Improve Posture Chiropractic San Diego

Posture is something that network spinal chiropractors, Drs. Suzanna and Kira DC, really emphasize at Twin Waves Wellness Center in San Diego, North County. Posture is important because it not only affects the structure of your body and how it moves and functions; it also affects how we think and how we feel!

Poor Posture: Fight or Flight, Text Neck, & Driving

We all can recognize someone who has poor posture. What do they look like? They’re hunched over, their head is forward, and their shoulders are rounded. A great example of this is picturing a sad dog with its tail tucked under. How do you feel when you’re in this type of posture? Do you think it might affect us physically? Maybe even mentally or emotionally?

The classic “sad dog” example given above is a very common defense posture that puts us in a state of stress, or what we call a sympathetic response. Have you heard of the term, fight or flight? It’s that moment when you have to either fight or run from the bear, your evil boss, or crazy co-worker. During this time, your heart pumps faster, your breathing intensifies, and you literally feel like you’re in a state of survival. Our fight or flight response is necessary to protect us, but what if we don’t always need this protection? It’s this constant protection that actually prevents us from growing, healing, and moving forward in life. Furthermore, in today’s society, we are commonly in this fight or flight position without even knowing it! Think about sitting at your work desk and typing at your computer–your shoulders are rounded and your head is down, which puts stress on the muscles in your neck. How about texting and driving? All of these positions automatically put our bodies in defense mode!

How Poor Posture Affects Our Body Parts and Organs!

A defense posture puts our body in what we call flexion, or a hunched-over position of the spine. Flexion stretches our nerves, which limits blood flow and oxygen to your spinal cord. When blood flow is restricted to the rest of the body, many basic functions of the body are altered, including how we walk, lift, stretch, and move. Our organ function is also impacted when we are in this defense posture. When our shoulders are rounded and our head is forward, do you think this might constrict our chest, oxygen flow, and how we breathe? Yes! Our endurance and lung capacity are diminished, which means we could also be more susceptible to colds and asthma. Additionally, a restricted chest and diminished blood flow can affect the functioning of our heart, which could lead to symptoms such as heart palpitations and irregular heartbeats. As you can see, flexion puts a lot of stress on the spine, which can affect everything–not only our body position but the ability of our organs to work as well!

How Poor Posture Affects How We Think

When you’re constantly in flexion or what we call a “defense posture,” your mental abilities are also altered. This is because flexion within the spine and spinal cord alters the communication pathways coming from our brain. If signals coming from the brain aren’t able to flow properly, do you think this might affect how we think? Absolutely! Stress on our spine impacts the frontal lobe of our brain, which is responsible for our executive functions, such as our cognition, judgment, and ability to make conscious, smart decisions. Do you think the frontal lobe is able to fully do its job when the head and neck are under stress and the signals are blocked off? So, the next time you’re hunched over, try opening up your shoulders and see how this can improve your ability to think clearly and make rational decisions.

How Poor Posture Affects How We Feel

Finally, poor posture can affect our energy levels and how we feel on the inside. For example, think about how you feel when your shoulders are hunched and your neck is flexed. Is it easy to think happy and positive thoughts? Do you feel inspired in this position? Or does it make you sad and depressed? Now, try rolling your shoulders back. Isn’t this a much more freeing position? When your posture is more open and in what we call extension, our chest opens up, and we actually feel better. Our internal state improves and our energy levels rise. When we pull back our shoulders and open ourselves up to the world, we gain confidence, feel more capable, and gain the inspiration to live our fullest lives!

Posture Is About Our Nervous System

Posture is really a window into our nervous system. By looking at someone’s posture, we can tell what their spinal cord is doing, which in turn tells us about what’s going on in their life. In fact, Dr. Donald Epstein, the founder of Network Spinal Chiropractic says, “The shape, position, tension, and tone of your spine is in relation to the shape, position, tension, and tone of your life.”

At Twin Waves Wellness Center in Solana Beach (San Diego), network spinal holistic chiropractors Drs. Suzanna and Kira, DC help you to become aware of your posture and how it may be affecting your day-to-day life. During your first visit at the wellness center, they will take a picture of your posture and show you how it could improve. As you go through care, they will track the progress of your posture and assess how things are changing within your spine and spinal cord. Through chiropractic care and chiropractic adjustments, your spine will start to heal and realign. Drs. Kira and Suzanna will guide you in your healing and postural improvements so that you can feel better in your body AND life! To learn more information about network spinal, posture, and chiropractic, click HERE.