In 1994 the American Journal of Preventative Medicine reported that “despite considerable evidence that posture affects physiology and function, the significant influence of posture on health is not addressed by most physicians.” Last week we addressed posture and it’s affect on our health at two different workshops. Many people think their posture has to deteriorate as they age, but it doesn’t need to! It may take some effort, but it is so worth the work to care for our posture. Roger Sperry, Nobel prize winner for medicine, said “the more mechanically distorted a person is, the less energy available for thinking, metabolism and healing.”
In a previous article on posture, (see our blog, July 2013) we talked about how our posture can affect our mood- it will affect how we feel. Try the exercise described in the article and notice how differently the statements affect you emotionally, dependant on your posture. Of course, posture will affect how you look and the impression others make of you as a person. But posture also affects how your nervous system will function, and thus affects your overall health! You see, the spinal cord connects the brain with each cell of the body and is attached to the vertebras at the base of the neck and the lower part of the spine. These areas are highly sensitive to tension or any change of position so that any distortion or change of position at these points will alter the tension throughout the spine and back, and thus affect nerve function.
All measures of health status showed significantly poorer scores as the C7 plumb line deviation increased in a study done in 2005. This means that the further one’s head is carried forward, the greater the negative impact to their health. According to the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, “Older men and women with hyperkyphotic posture have higher mortality rates. ” This refers to the rounding of the back in a hunched posture and it can lead to significant health problems . “Spinal pain, headache, mood, blood pressure, pulse, and lung capacity are among the functions most easily influenced by posture.” according to the American Journal of Pain Management. The Journal of Neuroscience reports in 2007 that bad posture can raise your blood pressure. One study finds a neurolink between the position of the neck muscles and high blood pressure.
Why am I quoting all of these scary facts? Because we can influence our own posture!!! There are exercises we can teach you at our office that will maintain and improve your posture. Network Care will help release the patterns of tension that may be causing your posture to deteriorate. As you reduce the distortion, you will have more energy for thinking, metabolism and healing! Take some time to work on your posture this month- you will be glad you did!!!