The Nuance
Good Posture Matters Even More Than You Think
But posture-correcting gadgets probably aren’t the answer
Give this a try: Stand with your head drooped and your shoulders rounded forward as though you’re playing a little old lady in a high school play. Try to take a few deep breaths.
Now stand with your head up, your neck straight, and your shoulders pulled back so that they’re in line with your chest. Again, take a few deep breaths. Notice how much easier it is to breathe when you’re standing up straight?
“Posture isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about keeping the entire body functioning normally,” says Marilyn Moffat, a professor of physical therapy at New York University.
While many view good posture as a relic of some bygone and backward era — the kind of thing young women once learned in finishing school — experts say posture plays an important role in physical and psychological health.
Along with impairing breathing, poor posture makes it difficult for a person to turn their head or raise their arms above their head, Moffat explains. It also “compresses the inner abdominal organs,” she says, and strains a person’s spine in ways that, over time, can lead to back and neck pain.
