While a quick fix to bad posture is the general route, Physiotherapy Programme Leader Jonathan Flynn of the University of Huddersfield recommends a more rounded approach to the condition. Because the tendency is to treat the body with less than ideal care and consideration, an individual may find better success in correcting the body's condition, such as bad posture and the pain that it brings, by cultivating awareness and a degree of self-regulation.
When the response only addresses immediate symptoms, underlying factors and causes are easily overlooked. To Mr. Flynn posture, rather than simply good or bad, is a fluid concept that allows for change. It should be managed with consideration for various physiological and psychological contributing factors. The amount of time and the manner spent on sitting, the amount and intensity of activities regularly engaged in, the stress allowed to strain the body may all contribute to the physiological aspect of a postural condition. On the other hand, social and family environments and even self -esteem levels may among the psychological contributors.
While the physical aspects are the more immediate clue to what the body is going through, the state of the mind may either stem or amplify these physical symptoms.
Mr. Flynn belies the concept of a perfect posture. Instead, he presents a more relative qualification of it precisely because of the above-mentioned so that humans eventually develop a posture depending on the conditions that surround them in life. The 'embodied emotional theory' is usually apparent in tall individuals who stoop and hunch over in an unconscious effort to be more similar to those around them. Some effect specific postures when under stress such as either raised or stooped shoulders. The 'self-validation theory' point to postures humans adopt to affect the emotional state. A confident posture of standing tall may effectively enable a person to appear and feel confident.
The bottomline is ownership of the posture a person assumes. Through this habit of awareness, an individual may learn to move out of postures that will eventually cause strain and pain. This must be combined with the understanding that posture is a continuous sequence and is part of the process of aging. This is apparent in the change in the amount of stress and force that the joints and tissues are able to tolerate and absorb over time.
Correction of techniques in physical activities, management of stress and work-life proportion and consideration of both physiological and psychological stress factors can be the starting points toward a healthier posture.
