Why good posture can make you look and feel years younger!

 "Lose 10lb and look a decade younger in one week by perking up your posture" The Daily Mail UK

"How to look younger, thinner and more powerful. Perfect posture" – Financial Times

"The Easiest Way to Look 10 Pounds Thinner" –Womenshealthmag.com

"Look Thinner in an Instant: Use Better Posture" – WebMd

It all sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Stand or sit up straight and you’ll look younger and thinner? Surprisingly, these attention-grabbing headlines are quite right – having good posture actually is astonishingly anti-aging!

We may be living longer thanks to advances in medicine and educating ourselves about longevity, but knowing how to slow the passage of time when it comes to how we look and how we feel is the icing on the cake. And perfecting your posture is one way to do just that.

But it’s not necessarily as easy as it sounds. For many of us, poor posture is our default. Our postures are getting worse because we’re spending so much time slumped in front of the television, bent over phones or sitting at our desks in front of computers. Unless a conscious effort is made, our bodies are literally being trained to slouch! Carrying heavy handbags, high-heeled shoes, holding the phone in the crook of our neck, gaining weight, favoring a painful injury – all cause an imbalance in our bodies, forcing an unnatural and problematic posture.

At TheOptimal.me, we believe a good posture is key, and every one of our Integrated Movement Routines (IMRs) helps improve your posture and alignment. Improving your posture as you get older is not only about looking better, but also beneficial for your health on a number of levels.

The health benefits of good posture

When you have good posture:

• you relieve unnecessary pressure on your joints and spine, significantly lessening back, hip and knee pain
• you improve your respiratory function, allowing for easier breathing by opening up your lungs
• you significantly improve your balance, decreasing your chance of fall-related injuries in the future
• there are very real psychological benefits

We recently wrote an article for Prime Women on the basics of good and bad posture and how to correct or improve your posture. You can read the article here!.

Adopting good posture habits requires conscious effort. And yes, attaining good posture can be hard, possibly even a life’s work! But the benefits are impressive and can be felt quickly. Not only will you feel younger and look younger, studies are showing that people with better posture really are healthier and live longer.