Is your posture at work making you ill?
Posture is the silent assassin that creeps up on you over time.
On our blog, we talk so much about mental wellness that we sometimes forget about physical wellness, while we all know they work hand in hand!
Our posture expert, Chris, wrote some information about pain, work and wellness, just for you!
“I love being able to help so many people become pain-free. It’s an even better feeling when I educate individuals and give them the tools to help themselves to not be in that same pain again. Self reliance, no pain, wellness dream.
Now how about I come at this from a different angle? Imagine you’re in pain all the time, you’re uncomfortable all the time, you are not able to sleep, socialise or do any of your hobbies? How does this feel? Let down by the system, let down by work and feeling helpless. Physical pain and mental fatigue have a massive crossover when it comes to your wellness.
Poor sleep can cause you to be stressed. Stress can tighten your muscles. Tight muscles can cause you pain.
Tight muscles can cause you pain. Pain can cause you to be stressed. Stress can induce poor sleep.
No matter which way round this vicious circle is going it sounds like a pretty poor outcome!
And a quick note: Back pain is the largest single cause of disability in the UK, with lower back pain alone accounting for 11% of the total disability of the UK population. (NHS England, The National Back Pain Pathway)
I’ve found that the common denominator in most injuries and pains comes from poor posture. It’s the silent assassin that creeps up on you over time and then BAM! You slip a disc or cough and dislodge a rib. You don’t realise until it’s too late.
Our skeleton is held up by our muscles. Our skeleton is so strong and resilient – but only if it’s used correctly. If we use it and treat it poorly, then it won’t be happy! The old saying ‘wear and tear’ really winds me up. Yes, we get old, and yes, we wear our joints but if they are misaligned through poor posture and tight muscles, they will wear a great deal quicker just like any joint known to man.
Let’s try this for a circle:
Good posture. Less tension on your muscles. No pain. No stress from inside the body. Better sleep.
Gaining good posture takes effort because we’ve overlooked it for so long and got into bad postural habits.
‘Wellness’ is a broad topic which physical health is definitely a part of. It’s not about going to the gym, it’s not about spending hours doing repetitive actions, and it’s not about expensive ergonomic chairs and desks in the workplace. It’s about learning what your core is and how to use it properly again. It’s something we can do whilst we’re sat in the car, at work, walking round the shops and sat at home on the sofa. Core work isn’t about holding the plank for hours, or extensive sit ups or ab work outs, it’s about engaging the correct muscles and putting your skeleton under less stress, in whatever position we choose to put it in.”
Chris’ Posture Workshop teaches this in 2 hours. It can be done by anyone and everyone, and it will have a positive affect on everyone’s wellness – physical and mental – by educating people on how to help themselves and improve their own wellness.
Chris also offers the Body MOT, and it is exactly what it sounds like. Your car has checks to make sure it works right. His Body MOT programme is a series of checks to ensure your body is working correctly and as it should. If it doesn’t, for any reason, then it can be addressed and improved!
