Energy Level

Have you ever thought about what gives you energy?

There are a few answers to this questions, such as food, water, sleep and doing fun things. But have you ever thought about how your posture and spinal alignment contribute to your energy levels?

HOW DOES POSTURE AFFECT ENERGY?

The bones of your body are in a balancing act, they balance precisely one on top of the other. This is particularly the case with your spinal bones.

Attaching to your bones, you have many muscles and ligaments. The primary role of these muscles and ligaments is to help you move.

When your spine is in optimal alignment, your bones do a great job of holding you up all day. They do most of the work.

However, if your spinal alignment is ‘off’ or your posture is poor, it means that your bones are no longer balancing well and can not hold you up. Your muscles now come to the rescue. Pulling and contracting to hold you up against gravity all day.

A perfect example of this is sitting at a desk or in your car for a prolonged period of time. Because of the way the seat is set up, your bones have a hard time to balance or ‘stack’. As a result, the muscles around your shoulder and neck will be working overtime to hold you up. Constantly burning unnecessary energy. After a while they get fatigued, tired and sore. Then you get fatigued and tired.

Ensuring your posture is upright is critical for maintaining good energy levels, it means that your muscles do not have to work overtime to hold you up all day.

YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM:

Inside your skull is your brain, inside your spine is your spinal cord. This organ known as the nervous system is responsible for sending and receiving messages to and from your body all day.

If your posture is upright, the messages have a clear path from your brain to your body and vice versa. This allows for optimal function. It means your brain can accurately coordinate all of the daily tasks such as digestion, movement, breathing etc.

However, if your posture is forward or slouchy, the spine becomes bent forward. This causes a pressure or stretch to form on the spinal cord. This stress on the nervous system means the brain and the body have to work double time to perform the normal function.

This can result in increase expenditure of energy.

HOW CHIROPRACTIC CAN HELP ENERGY LEVELS:

Chiropractic adjustments work to promote upright posture and decrease musculoskeletal imbalances. Allowing your body to expend less energy.