Have you recently had a baby and you feel like you still look pregnant? Why good posture is important for your pelvic floor.
Okay, okay. It’s very likely your mom, grandma, dad, grandpa, aunt, uncle, or someone important to you who was your role model, told you to have good posture. Most likely, they told you this because, well, it just looks better. Did you know that good posture not only looks better, but it also has many physiological benefits?
One of the most important benefits of good posture is that it makes you feel more confident. That is right, standing up taller and straighter automatically helps how you show up in the world. By standing up straight, you are telling your body and mind that you are proud and can take on the day.
Standing up straight also helps your body. It allows your spine to be in proper alignment so there is less stress on your joints. When you stand up straight, you engage your core muscles (also known as the transverse abdominis muscle) and this helps protect your spine and gives you more power to use your arms and legs.
When you stand up straight, your head is over your shoulders; your shoulders are over your hips; your hips are over your ankles. This helps your pelvis be in the “ideal position.” When your pelvis is in the right position, your bladder, uterus, and colon are also in ideal positions.
Why does this matter?
If you have any sort of leaking or urgency, then it is important that your organs are in their best positions to help decrease these issues. The bladder sits above the pubic bone. When you stand up straight, the bladder is able to rest slightly on this bone to take pressure off of your muscles and allow you to have decreased leaking and urgency.
When you stand with rounded shoulders, the tailbone tucks under and can cause chronic tailbone pain. Having your pelvis in the ideal position, keeps your tailbone from being too tucked under. This helps the muscles to be in a more elongated position to decrease tailbone or pelvic pain.
It is easy to slouch and be hunched over when we have pain. However, when you stand in that position, it causes the tissues to be shortened and this can lead to more pain. It is much harder to stand up tall when you have pain. However, if you can do it periodically throughout the day, it will help your tissues lengthen and stretch out to help decrease chronic pain.
Have you recently had a baby?
If you recently had a baby (within the last 20 years) and you think that you still look pregnant, standing up straight automatically makes you look 10lbs lighter and helps decrease that “mama pooch”. I really don’t like saying a “mama pooch”. I like to call it “mama proof”, or “parent proof”. Also, if you recently had a baby, CONGRATULATIONS! Your body is AMAZING and created a miracle. It created a hole person! Can you believe that! That is just incredible!
