June 06, 2007
Welcome to June’s edition of The eZone. In past editions I have touched on the subject of posture, or the dreaded ‘p’ word. I’m sure your parents and teachers regularly told you to ‘sit up straight’ or ‘don’t slouch’. It’s not long before we get pretty fed up with the idea and defy our elders by slouching when they're not looking. By the time we reach our teens we find it impossible to stand without the support of a wall or nearby object!Why is posture so important? And what is the best way to correct it? We shall look at these issue’s today – and don’t worry, I will definitely not ask you to sit up!
Also look out for a great special offer this month!
Regards
Roy Palmer MSTAT
You can also view this ezine online by clicking here
In this issue
1. Why Posture Matters
2. Why We Should Do Nothing About It!
3. Fitness, Performance And Posture
4. Special June Offer
1. Why Posture Matters
Your parents and teachers were right to worry about you slumping in your chair because ALL of your body’s functions can be affected by poor posture. For example, if you are slumped your ribs cannot move easily when you breath. Try it now. Collapse at the front and see what moves – it’s probably your stomach because in order to make room for the incoming air something has to give. Now lean back a little in you chair and see if your ribs start moving. For more about posture and breathing click here
Every function in your body relies on some form of a transportation system. Digestion, elimination, circulation, respiration and even your nervous system uses tubes to carry substances or signals around the body. A slumped posture has the same effect as stepping on a hose pipe, that is, it will increase pressure or slow down the flow.
Chiropractors will tell you how important the structure of the spine is to your nervous system. Misaligned vertebra could impede the flow of signal to and from the spinal cord and cause any number of conditions.
Muscles will actually work harder in cases of poor posture as they struggle against gravity to keep the body upright. Many aches and pains can be due to posture.
However, whilst we should be concerned about our posture we shouldn’t do anything about it…
2. Why We Should Do Nothing About It!
Ask the next person you see to sit or stand ‘properly’ and I can guarantee they will tighten their lower back and push their chest out. This is probably what they did when told as a child to correct their posture. But as you can observe all it achieves is to pull the body into another ‘unnatural’ shape with even more effort!
It is also hard work and does not feel very comfortable. It’s not surprising we are all turned off by the p-word!
If we stopped for a moment and thought about the problem we would realize that if we knew what good posture was – we would already have it! We make the assumption it’s just about straightening ourselves out. But for most of us, any attempt to correct our posture actually makes things worse. It’s not long before we give up and accept the aches and pains as inevitable.
There is a much easier way to correct poor posture, and that involves doing nothing! Well, there’s a bit more to it than that, but improving posture is about undoing the knots you have unknowingly tied in your body that are pulling you out of shape. Unpick these knots and your body will relearn the natural poise you once had. We have built-in reflexes to do all of this for us – if we only we would let them work!
You can read more about posture here
3. Fitness, Performance And Posture
Posture became a concern for sports people some time ago, and quite rightly so. A poorly shaped and balanced body requires more effort to move compared to a poised one. Sports injury and poor performances are often a symptom of poor posture. But, a poor posture is a symptom itself and NOT the cause. Efforts to directly address posture defects with exercise do not get to the root cause. We have to go a little deeper than that to improve posture.
Seven years ago I published my first book on this subject as I felt strongly about seeing sports people being advised to use corrective posture exercises such as Pilates. I know it's very popular but I saw many where I believe their exercises caused more problems than the ones they were supposed to solve. I have since rewritten it - the original does read a bit like one long rant :0) and it’s now available online.
To find out more about this please click here
4. Special June Offer
I am especially pleased with the new edition of my popular ebook ‘How To Improve Your Posture Without Exercise’. I have just added 10 short videos to accompany the procedures I use in the program and launched the new webpages for the product.It’s currently priced at a launch price of $27 that includes a number of bonuses (normal cost will be $47). As an eZone reader you qualify for a further 30% discount for this month. So you can download the new edition for just $19!
For more information please click here. If you would like to take advantage of this special offer please click eZone June Offer
If you have already purchased this ebook and would like the new edition please email me with the email address you used for the transaction and I will send you the new program free.
I hope you found something that will be beneficial to your health and fitness in this month's eZone. Remember you can always contact me by replying to this email with your questions or feedback.
Have a fit and healthy month!
Regards
Roy