I'm 43 years old and finally broke down from neck and shoulder: pain, swelling, and cramps. This often happened after sitting or standing and programming for long hours. I always knew I should have good posture but I never really figured out how to do it. I was advised: stand up straight, exercise, which basically means use will power. This did not work for me. It was a lot of effort for little to no results and no intricate way to measure progress.
Fortunately, I have found the best answer to date. I'm upright nearly 100% of the time and exerting almost no effort to do it. I'm getting fantastic results. The message is simple, but I suggest to really listen very carefully. If your going to pull it off you'll probably be repeating the advice in your head many times. So here it is:
Key take-away points are:
- put the tail bone back and out
- when the base is correct the spine stacks neatly allowing for a relaxed posture
- again: keep tweaking lower posture until correct posture is achieved in a relaxed position
Now this is for me.. Get the foundation right and the maintenance cost is near zero. This means I rarely use the backs of chairs now, I'm often sitting on the front edge of the seat. This is not a big deal since I'm using very little effort to do this and I constantly tweak my position to make it easier. Now that I know what I need, I will over time get better furniture.
Another important thing to consider is how many things can go wrong when the posture is off. I was starting to have heart arrhythmia as a symptom. That is a real wake-up call. I quickly ruled out Kratom (lol, recently started this new wonder plant for pleasure) and linked it instead to posture (thanks John Bergman on YouTube).
Arrhythmia is kind of specific to my case, so here is a more generalized video of what you can expect to experience from bad posture. Hats off to Dr Mandell for briefly (at the end) pointing out the psychopathic tendencies of traditional medicine to basically medicate humans for the purpose of extracting money and leave us with degenerative diseases. Makes me wonder if this had anything to do with the design of our child car seats (in the video above).
Finally, restore the curves during sleep.. This is very powerful stuff.. I recently had a wonder experience in Mexico attending several plant based medicine ceremonies. I brought a sleeping bag and on the carpet used pillows and towel roles to support my lymphatic curves. It really makes a big difference and occasionally a hard bed can make this more pronounced. Sleeping in my regular bed, I come on and off the towel roles during the night and basically do what feels good.
Hope this helps you! We are very lucky to have global access to knowledge, take advantage of it.. Use your TV like a computer screen and load up on knowledge like this. If your still suspicious, we need to be honest and overcome fear first. I was defiantly tricked so I did not seek this knowledge for some time. My standard American education and culture was enough to leave me literately falling apart by my 40s and feeling afraid to seek non-standard changes.. So, I suggest to question everything and be very open to changes. Fortunately is also my experience that we can heal and even re-generate a lot faster and more completely than we may realize. There is never an age that I consider too old for healing.
If I may add a few things that helped me a lot.
Esther Gokhale's book.
https://www.amazon.com/Steps-Pain-Free-Back-Solutions-Shoulder/dp/0979303605
Talks about how to sit, how to stand, how to walk, how to lay, etc. Once you get that, you can start applying it 24/7 instead of the usual "do these shitty exercises with a rubber bands twice a day" that physiotherapists prescribe. NO ONE DOES THOSE. haha
The one thing I would caution about her approach is that she OCDs on neurtral spine. Make sure you do plenty of mobility exercises during your day to make sure you keep a healthy spine :)
Final thing I'd say is that to position your pelvis (the "first/huge/ vertebrae) simply squeeze your glutes. Instead of over thinking it, just squeeze dat ass and voila, pelvis aligned and ready to stack the rest on top. This is from Kelly Starret's book Becoming A Supple Leopard.
Hi. Im hungry
Lol hamburger helper
Well damn. I couldn't see the first video you linked (didn't load) It's Esther's TED talk haha.
Anyway her book is awesome.
I liked your link @cob because I didn't really understand the pelvis position as stated in the post. Can't wait for the book to arrive. I really suffer from this. My head is always forward and I get a lot of shoulder pain from sleeping.
Healing upper crossed syndrome, forward head posture and forward shoulders
Important advice, I have problems with the sciatic nerve, the lumbar area. I always experience intense pain from the neck, back, hip, leg, knee, calf and foot, it is a very painful sensation and some exercises of the video helped me to reduce a little the discomfort, thank you very much @jamesc for sharing this.
