Do You Sit A Lot? You can relieve neck and back tension with proper sitting posture.
Whether you sit for your job or just to eat, drive or knit, your posture can make your life comfortable or miserable, creating tension and pain. But you can choose which by learning and drilling how to sit correctly.
Sitting posture has to do with the position of your pelvis and the placement of the rest of your body above that: your ribcage, your shoulders and head.
A common incorrect sitting position is rolling your pelvis forward off your butt bones, (those two bones in your tush). You would be over-arching your lower back and lifting your chest forward and up, as if to ‘sit up tall’. In this position, you are not using any core support. Your hip flexors, the front of your hips, are contracting to hold your pelvis in that position; your shoulders are tightening to stay upright. You are creating unnecessary tension in your hips, lower back, shoulders and neck. Try it, see how it feels.
Now sit back, right on top of those two butt bones. Feel your tummy engage, your thighs and hips relax. Bring your rib cage back in place, right on top of your hips. Feel your shoulders relax. Feel your neck relax. Ahhhh…better! Your tummy, your core is doing the work. It is doing its job.
Now just practice this. When you sit down, decide to sit correctly. When you catch yourself rolling forward and arching, correct it. Keep correcting it. Just like learning anything, you have to drill it. You decide and drill it. Pretty soon, it will be a habit!
