Good posture is an important part of maintaining your body’s alignment, and proper alignment is super important when it comes to avoiding injury and feeling good. Posture and alignment are connected and they can both be improved by practicing the right yoga poses.
While yoga has an incredible amount of benefits when practiced on a regular basis, adding just a few specific poses into your regular stretching routine can help improve your posture, leading to a reduction in stiffness, sore muscles, and neck and back injuries.
If you’ve never tried yoga, here are a few simple poses to help you build better posture. If you’re a regular yogi, you’ll know these well but you might not have known how great they are for your posture!
Tadasana
Tada! Better posture is only a pose away. Well, it might take a little more than that but Mountain Pose is a great place to start.
Mountain pose might look like you’re
To get into Mountain Pose:
- Stand with your feet hip width apart
- Ground your feet into your mat, spreading the weight evenly
- Tuck your tail bone slightly
- Pull your shoulders back and down
- Align your head over your heart
- Pretend your reaching the top of your head toward the sky
Cat/Cow Pose
Alternating between cat and cow pose not only helps stretch your spine and your back but it can also help you recognize when you’re arching your back or slouching. When you alternate between the two, it’s easier to recognize the proper “neutral” pose.
To practice Cat/Cow:
- Start on your hands and knees
- Make sure your hands are on your knees shoulder-width apart and line up with your knees
- Inhale to round your back, pulling the top of your spine toward the ceiling
- Exhale to arch your back, pulling your shoulders up and pulling your stomach toward the ground
- After a few repetitions, let your spine rest in the neutral position
Down Dog
This pose is basically good for just about anything. Since it can help with alignment, it can then, in turn, help you improve your posture. It can also help strengthen muscles which is an important part of proper posture.
To get into Down Dog:
- Start in child’s pose
- Make sure your feet are a hips-width distance apart
- Curl your toes under, and as you exhale, straighten both your legs
- Shift your hips back and left your armpits and your belly
- Try to make your rib cage touch your thighs
Standing Forward Fold
Forward folds help lengthen your spine which can lead to better posture.
To get into forward fold:
- Stand with your feet hip width apart
- Tilt at the hips to fold forward
- Plant your hands on the floor or grasp opposite elbows
- Relax the weight of the head, releasing tension in the neck
- Bend your knees generously if needed
While yoga is generally practiced with bare feet, off the mat you can work on improving posture and alignment by adding insoles to your every day shoes.
When you're walking, running, or just living life, wear Orange Insoles in your shoes to support healthy alignment and even out your weight distribution.
