Fix Your Posture in 10 Minutes With These 6 Yoga Poses

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Smartphones, laptops, desk jobs, slouching on the couch and long commutes to work can all contribute to making you look like you’re chronically hunched over. Not only is this unattractive, it can also be painful, as it often causes people to feel tight, achy and sore around the neck, shoulders, and upper and lower back. Fixing your posture with yoga requires that you do poses that open your chest and shoulders, allow you to gently bend your back, lengthen your spine, and allow you to experience what a steady, balanced, posture feels like.

1.  Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Tadasana is really how we should be standing all the time, so if you can do this pose in correct alignment with ease, your posture is probably already pretty good! Most people, however, find this posture to be challenging, as it requires your whole body to be engaged.

To Do This Pose:  

Stand with your feet about hip distance apart and parallel to each other, with your toes spread and pointing forward. Engage your calves and quads. Engage your core and slightly tuck your tailbone. Keep your shoulders wide and relaxed. Align your head so your chin is parallel to the floor, and the crown of your head is directly over the center of your pelvis.

Raise your arms over your head, keeping them shoulder width apart. Be sure to keep your shoulders relaxed and down away from your ears. Hold for 1 minute.

2. Vrksasana (Tree Pose)

A slumped over posture makes balancing poses very difficult, as when we slouch our body weight tends to carry us forward. When we learn to stand tall and balanced in Vrksasana, we can carry this feeling into our every day posture.

To Do This Pose:

Stand up straight and shift your balance onto your right foot. Place the sole of your left foot onto your calf or inner thigh, if you can. Once you feel balanced, raise your hands to your chest in Namaste. Keep your shoulders relaxed and your head in the same position as in Tadasana. Keep your eyes fixed on a point in front of you for better balance. Hold for 1 minute and repeat on the other side.

3. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)

Adho Mukha Svnanasana is a great pose for improving your posture, as it stretches and lengthens the spine and opens your shoulders, thus reversing that rounded, hunched over look.

To do this pose:

From table top position, tuck your toes, straighten your legs and lift your hips toward the ceiling. Adjust your hands forward a bit if necessary and spread your fingers. Keep your spine long, and your head and neck in line with your spine. Hold for 1 minute.

4. Plank Pose

Sometimes our slouching stems from having a weak core that lacks the strength to hold us upright. Plank posewill strengthen your core, which will take some of the stress off your spine, allowing you to hold yourself up straight with ease.

To Do This Pose:

From table top pose, tuck your toes under and move your feet backward so that your legs are straight out behind you. Check that your wrists are underneath your shoulders, that your shoulders are away from your ears, and your body is in one straight line. Hold for 1 minute.

5. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

Bhujangasana and half bhujangasana gently stretch the spine and open the chest, reversing rounded shoulders and upper backs.

To Do This Pose:

Lying on your stomach, engage your back muscles to lift your head and upper torso. Align your elbows underneath your shoulders for support. Open your chest and relax your shoulders away from your ears. Look straight ahead and hold for 1 minute.

6. Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose)

Cow face pose is an intense chest and shoulder opener that will quickly lengthen all the muscles. This helps relieve tightness after long hours hunching over a desk and steering wheel.

To Do This Pose:

Keeping your back straight, raise your left arm above your head and bend it behind your back. Keeping your right arm down, bend your right elbow and reach your right hand up to meet the left. Try to join your hands together. Use a belt or strap if you can’t reach. Keep your head held high and look straight in front of you. Hold for 1 minute and switch sides.

Do these poses every day and you’ll find your posture improving very fast. As your muscles stretch, strengthen and lengthen, you may even find you’ve ‘grown’ an inch or so!