. There’s lots of research out there on the positive correlation between lengthening your spine (ie not slouching) and confidence. It’s empowering & energy boosting!

I would love to hear your thoughts and also if you want to share how you remember to move/align your bones well during the day I’m sure others would love to hear too so do comment below.

Photo by Andrew Crowley for The Telegraph