And we should always look to keep ourselves balanced. When something doesn't work we should always continue searching. I'm glad to know being more aware of your posture and consciously changing it made things better for you. Life without health is nothing.
The head posture video is very informative for me. Its really new to know that wrong head posture cause many problems. Thanks for such fabulous work.
Hey James, do you think would work for 5'11", 250-pounders like me?
I constantly have to think about sitting up straight, because if I don't, that dang gravity just takes over all the time.
This is a very valuable article! I am aware of almost all of it as I have been passionate about health for about 18 years. Thanks for taking time to share truly valuable content. Hope a lot of people find this and help improve their lives in simple yet profound ways!
Oh are you going to the blockchain unbound in Puerto Rico? Hope to meet you one day soon!
Blessings~*~
i do yoga it helps my spine but will check this video
I'm currently slouched in a chair reading this. I've always had great posture when standing, but lately I can feel the difference (probably since I joined Steemit, with being on my phone all the time). I'll have to be more mindful, and use these steps you're showing us...
My mom has heart issues, and it's funny you wrote about the link between heart problems and posture. Her chiropractor told her the same thing just last week. I never heard about the connection between digestive issues and posture though. Great post!! :) Upvoted and resteemed!!
I was slouching myself until I started reading this! I was also surprised to learn of the link between heart problems and posture, though in my case it's me with the issue. Let's be team "sit up straight" from now on 😊
Wonderful article. Glad you are seeing results. I have an uncle who's also experiencing this pain all the time especially after lying down and he also has heart issues. I never knew they were linked together.
This link also talks about head and shoulder pains
https://plexusco.com/blogs/news/neck-and-shoulder-pain-causes-and-relief
Hello @jamesc
Thanks for this wonderful post.
I have a bad posture while sitting and standing...
Most times i get conscious of it and immediately correct myself.. But unconsciously i go back to the same position almost immediately.
I am so glad i was able to watch the first video because i almost missed it, no thanks to my bad internet service.
Even as i type this message in a bad posture while sitting, I must say I've learned a lot within 6mins of seeing that video and reading this post.
I'll look for more of her clips on YouTube...I'll probably download this one first and pray i find others.
Just like you said:
This is the key to maintaining a good posture... It will be difficult but I'll have to do my best to stay conscious at all times.
I'm really glad i found this.
Truly i find this very useful....
Thanks again!
Steem On!!!
I am 44 and these issues are real. I spend a lot of time sitting at the computer and need to figure this out. So many things in life come down to technique and not drugs$$$$. I feel like in the last few years I have started waking to the lies American culture perpetrates for a profit, the food and drug industry in particular.
Thank you @jamesc for the possibly life changing info.
Grateful for this article Soul bro
I myself have back issues for the last few years of my life. Did you try Shiatsu btw? I think you would love it! Maybe I should write an article about it... Definitely let me know how you felt when you try it ;) I have so much to tell the world about back related issues
Did you realize they are psychologically and spiritually caused as well?
Looks like we should be watching some Shiatsu videos during family time. Thanks .. Teal Swan (her videos) turned me on to some psychological and spiritual reasons for illnesses too, that is new to me but on my mind now. Thank you..
Try to get in touch with some expert... if you can, that would be great :)
Excellent publication, I did the exercises of the first video and I felt a sensation of relaxation in my back !! It is very valuable for people like me, who have spent the day sitting in front of a PC in the office. Thank you very much, it has been of great help!! I follow you without a doubt.
this is such great information, thank you! the longer i sit at the computer the worse I've gotten... what's worse is that I've been discussing proper posture with my eldest daughter lately, so i KNOW better!
:)
b.
Exactly what I'm going through right now. Sometimes, I barely walk upright even as at this morning. I sat for long hours at the office and I'm so scared for myself, but you just lifted up my spirit right now. At least, I have enough information from this blog to help and see me through.
Thank you! I've learnt a lot from your post
Aaaahhhh I am so excited about this! Most importantly because you are finding relief, and secondly because you found a sustainable, accessible, EASY solution!
It is absolutely incredible how much information the body stores, yet how quickly modern humans write off connections between the physical mechanics of the body and overall health.
