Modern sedentary lifestyles are geared towards postural issues. Whether it's because of a lot of time spent sitting down, muscular tightness or imbalance, or repetitive everyday tasks like carrying a young child on one hip, there are many possible causes for poor posture.

As our skeletal structure is designed to be stacked, even a small posture problem can have a flow on effect to result in multiple tension points throughout the body.

What are the main postural issues?

Postural problems are typically made up of one or more of the following:

KYPHOSIS
This is common for people who spend a lot of time hunched over and is often caused by a lot of time spent sitting down either slouching or working at a desk. In yoga therapy, it may also be associated with the repeated instinct to draw inwards and protect yourself. This leads to tightness across the chest and shoulders, the head being carried slightly forwards, and can typically translate down the body to tightness in the hips and back of the legs.

Yoga poses to try: Anything that encourages opening at the front of the body - drawing the shoulderblades back and down towards each other, along with back bends. This could include poses such as Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge),

LORDOSIS
This is where the hips push forwards, the curve in the lower back (lumbar spine) becomes over pronounced and the core muscles relax and become weaker. This can often occur for women during pregnancy as posture shifts to compensate for the growing baby, then continues to be reinforced when mum has to lean back to carry baby on the front of her body. It can also sometimes go hand in hand with locking out the knees.

Yoga poses to try: Core-focused poses such as Bitilasana (Cat/Cow) and Kumbhakasana (Plank) that encourage the navel to draw in towards the spine, and the ribcage to wrap inwards to the midline so that core strength is developed. Also poses that remind the tailbone to tuck under again, rather than upwards which tilts the pelvis forwards.

SCOLIOSIS
This occurs when the spine has a sideways curvature and is not straight. This can happen for a range of reasons but most often occurs in childhood during the growth spurt before puberty.

Yoga poses to try: Anything that encourages axial extension - drawing up tall from your sitbones through to the crown of your head such as Tadasana (Mountain Pose). Adho Mukha Virasana (Child's Pose). A gentle Uttanasana (Forward Fold) for a traction effect.

NOTE: Not all spinal conditions can be treated with yoga therapy - especially if genetic, a result of injury or specific medical issues, though they may potentially be reduced through yoga if the activity is confirmed as safe to practice by your GP or specialist. In any of these instances or if you're experiencing acute pain or numbness/tingling, it's important to consult a medical professional first and foremost as some poses may worsen the problem or cause further injury.

UNEVEN HIPS
Notice how you stand when you're at rest (waiting for the microwave, talking on your phone while standing, brushing your teeth, waiting in a queue...); do you tend to 'pop' your hip out to one side and lean into it? This is especially common for mums of young children as we tend to carry them repeatedly on one side to rest on top of the hip.

Yoga poses to try: Tadasana, low and high lunges - any pose where you can stack your ribs over hips and visualise headlights on your hip bones pointing straight forwards at an even level with each other.

Start from the ground up

It can be helpful to do a check from the point where your body touches the ground and work your way up your body. As an example, starting from standing to come into Tadasana, or Mountain Pose:

• Check that your feet are hip-width apart, toes pointing straight forwards. Even weight over the soles of your feet and in both your left/right sides.
• Have a microbend in your knees to keep them soft (rather than straightened/hyperextended).
• Level your pelvis - visualise it as a bucket and put your hands on your hips, tilt them forwards to arch your back (tilting the 'bucket' forwards), curl your back and tuck your tailbone under (tilting the 'bucket' backwards), then find the halfway point in between where your pelvis is level.
• Stand tall to lengthen your spine, extending from your tailbone through to the crown of your head.
• Have your arms at your sides, palms facing forwards to open up the shoulders.
• Bring your shoulderblades back and down to broaden across your collarbones at the front of the chest.
• Check that your ribs are wrapping in towards the centre of your body to give a sense of containment (i.e. that your ribcage is not flaring open at the front with a puffed out chest).
• Chin draws in and slightly down to lengthen further through the crown of your head.
• Breathe deep, light, even breaths visualising them starting at the centre of your body and moving outwards in all directions to the front, sides of the ribcage and into the back of the body as well as your pelvic floor.

A lot of things go into 'simple' standing, right?!

Check in with yourself

While doing a few yoga sessions a week can help alleviate postural issues, the thing that will make the most difference is periodically checking in with your body during the day and mindfully standing or sitting taller, taking yourself through the 'ground up' checkpoints every now and then.

Image / DepositPhotos