Correcting Bad Posture

Overview

This simple yet powerful mirror technique allows you to analyze your posture and make corrections where necessary. By closing your eyes, you are teaching your brain the feeling of better alignment, so your body can learn. Consistency and repetition are keys to success with this exercise.Correcting Bad Posture

Level

Beginner

Targets

Posture

Step by Step Instructions

  1. Stand in front of a mirror and observe your posture, especially whether your head tilts to one side.
  2. Gently adjust yourself to the middle so you feel you have good, centered posture.
  3. Close your eyes and hold this position for several seconds to memorize how it feels.
  4. Open your eyes, shake yourself out, and march your feet to reset to your usual (habitual) posture.
  5. With eyes closed, try to recreate the good posture from memory, moving your head and body toward the middle.
  6. Open your eyes and check in the mirror. If you overshot or aren’t centered, note the error.
  7. Reset: shake out, return to your habitual posture, and try again to find the middle.
  8. Fine-tune as needed—small wiggles/adjustments—until you feel centered, then confirm in the mirror.
  9. Repeat this cycle multiple times to train your sense of where “neutral/middle” is.
  10. Practice frequently and consistently so you can find good posture without a mirror (e.g., in a grocery line, at a red light, or at your computer).

[Video Transcript]

Your spine is so important. It houses your spinal cord and nerves, which connect to your brain. It’s your brain-body connection and makes up your nervous system. Your nervous system controls every organ, tissue, and cell in your body; it even influences whether you feel pain or not. To keep it healthy, you want to avoid pressure on it, which means maintaining really good posture. You may notice in photos or in a mirror that your head consistently tilts to one side. This can come from accidents, injuries, slips and falls, sleeping on one side, holding your phone on one side, or simply habit. We have to learn how to fix these bad posture habits by recognizing where the problem is and how to correct it.

Go to a mirror and look at yourself. Identify the posture habit you’re creating, then adjust yourself to the middle, to a position of good posture. Once you get there, close your eyes and memorize how this feels. You may need to stay there for several seconds to lock it into your memory. Open your eyes, shake yourself out, march your feet, and let your body return to its old habit. With your eyes closed, try to recall and recreate that good posture you just felt. You might move too far in one direction; open your eyes to check. If you overshot, reset.

Shake out again, return to your usual posture, and try once more to find the middle. You may need to finesse it a bit. Wiggle your head and adjust until you think you’re aligned. Open your eyes and see if you’re closer. Keep practicing: move back and forth between your habitual posture and the corrected posture until you can reliably find the middle.

Over time, with frequent and consistent practice, especially in front of a mirror. You’ll learn to find good posture even without a mirror, like when you’re standing in a grocery line, sitting at a red light, or working at your computer. The key is consistency: keep doing this exercise to learn where your body’s good posture is. Try it at home, try it often, and notice how it improves.

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