Take it from someone who had the dreaded forward head posture since puberty. Terrible posture can be one of the most unattractive, self-defeating physical ailments one must endure. However, something can be done about it. In this post, you’ll learn how to fix bad posture, without the use of gadgets or weird stretches. All it takes is an open mind.
I used to play video games from age 13 – 18. I would be about 3 feet away from the tv, hunched forward, with my neck bent upwards to view the screen. During those years, I would see videos of myself playing football or just hanging out with friends and there it was, my forward neck looking like a T-Rex.
One day, my best friend and I went to the beach. He was posture obsessed. He pointed out my shoulders and neck, “Why are your shoulders rounded forward, pull them back and stand up straight!” I felt like I was being commanded by a military staff sergeant. After all those years of me already being self-conscious of my posture, it was now totally apparent to me that something was wrong with my body.
The next 5 years of my life was spent trying all sorts of ways to fix my posture. I tried posture correctors, standing up straight all day with my chest puffed out, pushing my neck back, and giving myself a double chin. All of it was futile. It wasn’t until I heard of a little neurotransmitter called Serotonin did I actually start seeing change.
How To Fix poor Posture; Does the Mind or Body Lead the Change?
Serotonin, as science would tell us, is responsible for our emotional well-being, reduced anxiety, self-esteem, and positive social interactions. I believed this for a while, putting everything into mastering my “CONFIDENCE.” It was simple, higher confidence → higher serotonin → fixed posture.
I spent years practicing positive self-talk and putting myself in uncomfortable social interactions to practice building up confidence, which in return would increase this neurotransmitter. Often times, it led to burnout and just overall feeling worse than I did before. I was putting too much time into this and not spending enough time on things that actually mattered.
I gave up and threw in the towel thinking to myself, “I guess this neck is just my karmic inheritance.” I focused on other things, mainly my spirituality. I looked within just to find areas of my life that I felt were lacking. What I found was that the very thought of me thinking I needed to fix my posture was a clear indication that something within was lacking. If I was truly confident, I wouldn’t have even thought to fix my posture. DING DING DING!
As I did more spiritual work, month by month, something happened. I would catch occasional glances of myself in the mirror, “I’m standing up straighter, my shoulders no longer round forward.” I went from looking like a T-Rex to a Brachiosaurus (look it up, they have long necks that stick straight up). What was even more surprising is that I was actually not that surprised. My thoughts were more like, “Yes, of course I have good posture.”
This led me to believe that I had it wrong. I wasn’t even focused on maximizing my serotonin or improving my posture anymore. Instead, I carried on with my life while keeping up a spiritual practice. This must be true confidence.
True Confidence is revealed internally rather than gained externally
Have you ever seen a confident man portrayed in movies and media? Are they ever portrayed as being hunched over? No, they are always standing up tall and straight. We could say that those who stand up tall and straight are typically confident. Let’s look at some examples of individuals who are seen as the pinnacle of confidence.
Jesus and the Buddha could be seen as the most confident and secure individuals to have walked the planet. Whether you believe in them or not, there is no denying when you envision them, Jesus is standing up tall preaching and the Buddha is most likely sitting cross-legged with his spine vertical. You think, “How can the Buddha sit so tall without even a backrest?”
Alternatively, characters who seem to lack confidence or internal stability always seem to be hunched over or looking like they’re always up to something sneaky. Gollum, from The Lord of the Rings, comes to mind. His posture is so terrible. He’s literally crawling on all fours! Jesus and Buddha smh-ing Gollum right now. We’ll pray for you brother.
So how do these spiritual masters seem to have an insane amount of confidence? How are they so secure and unfazed by the hardships of life? The answer lies not from what they’ve done externally to gain confidence, it’s from what was revealed internally that then resulted in their calm self-assured demeanor.
Practices That Fixed My bad Posture
Instead of looking outside to change within, try looking inside at the areas that appear to be lacking. What made the most change for me was to view the process like this:
Spiritual growth → Confidence → Physical Changes
With that simple formula in mind, we can look at the actual practices I took which resulted in these physical changes.
Read: The Correct Way To Spiritually Manifest
1) I gave up on trying to “do” anything about fixing my bad posture
As I mentioned earlier, once I gave up on trying to do anything external about my posture, I was then free to look within. If you’re looking externally, you’re not looking internally, and that is the first step.
2) I continued to work on the 4 pillars in my life
Instead of dedicating time to correcting my posture, I used that time to improve my overall health, wealth, relationships, and spirituality. If you haven’t begun working on those, now is a perfect time to start!
Start dedicating time to go for a walk or to the gym. You might also want to consider a low-protein diet to help support your health goals. Create a budget for yourself. Learn how to invest. Have honest conversations with your spouse, significant other, family or friends. Lastly, have a spiritual practice.
3) Have a spiritual practice
I understand this might seem vague, but it is a lot simpler than you think. A spiritual practice can be any of the below:
- Contemplating on your thoughts, feelings, and emotions
- Shadow Work
- Forgiving everyone, even yourself
- Looking at the past, seeing what faults you made, and how you can be better
- Staying internally conscious and aware at all times
- Releasing and surrendering to energy within your body
- Prayer and meditation
It may happen where you dabble in all of these, but I recommend choosing one and applying it constantly. That is how I saw the best results. It’s not about how many practices you do that make spiritual progress happen. It’s your intention to apply it to anything and everything. Your dedication makes all the difference.
The posture paradox
It is the human condition to look externally to fix our problems. Even something as specific as fixing your posture, the human seeks to try everything in the book to end this back-aching suffering. It is only until the human gives up, do we finally say to ourselves, “I’ll look within now.”
If this can be applied to fixing one’s posture, perhaps this can also be applied to other aspects of life? Only one way to find out!
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