Do you ever make the conscious decision to sit straighter but after a short time you catch yourself slouching again?
Or perhaps you’re standing tall and realise later that your posture has gone bad?
No need to be ashamed about it.
We all have plenty of things going on in our hectic and busy schedules and so our posture doesn’t always make it to the top of our priorities list.
I catch myself in these situations all the time.
Most often when I’m sitting at my desk at work.
I start with the best posture and intentions you could imagine.
After getting stuck into my work my mind loses track and my body takes advantage by making itself more comfortable.
An hour might go by before I realise I’m slouching, again.
Why Posture is Important
You may not realise it but your posture effects you in more ways than you imagine.
The more obvious effect is that slouching makes you look less attractive.
There’s something about rounded shoulders and a head looking down that just screams lack of confidence.
People are judgmental.
It’s in our nature.
Whenever I see someone walking around with a slouch I can’t help but see them less favorably.
Not only does poor posture make you look less attractive, it can also affects your physical and mental health.
So Wrong but it Feels So Right
When we sit at a desk for a long time we end up rolling our shoulders in and hanging our head forward.
In fact:
For every inch you hold your head forward, you add 10 pounds of pressure to your spine!
Think about that for a second.
If your head is constantly forward the weight of gravity has to be countered by the muscles in the back of your neck and shoulders.
Over time this can lead to one or more of the following:
- Muscle tightness and fatigue from the neck all the way down to the lower back.
- Spinal curvature.
- Nerve constriction.
I’ve been a victim of this before.
I remember coming home after a long day of sitting at the office and my neck felt very tight.
Self massaging I was shocked to discover that the tightness went all the down from my neck to my shoulders!
Despite the negative effects of poor posture it feels perfectly fine when we sit slouched.
This is where it becomes deceivingly dangerous.
Shoulders Back, Chest Out
Good posture will make you appear confident.
But wait, there’s more.
When you have good posture you’ll also feel better about yourself.
Even though you may not realise it, your thoughts are influenced by your posture.
A study by Amy Cuddy has shown that positioning yourself into a power pose (i.e. standing tall and making yourself sit straighter) for as little as 2 minutes is enough to reduce your cortisol and boost your testosterone for a while.
Not only will you look better but you’ll feel much better about yourself!
If you struggle to maintain good posture don’t fret.
Good posture is something you can train yourself to do over time.
Sit Straighter Without Worrying About It
Imagine if there were a way to maintain good posture all the time without having to be conscious of it.
The reality is, you now can.
Introducing:
Lumo Lift – Posture Coach & Activity Tracker
Lumo Lift is a tiny chip that you attach to your shirt and it acts as your personal posture coach as well as an activity tracker.
It does all your “maintaining a good posture” work for you, giving you more time to focus on your tasks.
Along with a free iOS and Android app Lumo Lift will help you sit straighter, stand taller, and look better.
The premise is simple and super easy to get you going:
- First you download the free app and sync it with your Lumo Lift chip.
- Once synced, attach your chip to your shirt (just below your collar bone).
- The chip is magnetic and attaches to a magnetic “dock” that you place on the inside of your shirt.
- Position yourself into a good posture pose and press down on the chip to record your position.
- Move about normally. sit straighter
- Whenever you deviate away from your “good posture pose” the chip with gently vibrate until you move back into good posture.
- Every time you have bad posture and the chip vibrates it is recorded in your app. You can use this as a guide to track how your posture improves over time.
What makes Lumo Lift unique is that rather than constraining body movement to force good posture, it encourages a change in behavior to coach you into becoming more mindful of your posture.
At first you might be surprised to find that your chip vibrates all the time.
This is perfectly normal and a wake up call to how often you have bad posture.
Over time, the more you position yourself into good posture the faster you’ll learn and adapt to sit or stand with good posture.
For those of you that are fashion conscious, the Lumo Lift chip is not only small and discreet but it comes in a variety of colours.
What are you waiting for?
Get Lumo Lift Now and Improve Your Posture Immediately
Stand tall, be proud of your height and strive for greatness.
- Image credit for skeletal posture (cover image): here