Improved health and vastly superior quality of life really can be just as simple as adjusting the body - which leads to a sharper, healthier mind and improved spirits too. I highly recommend yoga too if you haven't tried it already, or at least daily stretching if "yoga" seems too weird.
THANK YOU for sharing @jamesc! Healing is truly limitless, and it's extremely valuable for us to share our positive results to inspire one another to be our greatest selves.
I've reached a point where if I don't do yoga for a single day, I can feel the increased achiness the very next. Sometimes I think I need to actually start doing it twice a day (the way yogi meditaters originally did) but maybe the issue is as simple as how I've been sitting in my chair while I work. Still need the daily yoga though.
I have some kratom for pain if you want some.
Yea, I'm enjoying your Red Mitragyna Speciosa Kratom tea.. Good stuff.
oh snap! i did not realize you were a patron of emancipated kratom. thank you for that. please, let me know next time you order in the notes so i can send you a little sample of my gold extract for being so generous with your upvotes.
also for swelling, wife has that, too. she quit gluten and refined sugars and it has helped tremendously.
No gifts for upvotes.. Lol, I turned down an extra bottle of THC oil recently in Mexico, they knew about me and not want to take payment.. No worries though, extra is the key word..
I also take a decent dose of turmeric in a drink for swelling. With those two I recover quickly.
Wow, this article came to my attention at a time I needed it. Can't thank you enough for putting together all this helpful information.
The year I turned 30 I had a repetitive stress injury to my neck while at an office job, and it seemed to be a gateway for an explosion of all sorts of issues that have been coming and going ever since. Physical therapy helped a little, and only sometimes. Since the injury, I have had alternating pain and numbness in head/shoulders/neck/arms/hands, major increase in migraines and headaches, major increase in digestive problems, dizziness and even the heart palpitations you mentioned. I used to think many of those extra issues were anxiety related because this all began during a stressful time in my life. This past year, however, I have felt little anxiety when these symptoms have persisted.
I recently cut my alcohol intake drastically and started juicing in hopes if there was some nutritional deficiency, it would help. Have been to the doctors many times, had all sorts of nerve and blood tests with normal results. The reaction: they encouraged me to keep up with physical therapy, as I had been, no mention of changing posture.
Speaking of posture and that first video, at 12 years old I was told by a doctor that my posture was off. He said my pelvis was tilted out too much, and gave me exercises to help me "tuck in" my bottom. I did not have neck or back issues at that age, and something tells me, based on that first video, that there likely was nothing wrong with my posture in the first place.
I don't know if this "ignoring the root of the problem" is a lack of knowledge on behalf of the doctors, laziness, greed or liability concerns. We are in sad times when we have all this important information that needs to be shared (medically speaking and otherwise), with few open to hearing it and even fewer able to communicate it.
All of the above. Some things I have heard on this topic: Distraction, false and incomplete information, fear and debt based education, tests too hard you have to cheat to pass, being forced to cover your colleagues fatal mistakes, legal protection from deadly procedures, legal threats from healing. If you want to know why it is being done, James Corbett's history documentaries on How and Why Big Oil Conquered the World is a great foundation.
Fortunately people are mostly aware of this so things are changing fast so this is very exciting. The more we understand the above the better off we are because we know to what extent we need to question the modern system.
Keep seeking uncensored truth and take charge of your own thinking and health and I'm confident you can heal anything. Patients have probably just as much to unlearn as our accredited doctors.. Find the right people .. I'm super excited to have just meet and spent lots of time with Clive De Carle . I knew he was special in the fist 10 minutes of his seminar because of my prior research. Check out the doctors and healers he associates with (John Bergman for example). Here is Clive in an interview with Jeff. Jeff is making lots of progress too, I'm very bullish on what both of these guys are doing.
I just finished watching the interview with Jeff Berwick and Clive de Carle, thank you for sharing all this as I now have three+ new people to follow. I have been taking all sorts of vitamins regularly for about 3 years, and I noticed a decrease in flu-like,cold-like symptoms so I would say they are doing something. I also used to burn very easily in the sun, and it seems like since taking supplements I can spend more time outdoors without burning. My nails, skin and hair have become healthier and more resilient.
