Remember these Important Points:

1.  Shoulders relaxed, not elevated.  If you can have your forearms supported comfortably down at the same level of your keyboard- even better.  

2.  Keyboard should be at the same level of your elbows when your shoulders are fully relaxed at your side.

3.  Feet flat on the floor.

4.  Use a lumbar support if possible.

5.  Monitor should be directly in front of you at just below eye level.

6.  Keep your mouse close and at the level of you keyboard.

The two biggest problems seen with improper sitting posture…

1.  Elevated, forward-rounded shoulders
2.  Forward head posture

Here's the 2 most important exercises to help-



1.  Chin Tucks

Perform 5x every hour.  Hold for 3-5 seconds.  Leave your finger at the starting point of your chin and then pull your chin straight backward.

After your last (5th) repetition, let your chin back out 10% and try to remain in this position.

2.  Self MidBack Mobilization

Perform 5 minutes, preferably twice a day.  Balls side by side on both sides of the spine.   Balls should be placed in the most tender area anywhere between your shoulders and just below your bra line (-not below in your low back area).  Bend your knees up to take pressure off your low back.  

If the tenderness in your back is greater than 3/10, then support your head (and shoulders if needed) with pillows until your discomfort is about 3/10.  After a minute or so, you can see if any other areas of the back are more tender and work that area next.  If not, just leave the balls in the area where you started.

This will keep your back and shoulders mobile and keep your upper back from getting "hunched" or your shoulders from getting too rounded.

Awareness of your head position is critical!  Remember your head is the weight of a bowling ball!  About 15 pounds!  

These exercises will help you to remember to keep your head directly over your upright shoulders and body.

Here are 4 Quick Ways to Obliterate Your Headaches:

1.  Improve Your Workstation Set-up

So many people have awful workstation set-ups!  The sit down at their computers and it looks like they trying to squeeze themselves into a small closet!  The head is craned forward, the keyboards are elevated up too high, the mouse is not located conveniently beside the keyboard at lap level.  And on and on! Here's a helpful picture of what a workstation should look like.

2.  Driving

Driving positions are often horrible.  I'm amazed how slouched drivers appear.  One way to reduce slouching is to use a lumbar support.  Often the lumbar supports built into car seats aren't sufficient either.  The small of your back should be placed into a moderate "arched" position.  This will typically reposition your head and neck into the proper comfortable position as well.  Then utilize an armrest and keep your hands on the lower part of the steering wheel to reduce upper shoulder tension while driving.




3.  Forward Head Posture  

If you want to look like a curious giraffe than this is the head posture for you!  But if you want to have a healthy neck and shoulders and look like a confident adult you would do well to avoid this posture.  This posture can be easily fixed by avoiding slouching and by consciously tucking your chin back throughout the day to increase your awareness of good posture (Like this). 

Research has indicated that behaviors like good posture takes 3 weeks to become a (good) habit.    Perform this chin tuck 5x every hour to improve your awareness and make it become an unconscious habit.

4.  Carrying Your Stress In Your Shoulder or Jaw Muscles

This one can be tricky!  Oftentimes people carry their stress in their shoulders, but either don't know it- or find themselves helpless to prevent it.

If this is the case, I would recommend making an appointment to learn some of the fairly simple techniques to avoid storing your stressful tension in your jaws or your shoulders.




Try these tricks and let me know how you do! Feel free to share any effective strategies of your own- there are lots more!