Five Reasons to Sit-Up Straight and Stop Slouching

Spinal Health, Posture and Depression

Remember when you were growing up your parents or teachers would tell you to sit up straight? Slouching and slumping over in your chair is bad for posture, that’s what their reason for telling us to sit straight, but what they most likely didn’t know was that not only was it bad for your posture, but it now has been shown in a recent study  that slumping and slouching have an affective effect on your mental state of mind and is shown to cause depression, lower self-esteem, and a negatively charged mood. Not only that, but it also leads to the use of less positive words in your speech.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise though as the spine is part of the central nervous system and thus its health greatly affects the body and mind. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, doing daily 10-minute spine stretching exercises can reduce injury and reverse some of the negative effects of slouching and slumping.

Another important step to reversing the effects of poor posture is to have your spine adjusted and reset to factory defaults as it were. Seeing a chiropractor can keep your spine healthy and reduce some of the damage that has been done over the years, not just from slouching but also from poor lifting techniques of heavy objects, i.e., not bending with your knees, or just from the stresses caused by all that shopping you have been doing – those bags sure can get heavy.

With spring around the corner and cleaning not far behind, getting ahead start now on maintaining good posture and spinal health will go a long way toward keeping you happy, fit and energized for the year ahead.

So the next time you are feeling down, depressed or in a negative space, check your posture, you might find that you are slouching and slumping unknowingly and with just a quick “sit up/ stand up straight”  your mood will get a lift too.

Last but not least, here are those five reasons to stop slouching and slumping:

1. Worsens Depression and Stress

2. Causes Digestive Issues

3. Poor Breathing

4. Back, Shoulder and Neck Pain

5. Tension Headaches

So now that you know that there is a correlation between your posture and your mental wellbeing, you will be more mindful of your posture.