My boyfriend had told me about a program called the "foundation five," which involves taking these supplements daily: Multivitamins, Fish Oil, Vitamin D, Magnesium, and Probiotics.
I do the foundation five along with other supplements like Collagen, Vitamin C, L-Theanine for relaxation, etc. I just finished up a bottle of Diindolylmethane which balances estrogen levels.
Much like what De Carle said about widespread Magnesium deficiencies, I was told Vitamin D deficiencies are very common. I didn't get tested for Vit. D before taking supplements, but I did get tested after taking them for a year and I was well into the healthy range of Vitamin D, despite being very fair skinned, vegetarian, and not spending much time outdoors with half the year too cold to do so. Very happy with the results from vitamins so far.
Here's a short clip from a doctor who is an expert on Vitamin D if interested. This doctor has said we need more Vitamin D than is actually recommended. There are longer, more informative videos out there too:
Seeing content like this gives me great hope for the future of health. I started my path to becoming health/nutrition conscious shortly before my mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2013. She got a second opinion at a highly esteemed establishment that offered experimental treatments after receiving a stage 4 diagnosis, and they told her she could easily live another 10 years with their treatment plan. She went back to the first doctor, who was pessimistic from the start. When she told him what the other doctor said, he scoffed and said he "NEVER had a stage 4 patient last that long." I was horrified and saw this as a huge red flag, and did my best to encourage her to go back to the doctor with the optimistic outlook, but she chose the archaic pessimist unfortunately. Her experience with doctors like him during such a crucial time was disheartening, and I lost a lot of trust in the average medical "professional." Certainly not saying there aren't good ones out there, as there was a doctor who was obviously more passionate about prolonging her life and quality of life, but she did not continue treatment with that one.
Re: Patients have to unlearn too… yes I remember the days of checking nutritional labels worrying about fat and cholesterol, shocking to learn now it is starving our brains and clogging our arteries. I wonder what it would take to inspire people to think outside of the box a little more often and not blindly trust doctors (or outdated health information) as some type of ultimate "authority."
I will definitely check out the video "How and Why Big Oil Conquered the World," I have liked the videos I've seen from Corbett thus far. Thanks again!
This article is still significant James. I just searched for it and read it 1 more time
I needed this!! Thank you so much! Upvoted!
Thanks for the great post and tutorial. I need to sleep with this posture and towels. Sitting for 20 years can be very detrimental to our health. We need to wake up the world to this knowledge! I constantly walk around my office and stand to prevent back pain - it works for me.
I've noticed how sucking in my gut relaxes my neck and shoulders and lets my head move back, I also have a workout that I do that targets the upper body without weights that helps with tension in those areas as well.
So all those years of sitting in so called ergonomic office chairs are what's given me a bad back!
Maybe it is a factor maybe not .. I just get my tail bone position right first then see if the chair is compatible.. Lol though, it can be crazy out there. Question everything ..
Truer words were never said.......question everything. Ab-so-lutely everything. Especially if it comes from "official" government sources.
Very good info from you and the commenters as well. I find that having good posture helps me digest my food much better.
manok inong
The head posture tutorial video is very educative and informative. Its really new to know that wrong head posture can cause many problems. Thanks for sharing.
I wondered why you didn't post for a long time I think I have an answer, have ounce had to use a wheelchair because of a backbone something pain was much but I don't think it's up to this but am happy your are seeing results get well soon we are here for you when I still used laptop to steem I spent over half a day sitting with the wrong posture but I know better now get well soon**
Happy steeming
nice post i needed this i sit long hours at work and sometimes standing up and pushing the tail bone in and out at times definitely does the trick
I am so sorry for your pain. On the other hand I give thanks to you for the most precious videos. These videos are very helpful for all.
No age is too old to heal
This is amazing. I remember while growing up, my posture was really terrible. I am glad i was told right early about it and still correcting it. Never knew bad posture could lead to such. Upright and relaxed it is. Thank you so much sir.
Thank you for all this info - I have similar problems myself and will give these ideas a go.
Great to hear from someone who is healing - back pain is a hard road...
Keeping a good posture is not always appreciated by young people, and I say this because I am young and I know it.
