Straightening Up: Redeeming Proper Posture in the Age of Tech Neck

It’s a Sunday night in January of 2016. I’m glued to the television. I’ve transported to Great Britain, 1925. The clean white of the Downton Abbey dining room table plays a supporting role to the sparkling glassware and candelabras, all surrounded by figures in elegant flapper dresses, black tailcoats, and crisp livery. Lady Mary Crawley gets in on the dinner conversation. She somehow sits completely at ease while remaining perfectly straight, never letting her shoulders so much as graze the back of her chair. I immediately sit up in my sinking spot on the living room sofa, attempting to imitate her effortlessly regal posture. I’m invigorated with a sense of silent power. The world is at my fingertips. How sad that Lady Mary’s ways of a stately disposition have been lost on us here in the technology age.

Cell phones, computers, and a general societal negligence of all things posture-related has both young and old mirroring Eeyore as they sit, stand, and walk. The younger generation’s free time is sucked away by hours of hanging their heads forward scrolling through social media, binging Netflix, and completing technology-based school work. Older generations are not exempt from this technology usage, as countless middle-aged and older individuals hunch over computers at desk jobs or their own phones, attracted by the captivating media marketed to their age demographic. At a local Panera Bread, patrons are greeted at the door, not by employees, but a touchscreen kiosk at which one can order their beloved café food by staring down and tapping on a screen, without speaking a word to an actual human. A simple scan around a room in virtually any public place will show that almost no one in society today cares to sit upright with proper posture. What is this doing to our bodies? Our view of ourselves?

According to the American Chiropractic Association, “good posture” is defined as “the correct alignment of body parts supported by the right amount of muscle tension against gravity.” While we tend to think of posture as simply keeping the back straight, it is much more involved. On their website, the Association goes on to detail the correct positions of posture to assume when sitting, standing, and even lying down to sleep. Aside from the normal “back tall, head straight, shoulders back, stomach in”, these characteristics include technicalities that seem insignificant but are essential to proper body alignment. When sitting down, a footrest should be used if the chair is too tall for feet to reach the floor, as the knees must be parallel with the hips. When standing, feet should be shoulder width apart, and pressure should be focused on the balls of the feet, rather than the outer edge or interior arch. When sleeping, if on your side, a pillow should be placed between the knees, and if on your back, a pillow should be placed underneath the knees.

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It is likely impossible to know the complete history of posture, since humans have been standing, sitting, and walking since (debatably) the beginning of time. However, mentions of, and attention to, posture were present throughout modern history. The Boke of Curtasye, a fourteenth century English poem on etiquette, instructs individuals to “... lay thy trenchour þe be-fore, And sitt vp-ryzht for any sore,” which can be translated as “place your plate in front of you, And sit upright”. Even in the fourteenth century were individuals encouraged to avoid a relaxed or limp position in the presence of company.

Popular, antiquated methods of maintaining posture can be traced back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The Booke of Demeanor and the Allowance and Disallowance of Certaine Misdemeanors in Companie, written by Richard Weste in the early 17th century, gave similar and slightly more detailed instructions on assuming correct posture, saying, “Stand straight vpright, and both thy feet / together closely standing, … To carry up the body faire, / is decent, and doth shew / A comely grace in any one, / Where ever he doth goe.” This conveyed the central argument surrounding correct posture, that it is a hallmark of a graceful disposition. Any other careless position of the body expressed a different, disagreeable message.

Women of this time period used “stays” and corsets as shapewear that also doubled as a promise of proper posture-- at the cost of shallow breathing, of course. Corsets, while fairly synonymous with stays, were usually somewhat less constricting and made their way into the early 20th century. So, yes, Lady Mary had at least a little help with that posture of hers. Gradually, corsets evolved into less restrictive/posture-forcing shapewear but soon phased out of everyday use. With the exit of stays and corsets, came a figurative and physical liberation. Clothing relaxed and so did postures.

