The health complications of poor posture vary across multiple areas, from back pain to digestive problems to issues with circulation. But can these health complications within our bodies have an impact on our mood, energy levels or even personality? Is it possible that our poor posture is making us depressed and lethargic? We’ll take a further look into this mind-body connection.

Body Language & Mood

Your body language, how you sit, stand, walk and how you position yourself when interacting with other people, influences your hormones level, which regulates your mood.

For instance, standing up right with the hands to the hips, expanding physical space has been shown to influence the body to produce more testosterone (which influences confidence and sociability) and less cortisol (a stress hormone), whereas body language that involves making oneself look physically smaller, with shoulders rolled down and the body and gaze positioned downwards, showed lower levels of testosterone and also serotonin, a chemical that contributes to feelings of happiness and well-being.

Our minds influences our moods, which in turn influences how we carry ourselves physically, but the same is also true in reverse. You can actually trick your body into producing certain states of emotion simply by adjusting your body language. Strong, powerful body language can produce feelings of strength and confidence. In a social psychology study conducted 2009, students were asked to sit a certain way (either slouched or upright), then rate what they believed their future potential job satisfaction and professional performance to be using three descriptive words (either positive or negative). The students that sat upright, were confident in their word choices (whether positive or negative) whereas the students that slouched, weren’t convinced of any of their traits, they didn’t trust themselves in what they wrote down.

“In a series of experiments, Peper found that sitting in a collapsed, helpless position makes it easier for negative thoughts and memories to appear while sitting in an upright, powerful position makes it easier to have empowering thoughts and memories.”

Energy Levels & Postural Health

Poor circulation of blood flow and oxygen causes fatigue, and as posture affects circulation, this has a direct impact on our energy levels. Poor posture partially constricts critical veins and arteries, which inhibits your body from circulating the necessary blood/nutrients/oxygen it needs around the vital organs of its system. This in turn prevents your body from replenishing itself the way it should. When your body isn’t recovering itself adequately, it becomes prone to lethargy.

In addition, once the body and the muscles around the spine starts to stiffen up, this leads to tension and potentially pain, particularly when performing certain movements, which means we’re less likely to move around. Less movement contributes to lower energy levels – so it becomes a slippery slope on our health and thus our emotional well-being.

Researchers have established a vital connection between spinal health and overall wellness. People with poor spine health have been connected to chronic feelings of lethargy, sleepiness, nonchalance, and general malaise. Widespread spinal issues can result in blocked nerves, restricted blood flow, and chemical imbalances – all of which impact the way you feel.

Another area our posture affects that influences our mood and energy levels is our digestive health. Having poor posture (especially when seated) compresses our abdomen, so the organs involved in digestion can’t function as effectively as they need to. This prevents your body from adequately breaking down and absorbing the nutrients it needs from its food, thus potentially contributing to feelings of sluggishness.

Conclusion – How Can We Fix This Problem? 

There is strong evidence demonstrating that poor posture has a direct impact on how we feel about ourselves and also our energy levels. As our hormones are affected by poor posture, we become more prone to feelings of uncertainty and depression. As our energy levels are also affected, we’ll become less prone to feelings of motivation and inspiration. These issues will thus feed off and amplify one another.

So the solution? Fix your posture. How do we do that? You fix the muscular imbalances that have occurred as a result of your lifestyle factors.

I have created a channel specifically for people looking to improve their posture. Within the videos are a series of stretches and strengthening exercises that can be used to rectify the muscular imbalances (tight chest/weak back) that occurs from poor posture.

To check out my exercise videos, click here for ‘Postural Corrective Exercises’.