Yet, we always heard older people talking about health issues that could easily be avoided if they had good habits when they were young. Good habits like eating healthy food, and working out.
What you are saying about the pose is something I should start to apply, not because my back is hurting or anything, but because I know my back posture is not the best. I even try to remain consciously with a straight back, but always end up adopting a bad posture.
Its really try to maintain good postures 24/7, but it is not until we have a problem that we start to actively take action.
Having said this, I hope to never have back problems in my life!
Cheers!
nice videos. lets not also forget the role of nutrition on this, thanks.
great stuff because I really suffer from this. I'm unclear about what you say about the basic pelvis position. My head is always slumped forward and I know I don't stand properly. This is great info for me. I need to master this.
Thank you for this. As a child I had good posture, even though I looked like a dork, but once I discovered computers I starting rounding myself over them. For me, this is creating a problem keeping my lymph nodes draining properly in my neck. When I lift my head and get my neck back in the right position, the congestion in my neck clears. But anyway, I'm going to go over these videos carefully, and several times. Thanks again!
I am going to resteem this for my BJJ, dad, computer worker homies.
Thanks!
I'm as of now slumped in a seat perusing this. I've generally had incredible stance when standing, yet of late I can feel the distinction. I'll must be more careful, and utilize these means you're demonstrating us.The one thing I would alert about her approach is that she OCDs on neurtral spine. Ensure you do a lot of portability practices amid your day to ensure you keep a sound spine..........................
I found this super useful because I frequently have back pain... I have scoliosis
thanks for sharing @jamesc
I hope this will help
These are some great tips, and I always tell my patient to do them. A lot of people today, and children also, spend to much time in front of the computer and develop back problems.
Thanks so much for this. I've been dealing with a lot of upper back and shoulder pain the last few years (also in your age range) and have tried so many things to fix it. I know the problem is being on the computer so much, but I need to be for my work just as you do. I put in frequent breaks, doing some gardening, walking the dog, etc. but stuff needs to get done and a lot of hours are needed to do it.
I love that your advice here doesn't require not sitting, but rather simply sitting without using the back of the chair! I'm sitting here writing this on this fancy ergonomic chair designed to take pressure off as I use it for support, but when I tip my tailbone back as you suggested, I simply cannot get comfortable on this chair.
I realize now that it's because this really isn't an ergonomically correct chair at all. It's just padded a lot to make the pain come on so slowly that you don't notice it until you get up. Now I'm sitting on the front edge of the chair with my tailbone back and immediately feel relief in my shoulder, though I'm noticing tightening in mid-back muscles I don't often use.
I'm going to try to the instructions in the sleeping video tonight. Thanks again for this. You may have just spared me a lot of physical problems. (And I too have been starting to get heart arrhythmia. I had no idea it was connected to posture.)
Nice to find you on here and I look forward to seeing more of your posts. Just followed you.
Very informative- I was talking to my students (I am a professor in Sports Gymnasium) about posture today and we all agreed we need to work a lot more on that matter. I will forward this informations to them and also try to correct myself...Thank you for sharing @jamesc :)
Thank you sir ji for your precious help thank you we will surely follow it 😊😊
Quite an educative post, Wrong posture can lead to stress always accompanied with uneasiness...Thanks for sharing
2nd remedy I wanted to share with you, but decided to write an article instead.
Check it here.
I instinctively felt this is for you, when reading your post... So that must be it
Please let me know... When you get your hands on it :) So excited to hear your thoughts
Happy healing brother!
Muy buen post, muy interesante la información. Gracias por compartir.
Thanks for your post, it has encouraged me to walk more upright, I want to tell you that I have a new design of mattress and pillow and other cushions to align the legs, with the people sleep better and soon I will show you here in Steemit, I am learning .. .the neuromusculoskeletal system is more important than people think. Greetings.
what good is money if you don't have your health to enjoy it? When I was younger I took it for granted because I would heal quickly, my hangovers would subside fast and body aches were almost non existent. However as I've added a few miles to my body I am realizing the importance of stretching, posture, food, and just taking overall better care of my body.
Glad you have found a way to deal with your neck and shoulder pain
Hi. How u doing. I cant sleep