The late 20th century ushered in electronic wonders, such as the internet, that discouraged physical activity and welcomed both sedentary work and play. Dr. John Calatayud, of Calatayud Chiropractic and Massage Therapy Center, had much to say about the decline of posture since beginning his medical practice in 1989. When asked if he thought technology has had a hand in causing the mass decline of good posture habits, he affirmed, “Technology has an effect. You know, we’re always looking down at something-- computers, phones. If you look around, most people have rounded shoulders.” The majority of the population fails to realize that common spinal health issues can often be resolved by simply strengthening muscle groups of the body that reinforce proper posture. “Strengthening the core is key, it’s those muscles that support the rest of the body. You need to do something to strengthen those muscles.”

The Science of Sitting Made Simple, by San Francisco chiropractor and ergonomist, Dr. Gregg J. Carb, provides a myriad of tips on correct posture in relation to technology and how to incorporate good postural habits into daily routines. Slumping is a direct result of attempting relaxation when, in reality, it makes the body work harder, causing an increase of fatigue. Good posture, while thought to be exhausting, puts less strain on muscles and vertebrae and is actually conducive to relaxation when conforming to the spine’s “natural contours”, as Carb describes it. His ergonomically correct positions for technology use encourage bringing technology to the natural line of sight with head forward, rather than stooping to the level of our various devices.

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Lowering ourselves does more than bend our necks and backs out of shape; it bends our self-image as well. Body language significantly reflects our inner emotions, and posture is no exception. Just from looking at a person and the way they sit, you can easily infer what they may be feeling. If you were to compare a person with good posture and a person with poor posture, you would likely assume that the person with good posture has a higher level on confidence than the other. This is evidently a superficial way of looking at things, but it holds more truth than you would expect.

In her 2012 TED Talk, “Your body language may shape who you are" Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy explained the details of a study done on the effects of “power posing”. In the study, saliva was collected from each subject before they were asked to assume a certain pose. Some subjects were asked to assume “high-power” poses, many of which demonstrated a form of good posture. Others were asked to assume “low-power” poses- ones of rounded shoulders and lowered heads. “So two minutes they do this [power posing],” Cuddy said. “We then ask them, ‘How powerful do you feel?’ on a series of items, and then we give them an opportunity to gamble, and then we take another saliva sample. That’s it.”

It was found that high-power posers were 26 percent more likely to jump at a risk-taking opportunity than the low-power posers. Additionally, high-power posers had considerably lower cortisol levels than those of the low-power posers, as well, indicating lower stress. “So it seems that our nonverbals do govern how we think and feel about ourselves, so it's not just others, but it's also ourselves. Also, our bodies change our minds.” Improving our posture inevitably improves the way we view ourselves, regardless of our awareness.

As an assistant gymnastics coach, I spend a lot of time squawking at pre-teen girls to mind their posture on the balance beam and floor exercise. In the world of gymnastics, maintaining a poised and “at-attention” stance is important for conveying to judges and audiences that the gymnast is in full command of her body and the apparatus, whether they actually possess that level of confidence or not. The facade makes or breaks the performance. Recently during a practice, some of my gymnasts stood in front of a mirror at a ballet bar, reluctantly following my lead through drills to improve their posture. I was surprised to learn how many of them had difficulty assuming the simple correct position.

“Back straight” I would say. Their backs straightened slightly, but their shoulders remained hunched forward.

“Like a ballerina! Shoulders back, try to stick your chest out.” Some understood, but others were left jutting their chests out uncomfortably, their necks contorting awkwardly, attempting to support themselves in such a foreign way of standing.

“Relax your body a little, keep your head facing forward.” Their heads faced forward, level and straight, but their backs soon resumed the same limp state as before.

As they walked out of the gym to go home, their phones were fixed in their hands and their eyes to the screens. Their necks had no choice but to bow in submission.

There is a reason we learn as infants to hold our heads up. Posture isn’t just reserved for ballerinas, business professionals, or high-and-mighty people. That "Lady Mary" sense of power isn’t fictional. It's real and available to us the moment we choose to straighten up.