How To: Improve your posture

An hour of sitting in Lit. class, then you walk back to your dorm, sit down at your computer and check your email. Maybe you have soccer practice for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but soon afterwards you’re sitting at a table in the caf scarfing down pizza. It’s Thursday night and you’ve got a big test tomorrow so you’ll be sitting at your computer typing out notes, or sitting on your futon reviewing vocabulary terms for a long time this evening. But hey! The Office is on, so for a study break you run to your RD’s apartment to sit and watch the hour-long episode with your friends from the dorm.
Needless to say, we sit a lot. As college students it may seem like we’re too young to have bad backs, but bad posture while we’re sitting can be a cause of many lower back pains we experience. Sliding forward in your desk chair as you take notes in class or slumping forward and resting on your arm as you don’t take notes in class are examples of bad posture that can be easily avoided.
With straight-backed chairs like many across our campus, it’s harder to have good posture. Sitting up straight is the most obvious fix to bad posture, but it’s easy to take a straight back too far. Sitting up straight does not mean sitting with tense shoulders and a protruding chest. Spineuniverse.com describes the natural “S” curve our spines have. The top curve is between the base of your neck and your shoulders, the other between the curve of your upper back and the base of your spine.
When you slouch, you’re top heavy and a lot of extra weight is put on your lower back.  According to improveposture.net, sitting with correct posture will redistribute your weight to your lower and upper back and your abdomen will pitch in to keep you in balance. As a result of sitting up straighter, less strain will be put on one specific part of your body; hence no more back pain.
Many of the same concepts can be applied when we’re standing. Allow the natural curve of your spine to guide the position in which you stand. Keep your shoulders back, but not so much that you look or feel awkward. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet rather than your heels, and keep your head up and neck straight. Standing tall is not only healthier, but more attractive and professional looking as well.
The next time you find yourself sitting in class and basically sprawled over your desk with bad posture, remember how easy it is to fix. It’s something you’ll be thankful for in 30 years when we’re actually old enough to have back problems. Keep your posture good while you’re young and maybe you won’t have to worry about a bad back down the road.