How can I improve my posture?

[nellyitsme]

Hi I think I have bad posture and wonder what I can do to improve it and if there's any exercises I can do or who I would go to to help me.

I'm tall and long legged and tend to walk in a loping way with my head forward and my shoulders down. I hate to see myself reflected in shop windows as I look so awful. I try to straighten up and walk better but I'm getting really self conscious about my walk. Any advice is welcome

Pilates. Start with a personal assessment.

There are tons of videos on YouTube about improving your posture, and it's good you want to address this. Your posture and the way you hold yourself impacts every aspect of your life. One of the most important things is to be constantly mindful of how you're sitting, standing and walking. Soon, it will be second nature to hold yourself up properly and you won't need to think about it. I'm sure you will see huge improvements in short order!

Here's a few things that might help

Core strength- helps to support whole of body. Focus on strength and stability work.
Also
Draw shoulders back and down.
Imagine you are squeezing a pencil between your shoulder blades.

Think about strengthening your upper back. It needs to be strong to keep us from collapsing forward in to gravity. Yoga postures like two foot support are useful to strengthen the back body.
You could also try extended cat pose. Come to all fours and stretch right arm forward off the floor and left leg back off the floor, then change sides. Keep abs engaged while you do this. Helps to strengthen back and front of body, keep shoulders drawing back towards each other too.
Stand with your shoulders against a wall, keep shoulders down then step away (good to do this in front of a mirror)

I suggest you get to a good yoga class it will help.

There are lots of reasons for poor posture, bad habits such as slouching in front of laptop/desk
Being tired, not having strength in the body, feelings of shyness and anxiety can make us look to the floor and round the upper back to avoid eye contact. Large breasts can draw us forward also feeling awkward about large breasts.
Lifestyle factors, being on a phone too much (texting, social media) driving for long periods and collapsing in front of the TV can cause poor posture.
It is a good idea to address it now before a permanent kyphosis sets in.

What @EarlyIntheMorning said! Pilates can’t help so much, but if you’re new to it it’s best to get at least 1 assessment session. Also important to find an instructor who is properly trained and who inspires you.

Hi thanks for the replies- I'm going to try these and there's Pilates classes nearby do I'll message her to see about an assessment

Definitely Pilates, I can only go to a class once a week but it's made a massive difference to my posture and core strength which helps with my activities/sports

I recommend a book called The New Rules of Posture by Mary Bond. It was easy to understand and has made a big difference to me.