Proper Posture and Alignment

Having proper posture and alignment both during pregnancy and beyond baby is critical for optimal core function of your body plus it can help in decreasing body aches and pains {back, knees, neck, etc.} and plays an important roll in both minimize diastasis recti and helping to repair diastasis recti. When you forget to stand and sit tall and carry our body with our muscles {think core} we allow our joints to hold us up – and in the long run that could lead some very common aches and pains that for many can get in the way of living a healthy life.

It’s very common to see postural changes as pregnancy progresses but you don’t have to let them take over! You really can do something about it – by strengthening the correct muscles and frankly just practicing sitting, standing and carrying a baby with good posture could be life-changing.

When I work with clients posture is the first thing I focus on – because they can practice that easily and often without having me to coach them through that “exercise” if you will. Below is an example of “good posture” and common “poor posture”. I also understand that there are additional things that could contribute to poor posture but in general, you CAN work towards improving your posture with my 8 tips below:

1. Think about lengthening tall through the top of your head.
2. Gently hug your baby in your belly if you are pregnant or zip up your belly if you are not.
3. Avoid locking your knees – keeping them soft allows for your leg and core muscles to activate.
4. Use your core to hold your body up – think about moving, standing, sitting and carrying kids with your core.
5. When exercising focus on your good form with each exercise which also means having good posture too!
6. Don’t tuck your butt {this shuts off your deep core}.
7. Focus on your breath as you will notice how much fuller of a breath you can take when in good posture.
8. Include these Pilates Roll Downs in your workouts.