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6 Stretches for Better Posture: The Secret to Relief

By / Back pain, Exercises / 24 Comments / October 8, 2020

If a standard weekday for you involves hunching over a computer or desk for eight to twelve hours a day, and then spending your evenings watching Netflix, you’re not alone. According to one study, Americans only spend three hours each day standing/being active. For many of us, the rest of our days are spent working, eating, lounging, and sleeping.

While that might sound like a relaxing way to spend one’s life, it’s also terrible for your body and your posture. Thankfully, there are stretches for better posture that you can do in order to realign your spine and even improve your overall health.

When you spend too much of your time in positions that compromise your posture, you’ll actually end up shortening certain muscles in your body. This can lead to chronic health problems.

Having poor posture won’t just affect the physical structure of your body. It can affect the way in which your blood circulates and how your body produces certain hormones.

But all of this information isn’t meant to scare you. Instead, it’s meant to motivate you to improve your posture and live a healthier life. So continue reading and we’ll show you how to improve your posture!

1. Active Child’s Pose

When you perform the Child’s Pose, you’ll be lengthening and stretching your hamstrings, glutes, and spine. This pose will help to release tension that’s in your neck and lower back. 

In order to do this pose, start on your knees and hands. Widen your knees so that they’re shoulder-width apart. 

Touch your big toes to each other while keeping the bottoms of your feet facing the ceiling. Then, crawl forward with your hands. You want to either drape your arms on the floor alongside your body or extend the arms straight toward the front of the mat. 

Start to slowly drop your hips back to rest on the heels. Then, rest your forehead on the floor. Take five to ten deep breaths.

This stretch is great because it will help you explore the range of motion in your shoulders because you’ll be stretching your arms over your head. It’s also going to straighten your spine. 

And the next time you sit at your desk, you can make sure that you’re keeping your back straight by using a non-slip chair cushion.

2. Standing Forward Fold

By practicing this stretch, you’ll be massaging and stretching your spine. It’s also going to help you relieve tension in your neck, shoulders, and torso while also promoting blood circulation. 

You can start this stretch by positioning your feet hip-width apart from each other. Then, with a generous bend in the knees in order to balance and support the shape of your body, you need to breathe out as you bend forward at the hips. You should be lengthening the front of the torso as you do this. 

Bend your elbows and then hold on to each elbow with the opposite hand. Let the crown of your head hang towards the floor. Press your heels into the mat as you raise your sitting bones toward the ceiling.

Bring your shoulders away from your ears and then drop your neck and head. Stretch out your legs until you feel your hamstring muscles stretching. You should try to engage the quadricep muscles in order to better stretch the hamstrings. 

If you’re able to keep your knees straight and the front of your torso extended, place your fingertips or palms on the floor next to your feet. Release deeper into this pose with each breath. Let your head hang as you feel the tension move out of your neck and shoulders.

Hold this stretch for thirty seconds.

This stretch works because it stretches your hamstrings deeply. It also opens up your hips and can also help to release any tension that you have in the shoulders and neck. 

You want to be careful that you don’t push yourself too hard because this can be a very intense stretch for your hamstrings. Instead, you should focus on letting the tension roll out of your shoulders. 

Standing Forward Fold
Photo by Mor Shani on Unsplash

3. Cat Cow

You should practice this pose in order to massage and stretch the spine. It’s also going to help relieve tension in the neck, shoulders, and torso while also promoting optimal blood circulation.

Start this stretch on your hands and knees. Your wrists should be directly under your extended elbows. And your elbows should be directly under your shoulders.

Keep your fingers spread against the floor in order to have maximum stability. Your knees should be under your hips and your toes should be untucked. The top of your feet should be pressed into the floor.

Straighten from your tailbone down to your head. This way, your neck will be neutral and you’ll be looking down a few inches from your fingers. This is going to be your starting position.

Cat and Cow Phases

Now, it’s time to commence the Cat phase. As you breathe out, tuck in the tailbone. You want to use your ab muscles to push the spine toward the ceiling, making the shape of a cat.

Straighten your neck and let your head reach toward the chest so that the ears can come down to your biceps.

As you breathe out, you want to scoop your pelvis into the Cow position. Your belly should drop to the floor. Lift up your chest and chin and look up to the ceiling.

Broaden out your shoulder blades and pull your shoulders away from your ears.

You should cycle through this stretch a couple of times. Just make sure that you don’t put pressure and stress on your neck and head.

