On Tuesday 17 January we held our 1st monthly workshop at the clinic for 2017. This month’s focus was on the effect good posture can have on your emotional and physical well-being. The feedback from our participants is they all learned ways to help improve their posture.
So we thought to share the following information with all of you that were unable to join us…
Over the past 15 years more research has been under taken to fully understand the link between posture and an individual’s mental state. A 2004 study by Mark Coulson determined there was an almost universal recognition of the “sadness posture” where an individual’s head is bent forward and their shoulders round. It was also found “happiness” and “surprise” were also instantly recognizable. The study also pointed to “stooped posture” being a feature of the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder in many psychological classification systems.
A 2015 study discussed more in our blog about the link between posture and our ability to deal with stress (which you can find here) concluded upright posture in the face of stress can maintain self-esteem, reduce negative mood and increase positive mood compared to slumped posture. A finding further expanded upon in a 2017 study by Wilks et al found that adopting an upright posture may increase positive affect, reduce fatigue, and decrease self-focus in people with mild to moderate depression.
Poor posture has also been associated with a number of other physical and emotional phenomena including:
- Increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease
- Decreased certainty in decision making
- Decreased pulmonary capacity
- Increased incidence of mechanical body pain
- Increased use of medication in the elderly
- Increased risk of falls in the elderly
So folks that is it for this month’s workshop news.
If you are interested in our future workshops you can ‘Like’ our Facebook page, select Events, select Subscribe and you will get an update each month’s workshop. All are welcome. Alternatively you can RSVP by calling our friendly team at the clinic on 02 4969 2886.
‘Change your posture, change your life!’
