Today I’m going to share 3 simple tips to STOP SLOUCHING at your desk!
How often are you seated at your desk or computer working for hours and realize you’ve been hunched over the entire time? This is such a common problem! It’s way too easy to get in the zone of relaxing into your desk chair and slowly weaken your posture.
So starting today, I want you to do yourself a HUGE favor! I want you to sit tall and proud at your desk with amazing perfect posture!
Below I’ve shared 3 easy to accomplish tips for better posture while sitting at your desk!
Tip #1 for Better Posture Sitting At Your Desk: Sit At Front Of Your Chair
This one is so easy, but SO EFFECTIVE!
All you need to do is sit at the edge of your chair with your feet planted firmly on the floor and rock your pelvis gently forward so you are seated right on top of your sitting bones.
This is an active position. You shouldn’t feel relaxed. BUT you should feel as though you can more easily straighten your spine.
Sitting near the edge of your chair with your sitting bone right underneath you may, at first, almost feel like you are sitting your butt out or even arching your back. However, most of us sit with our pelvis tucked under, creating a softening or rounding in the lumbar spine (low back), which leads all the way up to the neck, shoulders, and chest.
Tip #2 for Better Posture Sitting At Your Desk: Strengthen Your Core
Next tip for improving posture at your desk? Strengthen your core muscles!
You might not realize what a big role your abdominal muscles play in your posture, but let me assure you, THEY ARE!
You might not also think about ab strengthening while seated at your desk but guess what? YOU CAN!
Now that you have scooched your little booty towards the edge of your chair and are seated right on top of your sitting bones, think about your belly muscles.
I am not a fan of the verbiage “sucking in” the tummy to get your abs working. Instead, imagine you have a belt around your waist. Take an inhale. As you exhale, imagine your belt went one notch tighter.
Do you feel like your abdominal muscles have woken up? Hopefully, you feel like your center is more engaged and supporting your upper body in a noticeably different way
This image or feeling of cinching the waist from all directions, it’s about actually making your waist any smaller. It’s about turning your core “on” from all sides.
When your belly muscles are active, it’s easier to lift out of your waist. It should feel like your chest is a little lighter.
While this isn’t what you may think of as traditional ab work, focusing on engaging your tummy muscles and keeping them turned on, is a great way to build strength through the center of your body! (Plus you don’t have to do a single crunch and you can tell yourself you did some AMAZING CORE WORK!)
Tip #3 for Better Posture Sitting At Your Desk: Lift From the Ears
Okay, now time for a fun tip for improving your posture while sitting at your desk!
Now that you are sitting right on top of your sitting bones and you have your abdominal muscles active, you need to keep the spine tall and straight.
There are lots of cues and tips for lengthening the spine, but my favorite is this: imagine someone is holding onto the top of your ears and pulling them straight up to the sky.
Lifting from the ears vs lifting from the top of the head, more often than not, will put your neck and chin in a better position.
If someone instructs you to lift from the top of the head, you might be more inclined to lift the chin up. This actually puts the very top of your neck into a little spinal extension. Sitting up with good posture means we should have a very neutral spine. No tucking the chin down or lifting it up.
What’s Next?
Pat yourself on the back!! Congratulate yourself for sitting up tall and straight!
Even with the 3 simple tips for better posture, you might still want to even more!
I’d LOVE to have you join me for a class! I have many free videos on YouTube where you can find classes dedicated to stretching at your work desk, strengthening for better posture, or getting a full body workout at home!
I love helping my students in whatever way I can! If you have more questions, don’t hesitate to ask!