Posture: The Window into Your Nervous System and Vitality

“Sit up straight! Don’t slouch!” That’s what many teenagers hear on a daily basis. How we hold ourselves – our posture – is a very important part of how people perceive us. Posture betrays emotions and moods, can even be used to tell if you’re lying or not, and makes up a big part of that first impression at a job interview or on a first date.

“The more mechanically distorted a person is, the less energy is available for healing, metabolism, and thought.” > — Roger Sperry, Ph.D. (Nobel Prize in Physiology 1981)

Beyond Stiffness: Two Things You Didn’t Know

You’re probably aware of how poor posture can lead to stiffness and pain, as well as increase the likelihood of injuries. Sometimes just watching someone sitting badly can be uncomfortable. However, there are two things I’m willing to bet you don’t know about posture:

1. Posture = Health: Posture is an indication of your overall level of health. It has profound effects on your heart, lungs, brain function, immune system, and even your digestive system.

2. Posture is Passive: Posture is not about how you hold yourself up with your muscles; it’s about how your body holds itself up when well-aligned.

Why Posture Equals Health

Being “mechanically distorted,” as Roger Sperry said, means your body is not working efficiently. If you are spending more energy holding your body upright, then there is less energy to devote to other things like “healing, metabolism, and thought.”

The Neurological Connection

Movement is like a nutrient for your brain, enriching it and allowing it to function at its optimum level. As your posture gets worse and slumps, you literally stretch your spinal cord and nerves – something they don’t respond well to.

• Fraying Wires: Putting this chronic stretch on your nerves can cause them to misfire.

• Silent Damage: Most of the time, this nerve damage happens without you feeling anything. Only about 10% of the nerves in your body are devoted to pain; the other 90% control your heart, lungs, digestion, and immunity.

Posture and Pain

So we can see that a little slump is a big deal, even if it doesn’t cause any pain. But what if you do have pain? If that is the case, then we know that posture is going to be a significant factor.

This structural “energy drain” is why many people suffer from persistent back pain—the muscles are simply exhausted from trying to support a framework that is out of balance.

“Forward Head Posture leads to long-term muscle strain, disc herniations, arthritis, and pinched nerves.” > — Mayo Clinic, November 3, 2000

The Root Cause: Why You Need Professional Help

Posture has very little to do with consciously holding yourself up straight. It is mostly an unconscious function. When your spine is well-aligned, your body holds itself up without conscious muscular support.

The Compensation Pattern

When we get areas in the spine that become stuck in a direction your body can’t correct, your body is forced to compensate by slumping forward. It’s a little like limping if you sprain your ankle. Once you have a misalignment that your body can’t self-correct, no special type of exercise or stretching is going to be able to help.

You need to see a professional trained at detecting, analysing, and correcting these misalignments – or subluxations, as they are known to experienced Chiropractors.

What Can You Do?

Physical trauma, repetitive injury (like sitting for long hours), chemical factors (smoking/poor diet), and mental stress all contribute to spinal decay.

Get Your Posture Checked

Just like you can’t feel your blood pressure, you have to get your posture checked to know if it’s good or not. At Peak Chiropractic Centre, we take things a step further:

• Digital Posture Assessment: We give you a “Posture Number” that we can measure.

• Advanced BioStructural Correction™: We track your improvement as we work to correct the underlying structural issues.

• In-House Digital X-ray: Updated in 2020 to provide the highest level of diagnostic certainty.

Don’t wait for back pain to hit before you prioritise your alignment. Catching poor posture early prevents life-long problems and allows you to realise your full potential.