Posture Correction Yoga Tutorial

The vast majority of people rely on yoga to correct their posture to no avail. It’s not because the movements are wrong at all. It’s because you have skipped the three steps of “releasing tense compensatory muscle groups → activating weak stabilizing muscle groups → integrating correct force exertion into daily life.” Instead, you just practice Internet celebrity corrective movements, which may be ineffective at best, or strain your joints at worst.

Alas, I have seen too many people take detours. There was a student who worked in operations before. He had been sitting in an office for 9 years. He had rounded shoulders and a hunched back, and his head was stretched forward. He bought several online celebrity posture classes and practiced shoulder opening for 10 minutes every day. After practicing for two months, his shoulders hurt so much that he couldn't lift them. He went for an MRI and found out that he had a mild shoulder impingement. I touched her upper trapezius muscle, which was as hard as a piece of frozen pork. When I pressed the pectoralis minor, she almost jumped in pain. You said the muscles were so tight. If you forcefully open the shoulders, wouldn't the pressure be put into the seam of the shoulder joint?

Speaking of this, some people may want to take advantage of it. I practiced with a certain blogger before and it was fine, right? Then there is a high probability that you simply have a tight pectoralis minor muscle. It just so happens that the blogger's action is to release the pectoralis minor muscle. It just hit the right spot. If you have weakness of the rhomboids and serratus anterior muscle, you can only release the pectoralis minor muscle and it will definitely return to its original shape in half a month. Nowadays, there are actually two completely different schools of thought in the yoga circle about posture correction. It’s hard to say who is right or wrong. They are just suitable for different people: Teachers of the Iyengar system place more emphasis on “alignment first” and advocate first using yoga bricks and yoga belts to move the body’s force lines to the correct position, and then practice muscle strength. This is especially suitable for people with joint pain, lumbar protrusion, and old knee injuries. You don’t have to struggle to find the sense of force, the assistive tools will help you find it. ； Teachers who do flow yoga and Ashtanga prefer "dynamic integration" and feel that static maintenance is useless. You still have to hunch as much as you want when you get off the yoga mat. You have to practice the correct force pattern in flowing movements so that you can bring it naturally into your daily life. It is suitable for young people who have no basic injuries and just want to adjust their posture.

I have been teaching students myself for so many years, and I am actually more inclined to combine the ideas of the two schools and avoid being black and white. First of all, you have to understand where your problem lies. Don’t just follow the practice: stand in a relaxed position and take a profile photo. If the ear is in front of the shoulder, it means the head is stretched forward. The acromion point is in front of the nipple, which means rounded shoulders. The anterior superior iliac spine is more protruding than the pubic bone, which means the pelvis is tilted forward. These self-assessment methods are very simple and can be done by yourself without looking for a rehabilitation practitioner.

If you find a problem, don't rush to practice activation first, relax first. For example, if you have round shoulders, put a tennis ball on the pectoralis minor - the area on the outside of the chest near the armpits. Lean against the wall and slowly rock your body. Stop where it hurts for 10 seconds. Roll on each side for 2 minutes. Then roll on the trapezius muscle, which is the hard muscle when you shrug. Don't grit your teeth when rolling. The pain is as long as it is bearable. Roll until the muscles become soft. If your pelvis is tilted forward, use a foam roller to roll your iliopsoas muscles. Lean the front of your thigh on the foam roller and slowly move it back and forth. It will loosen you up much faster than doing 10 sets of downward dog. I used to take care of a courier boy who carried express packages every day. He had a shoulder height difference of almost two centimeters. He thought it was troublesome to wear assistive devices, so I taught him to use his free hand to pull the door frame of the unit to stretch his pectoralis minor every time he delivered a package. He held it for 30 seconds each time. After two months, his shoulders were flat. Don’t underestimate these small steps to relax. This is the basis of all corrections.

After relaxing, practice activating again, and don't do any fancy movements. For example, if you have round shoulders, practice the locust pose variation. Lie on the mat, put your hands on both sides of the body, palms facing up. Don't shrug your shoulder blades while sinking your shoulder blades. Slowly lift your chest 1 cm away from the mat. Hold for 30 seconds and do 3 sets. Really, just lift 1 cm. It is much more effective than lifting your waist 10 cm and arching your waist too high. If you lift too high, you will use the force of your waist to compensate, and you will not be able to train your back muscles at all. If your pelvis is tilted forward, practice the dead insect pose. Lie flat on your back and place your waist against a solid mat. Bend your legs at 90 degrees. Slowly place your opposite hand and leg without touching the ground and without lifting your waist. Do 3 sets of 12 times each. Once your core is stabilized, your pelvis will naturally straighten. Oh, by the way, if your scoliosis degree exceeds 20 degrees, don’t practice blindly on your own. See an orthopedic doctor first. Yoga can only be used as an aid after surgery or correction. Those who say that yoga can cure severe scoliosis are liars, don’t believe it.

The last and most critical step is to bring your efforts into daily life. You can't stand up straight on the mat and stretch your neck like a duck when you sit in the office and type on the keyboard, right? I usually ask students to set an alarm clock on their mobile phones. It will ring once every hour. When it rings, touch your upper trapezius muscles to see if they are hard. If they are hard, press your shoulders. Imagine a rope above your head gently pulling you. Just hold it for 10 seconds. It is much more effective than if you specially set aside an hour on weekends to practice yoga. Don't cross your legs when sitting on a chair, use a footstool if your feet can't reach the ground, and carry a backpack as much as possible. If you really need to carry a shoulder bag, switch sides. If you do these little things, it will be difficult to lose your posture.

In fact, to put it bluntly, there is no universal tutorial for posture correction, and there is no need to pursue perfect right-angled shoulders or swan necks. As long as your shoulders don’t hurt, your waist isn’t sore, and there are no restrictions on your movements, that’s the most comfortable posture that suits you. There’s no need to force yourself to conform to online aesthetic standards, right?