The role that the back and spinal cord play in our overall health and vitality is one of the most overlooked features in Western medicine.
The yoga tradition, in contrast, emphasizes the health of the spine in numerous ways.
The ancient yogic saying, “The body is as young as the spine is flexible” holds numerous important insights into just how important the health of our back and spine is for our overall well-being and aging trajectory.
It is a simple statement, yet it holds a key to understanding not just how to prevent debilitating back problems, but how to stay healthy and vital throughout life.
The spinal cord is the central circuit for the flow of nerve information and vital energy in the body. When the spine is healthy, flexible, and supple, nerve information flows unimpeded to all parts of the body, and we experience optimum well-being.
But unfortunately, if the health of the back and the spine is compromised via poor posture or loss of flexibility and strength, it also compromises the free flow of nerve information and vital energy in the body. This in turn can undermine our well-being and the way we age in numerous significant ways.
Keeping your back and posture healthy isn’t just important in order to prevent back problems. It may be one of the best things you can do for your long-term health.
In this online Yoga Wellness Course on Yoga for Posture Improvement, we will look at one particular feature that impacts the health of the back and spine much more than most people realize: Your Posture.
Did You Know That:
- People with a healthy, strong posture and back are generally happier, more confident, and less prone to worry, depression, and anxiety.
- Keeping your back flexible and correcting posture imbalances can be more effective than other medical modalities for the prevention and treatment of back pain.
- A chronic, hunched posture restricts breathing, creating shortness of breath. In the elderly, this is associated with increased anxiety and depression, and is considered a main factor of general health deterioration in the elderly.
- People with deteriorated, hunched posture (hyperkyphosis) are more prone to fractures and more likely to lose balance and function as they age.
- Older men and women with a forward hunched posture have higher death rates; as much as 44% higher.
The Seven Steps to Improving Posture
For most of us, poor back health and bad posture is caused by long-standing bad habits throughout our lives.
Through a series of one-hour yoga wellness practices you will learn the 7 Steps to a Better Posture, as well as simple routines to integrate healthy posture habits into your daily life.
What You Will Learn:
- Anatomy of Good Posture: Learn how to assess your postural strengths and weaknesses.
- The 7 Steps to a Better Posture: Learn yoga poses and tissue transformation techniques to build and maintain good posture.
- Keys to Enhancing Body Awareness: Improving posture starts and ends with body awareness. Learn techniques for increasing body awareness and experience the subtleties of how to carry yourself with a graceful posture.
- How to Put Posture Improvement on Automatic: Learn how to improve your posture and the health of your back by adding simple postural habits to build core strength and core integration without spending any extra time.
- Connecting with the Power of the Breath: Learn how to use breath as a means of going deeper into yoga postures and as a tool for healing and relaxation.
Taking steps to improve the health of your back and realign your posture will not just help you prevent back pain and joint stiffness.
As you increase the health of the back by building holistic strength, increasing flexibility, and improving alignment, the health of your entire body will benefit.
As vital energy flows more freely, you will experience more energy and vitality and greater well-being, and you will begin to appreciate the full depth of that ancient yogic saying: “The body is as young as the spine is flexible.”
