Keeping good body posture is important for your health. It helps physically to reduce back pain symptoms and increase energy levels, but on an emotional level good posture keeps you feeling more confident and grounded.
What is the optimal body posture?
You are probably quite familiar with the concept of “good posture”: the body is in perfect alignment, with shoulders back and relaxed, abdomen pulled in, spine naturally curved and, when standing, weight evenly distributed on both feet. However, there is much more than sitting or standing straight. The problem is that even when we are well disciplined, it can be difficult to maintain an optimal posture as muscular tension can cause supportive tissues to weaken and shorten. The result being that the muscles restrict being able to contract at their full range.
Impact of poor posture
Stress or lack of exercise can contribute to adopting a poor posture. Regularly we tend to do things unevenly when we are in a static position: for example, when sitting or standing we lean to one side or we cross our leg, which creates a physical imbalance.
Poor posture and the resulting misalignments within the body can also cause pain, discomfort, and limited range of movement. This in turn can make one more susceptible to injury when participating in sports or other activities, which leads to a vicious cycle as we are less able to exercise. Even in the event of an accident or fall, the resulting injuries are influenced by our alignment.
How can Remedial massage help adopt a good posture?
Remedial massage can be a great option for regaining a better posture as it can release the tension in the tight muscles and address the weak muscle groups that need strengthening. Remedial massage is designed to balance muscle/soft tissue length, tension, tone which will in turn promote the return to a normal joint/capsular/bone position. Corrective massage treatments increase the flow of blood and lymph, particularly in the injured areas, thus removing blockages, damaged cells, scar tissue and adhesions resulting from injury.
In short, Remedial massage is mostly used to locate and repair (remedy) damaged areas of the body and speed up the body’s own healing processes. Thus, making it the perfect treatment to assist with postural issues and related injuries.
At the end of a remedial or sports massage session, your therapist will also provide aftercare advice giving you stretch or possible strength exercises to do at home to maintain the benefits of treatment. Becoming aware of your body and learning the specific holding patterns or imbalances that your massage session reveals is one of the most important parts of creating real, lasting change. Awareness of the cause and understanding the process of recovery helps us commit to fully heal and resolve the issue getting to its root causes, rather than fixing isolated symptoms. This is how you can achieve long term results.
If you would like to book a session or know more about the benefits of Remedial Massage for adopting and maintaining an optimal body posture, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our reception and team of sports massage therapists in Chiswick will be happy to help!
