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Monday, September 28, 2015

Standing Tall—checking in on your posture

Good posture seems to be a forgotten practice I want to address. And although how good or bad your posture is doesn’t directly affect your skin, it does affect your general and long-term health.

I find it so interesting how we carry ourselves. You can tell a lot about people by how they hold themselves up. Because we have to use our backs all of our lives, and because they tend to give us problems as we get older, I think it’s important to take care of our backs now, so they will last for a lifetime. Exercise is always important, but posture and how we walk around all day long can affect the health of our backs as well. Taking a stand on proper posture is a good start toward taking good care of your back.

Start observing people, and you’ll be amazed at how many of them are walking around hunched over or sunken in. I want to go over and gently pull them up to a straight and upright position. It’s a bad habit, but I believe anyone can correct bad posture. (Obviously, I’m not talking about people who have chronic back trouble or spinal abnormalities.) Women are the worst when it comes to walking around with poor posture. I half-jokingly say, “If you want an instant breast lift, stand up straight.”

When you’re out, and you see someone with bad posture, use this as a signal to make sure you are standing tall. You can’t go up to strangers and correct their posture, but you can use their example as a reminder to yourself to assume good posture. It’s a minor correction that can help you look and feel better.

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