You see your crush walking towards you - you have 5 seconds to look your best. What do you do?
WHAT DO YOU DO?! Aside from running your fingers through your hair and wiping that salad dressing off your chin, the answer is: optimise your posture!
And you’d be surprised at what a massive difference it can make. Let me explain.
Claremont Chiropractic Health Centre
WHAT DO YOU DO?! Aside from running your fingers through your hair and wiping that salad dressing off your chin, the answer is: optimise your posture!
And you’d be surprised at what a massive difference it can make. Let me explain.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But as a general concept, society dictates certain archetypes that stand as our current beauty standards. These do differ from culture to culture and have changed over time, but I imagine aesthetic ideals have been present since the origin of sexual reproduction. That's a long time ago.
[What these ideals are and/or whether they should exist at all is so far beyond the scope of this article. So very far.]
[What these ideals are and/or whether they should exist at all is so far beyond the scope of this article. So very far.]
General examples are things like a 'nice smile', height and other body proportions (like breast/waist/thigh ratio). Some of these can be optimised with a controlled diet, exercise, or even surgery. But again - you only have 5 seconds. What do you do?
- Stand up straight! Imagine there’s a string tied to the crown of your head - now imagine it’s getting pulled up. BAM! You are now taller and appear leaner.
- Lift up your chest! Imagine you’re trying to touch your breast-bone (sternum) to the ceiling. WHAMMY! Your chest appears bigger and men’s shoulders will appear wider.
- Suck it in! Imagine you’re trying to touch your belly-button (navel) to your spine. BLAMMO! Your waist appears smaller.
So now - as you stand taller, leaner, with a larger chest and a smaller waist - time to razzle dazzle with that wonderful personality you have! But first - seriously, that salad dressing is still there...
And the nice thing is that all these tips also work for protecting your neck, back, and hips from postural injuries. Overuse of certain positions overload certain spots in the body e.g. sitting puts a lot of pressure on your glutes (*stage whisper* That’s your butt muscles). Over time, your nervous system makes those areas more sensitive (via increased receptor density, etc) which can build up for a long time. The result? An area just LOOKING for some sort of trigger to ignite a painful episode. Cue glute pain, back pain, hip pain, etc. So how can we prevent that from happening?
Stop the build-up! Vary your posture as often as you can - especially away from the typical slouched, round-shouldered, general Cro-Magnon look. You don’t have to look like you’re in the military at all times. Just often enough that your body gets a little variety. So, as often as you can:
Stand up straight! Lift up your chest! Suck in your stomach!
BOOM! Made you look good AND healthier.
By Dr Murray McDonaldAnd the nice thing is that all these tips also work for protecting your neck, back, and hips from postural injuries. Overuse of certain positions overload certain spots in the body e.g. sitting puts a lot of pressure on your glutes (*stage whisper* That’s your butt muscles). Over time, your nervous system makes those areas more sensitive (via increased receptor density, etc) which can build up for a long time. The result? An area just LOOKING for some sort of trigger to ignite a painful episode. Cue glute pain, back pain, hip pain, etc. So how can we prevent that from happening?
Stop the build-up! Vary your posture as often as you can - especially away from the typical slouched, round-shouldered, general Cro-Magnon look. You don’t have to look like you’re in the military at all times. Just often enough that your body gets a little variety. So, as often as you can:
Stand up straight! Lift up your chest! Suck in your stomach!
BOOM! Made you look good AND healthier.
Claremont Chiropractic Health Centre