The sequence of movement in this stretch will help increase your spinal awareness, which is a big part of poor posture. You should do this stretch through your core and pelvis so that, as you inhale, you’re making an anterior tilt to your pelvis so that the tailbone is pointing toward the ceiling. As you breathe out, you’ll form a posterior tilt so that your tailbone is then pointing to the floor.

4. Standing Cat Cow

When you do the Cat Cow stretch while standing up, you’re going to loosen up any tightness that’s in your glutes, hips, and back.

With your knees bent and your legs being hip-width apart, put your hands on your thighs or out in front of you for extra balance. Make sure that your legs are stable and static.

Start the Cat phase by tucking in your tailbone as you breathe out. Use your ab muscles to push up your spine toward the ceiling, making the shape of a cat. 

Straighten your neck and let your head reach toward the chest, keeping your spine aligned. 

On the exhale breath, scoop your pelvis into the Cow position and drop your belly toward the floor. Lift up your chest and chin and look up to the ceiling.

Broaden out your should blades and pull your shoulders away from the ears.

Cycle through this stretch a couple of times. 

When you do this stretch, you’ll be activating different muscles in your back. This is going to help increase your awareness of your back in relation to the rest of the body. 

If you have to be in the same position every day because of your job, then it’s a good idea to take a break every so often and cycle through this stretch a few times. This will help you counteract the effects of sitting for too long. 

It’s also a good idea to use a chair cushion that will support your back muscles. 

5. High Plank

You should be able to relieve stiffness and pain throughout the body when you practice the high plank pose. You’ll also strengthen your hamstrings, glutes, and shoulders. This stretch will also help you develop strength and balance in the back and core, which are both crucial to having good posture. 

Begin this stretch on your hands and knees and make sure that your fingers are slightly spread out. Step one of your feet back and then the other. 

Make sure that your core is active and engaged and that your pelvis is neutral. Point your tailbone down toward your heels. Keep the legs active so that you’re pulling your kneecaps up to your quadriceps.

Press back through the heels so that your calves are also active. 

With your elbows underneath the shoulders, make space between your ears and shoulders so that there’s a slight stretch. In order to ensure that your chest doesn’t sink down, puff up the space between your lower and middle back. It should be as if your shoulder blades are almost moving away from each other.

Do three to five rounds of ten breaths of this stretch. 

If you notice that your hips or stomach are sinking, then tilt the pelvis forward slightly. However, if that’s too intense, then bring your knees down to the floor while also keeping your pelvis neutral and your core tight. 

When you’re in this position, you’ll increase your engagement of the ab muscles as well as awareness of the spinal position. This core strength is extremely important for achieving posture corrections. 

High Plank
Photo by Luis Quintero on Unsplash

6. Downward-Facing Dog

This stretch is a forward bend that you can use as a resting pose in order to balance out your body. This pose will help you relieve back pain as well as align and strengthen the back muscles. In order to improve your posture, you should practice this stretch regularly.

Start on your hands and knees. Tuck in your toes and lift your hips up high. You should be lifting your sitting bones toward the ceiling.

Reach your heels back toward the ground without letting them plank on the ground. Lengthen your neck and drop your head.

Once you’re in this position, make sure that the creases of your wrist stay parallel to the front edge of your mat. In order to relieve the pressure on your wrists, you can press into the knuckles of your thumbs and forefinger. 

Breathe in this position for at least three deep breaths.  

This stretch is great for opening up the anterior chest wall as well as the shoulders that are usually rounded thanks to excessive computer work. You may be able to relieve back and neck pain associated with poor posture if you practice this stretch regularly. You may even notice that you sit straighter too after doing this stretch.

You should remember to actively pull your shoulder blades back and make a space in your neck. If you notice that you’re scrunching your shoulder up to the ears, then that might mean you don’t have enough strength in your upper body.

If your shoulder blades start to get tense, bend your knees and go into the Child’s Pose. Rest in that pose until you’re ready to hold the stretch again. 

downward-facing-dog
Photo by LOGAN WEAVER on Unsplash

Using These Stretches for Better Posture

By having good posture, you’ll be able to avoid back and neck pain, promote healthy blood circulation, and have a straighter and more aligned spine. One of the best ways to achieve this is by utilizing the stretches for better posture that we listed above. 

But what about the other eight to fifteen hours of sitting that you do every day? You can improve your posture while sitting when you use a high-quality chair cushion. If you’re interested in learning about how a chair cushion could benefit your life, then contact us today! 

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